Hausfreunde
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cubed
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- About 1/2 cup apricot jam
- 7 ounces almond paste
- 3/4 cup confectioners sugar
- 5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- 24 walnut halves, toasted
- In a food processor, pulse the flour with the granulated sugar and salt.
- Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal with some pea-size pieces remaining.
- Add the egg and vanilla and pulse until the dough just comes together.
- Scrape out onto a work surface and pat into a disk.
- Wrap in plastic and refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350 and line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
- On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough 1/4 inch thick.
- Using a 2-inch round cookie cutter, stamp out cookies as close together as possible; transfer to the prepared baking sheets.
- Gather the scraps, re-roll and stamp out more cookies.
- You should have a total of 48.
- Bake the cookies for about 20 minutes, until golden; rotate the baking sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking.
- Transfer to a rack to cool.
- In a small saucepan, warm the jam over moderate heat, stirring, until runny, about 3 minutes.
- Brush a thin layer of jam on 24 of the cookies and top with the remaining cookies.
- In a medium bowl, combine the almond paste with the confectioners sugar and knead until blended.
- Roll out the almond paste 1/8 inch thick between 2 sheets of parchment paper.
- Using a 2-inch round cookie cutter, stamp out 24 rounds.
- Brush the top of each cookie sandwich with another thin layer of jam and top with the rounds of almond paste.
- In a microwave-safe bowl, heat the chocolate at high power in 30-second bursts until just melted.
- Stir until smooth.
- Dip the top of each sandwich cookie in the chocolate, just enough to coat the almond paste; transfer to the baking sheet.
- Top each cookie with a walnut half.
- Let the chocolate set before serving.
flour, sugar, kosher salt, butter, egg, vanilla, apricot jam, almond paste, confectioners sugar, bittersweet chocolate, walnut halves
Taken from www.foodandwine.com/recipes/hausfreunde (may not work)