Viennese Punch Cookies

• For the dough
• 16 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 cup almonds, slivered, finely ground in the food processor (about 4 ounces)
• 2 1/2 cups flour, plus more for the work surface (spoon flour into a dry-measure cup and level off)
• For the filling
• 1/3 cup apricot preserves, strained
• 2 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted and slightly cooled
• 2 tablespoons dark rum (may substitute strained apricot preserves, see headnote)
• 2 teaspoons orange zest, finely grated
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest, finely grated
• For the icing
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted after measuring
• 2 tablespoons dark rum (may substitute strained apricot preserves, see headnote)
• 2 teaspoons water
• 1 drop liquid red food coloring

1. Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 350 degrees. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
2. For the dough: Combine the butter and confectioners' sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer or hand-held electric mixer. Beat on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes, until soft and light. Add the ground almonds and mix well.
3. Remove the bowl from the mixer and use a large spatula to incorporate the flour, mixing until the dough is smooth. Lightly flour a work surface and turn the dough out onto it; divide into 3 equal portions.
4. Lightly flour the dough, then gently roll it to about 3/8-inch thick. Use a plain round cookie cutter to cut out 2- to 2 1/2-inch cookies and place them, spaced 1 inch apart, on the prepared pans. Reserve the scraps from cutting the cookies in a bowl.
5. Roll and cut the remaining 2 pieces of dough, reserving the scraps from the rolling and cutting with the others. There should be 48 cookie rounds.
6. Bake the cookies for 7 to 8 minutes, until they are firm and dull-looking, rotating the baking sheets top to bottom and front to back 1/2 way through. (If you know that your oven gives strong bottom heat, use a third baking sheet to insulate the one on the lower rack.) Slide the parchment papers off the baking sheets to cool the cookies.
7. Arrange the dough scraps in a single layer on a parchment- or foil-lined baking sheet. While the cookie rounds are cooling, bake on the middle rack for 15 to 20 minutes, until firm, then cool the scraps on a wire rack.
8. For the filling: Break up the cooled scraps and place them in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to grind coarsely. Add the preserves, melted chocolate, rum, and orange and lemon zests; pulse until the filling holds a soft shape.
9. To fill the cookies, turn 24 of the cookies over so that the flattest (bottom) sides are facing up. Spread a little less than 1 tablespoon of the filling on each cookie to within 1/8 inch of the edge. Top with the remaining cookies, placing them bottom side down on the filling and gently pressing the two cookies together.
10. For the icing: Combine the confectioners' sugar, rum, water and food coloring in a medium saucepan; stir until smooth. Place over low heat and cook for several minutes, until it is just lukewarm (about 110 degrees measured on an instant-read thermometer). Use a small offset spatula to spread a thin coat of the icing on top of each cookie. Let set completely before storing or serving.

dough, unsalted butter, sugar, almonds, flour, filling, apricot preserves, chocolate, dark rum, orange zest, lemon zest, sugar, dark rum, water, liquid red food

Taken from www.food.com/recipe/viennese-punch-cookies-403436 (may not work)