SPITZBUBEN RECIPE

1¼ cups cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour, sifted, plus more for rolling out
1½ cups ground almonds
10 ounces tart jam, such as raspberry or red currant
About 1½ cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375° F. Grease 4 cookie sheets lightly with butter.

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together until smooth. Add the almond extract and vanilla extract and stir.

Sift the flour onto the butter and sugar mixture and stir to combine. Add the ground almonds and mix just until well combined.

Divide the dough in half and shape it into disks. Allow disks to chill in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.

Dust a flat surface lightly with flour. Roll the chilled dough out evenly onto the floured surface, using a floured rolling pin. Roll out to ¼-inch thick, or slightly thinner.

Using a 1-inch in diameter round cutter, cut the dough into small round cookies. It’s helpful to dip the cutter in flour every few cuts, since this dough can be sticky.

Using a thin metal spatula, lift the cookies onto the greased cookie sheets, spacing them ½ inch apart. Bake in the oven at 375° F for 10 minutes or until golden.

Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for 3 minutes, then transfer them individually with a spatula to a cool work surface.

Dollop a teaspoon of jam onto half of the still-warm cookies. Choose the prettiest, roundest cookies to be the tops, and place them on top of the jam to make a sandwich.

While the cookies are still somewhat warm, sift powdered sugar over the tops of the finished jam sandwiches. (The sugar won’t stick as well if they are allowed to cool, so work in batches while the next sheets of cookies cool, rather than all at once.)

Once thoroughly cool, store the cookies in airtight tins, between layers of wax paper. Makes about 30 cookies.