Name: Raspberry Hibiscus Linzer Cookies
Ingredients: 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, softened; 1 cup (114g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted; 2 large egg yolks, room temp [1]; 2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice; ½ tsp salt; ¾ tsp vanilla extract; ¼ tsp almond extract; 2 ½ cups (300g) all-purpose flour; 1 cup (128g) almond flour; ½ cup to ¾ cup (144g to 216g) Blake Hill Preserves Raspberry Hibiscus Preserve; confectioners’ sugar; freeze-dried raspberries, finely ground; hibiscus powder; Beautiful Briny Sea Mr. Gigglepants Sugar (from our Like a Boss box!)

Instructions

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter and confectioners’ sugar on medium-high until light and fluffy.
Add egg yolks, lemon juice, salt, vanilla, and almond extract, mixing to combine and scraping down sides of bowl as necessary.
In a large bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour and almond flour.
Add ¹/₃ of the flour mixture to butter mixture, mixing on low until it’s almost all incorporated. Scrape down bowl. Repeat two more times with rest of flour mixture.
Divide dough in half. Wrap each half in cling film, then press into a patty shape about 1-inch thick. Place wrapped dough in fridge for 1 hour (or overnight).
Once your dough has rested and chilled, heat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Flour your work surface and rolling pin. Retrieve one dough patty from fridge, place on your floured surface, sprinkle top with a little bit of flour, then roll dough out to ¼-inch thickness.
Using a flower-shaped or round cookie cutter, cut out cookies. ^[2] Transfer to prepared baking sheet.
Using a small cookie cutter or round piping tip, cut shapes out of the centre of half of the cookies. ^[3] These will be the cookie tops.
Bake for 8–10 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking time. Cookies are done when edges are set and ever-so-slightly golden.
Transfer baking sheet to wire rack. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet.
While first batch is in oven, gather dough scraps and repeat steps. Then move onto the second dough patty. ^[4] Bake all additional cookies and allow to cool completely.
Once cookies are totally cool, let’s fill and assemble! Gather all cookie tops on a piece of parchment. Dust with confectioners’ sugar, ground freeze-dried raspberries, or a combination of the two. ^[5]
Now turn your attention to the cookie bottoms. Spread ½ teaspoon to 1 ½ teaspoons of raspberry hibiscus preserves on each cookie bottom. (How much you use will depend on the size of the cookie.)
Gently top each slathered cookie bottom with corresponding cookie top, gently pressing cookie sandwich together.

Notes

Cold eggs are easier to separate, so separate ‘em as soon as you take ‘em out of the fridge.
For our cookies, we used the Fox Run flower cookie cutter set from our Blossom box, as well as the R&M International biscuit cutter from our Brekkie in Autumn box.
For the centre cut-outs, we used the smallest flower cutter from our Fox Run set and a round piping tip (Ateco 809). You could incorporate the cut-outs into your dough scraps, but we prefer to bake them—wee bonus baker’s treat!
If at any point the dough becomes too warm or soft, wrap in cling film, then press into a patty shape. Place dough patty back in the fridge for 10–20 minutes before continuing. Dough must be cold for cutting, otherwise you risk tearing it.
To add colour(s) to your cookie tops, grind freeze-dried raspberries in a spice grinder or food processor until turned into a powder. Run through a fine mesh sieve. For the most vibrant colour, use powder as-is. For pastels, sift raspberry powder with confectioners’ sugar before dusting cookie tops.

Slightly adapted from: Also The Crumbs Please

Raspberry Hibiscus Linzer Cookies