Using springerle cookie molds
by Gingerhaus-Springerle Joy
Ingredients
3/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
Grated rind (zest) of one lemon or orange
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup almond flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
Jam for filling
Instructions
1 To make the dough, beat the butter, sugar, and zest until light and fluffy. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.
2 Add the yolk and vanilla. Beat until combined.
3 Whisk together the flour, almond flour, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and mix until just combined. Be careful not to over-beat.
4 Dust the surface of your counter and rolling pin with flour and roll out half of the dough to a thickness of approximately 3/8 inch to 1/2 inch. (If your dough is too soft to work with, refrigerate it 15-30 minutes.
5 Dust the surface of your dough and your cookie mold with flour. Press the mold into the dough just far enough down to fill the mold cavity. Remove your mold and cut out the cookie. Using a smaller cookie cutter, cut out the center of your image for the jam window.
6 Place your cookies on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Gather the scrap dough, roll out again and continue making cookies with impressions until you have used 1/2 of your dough.
7 Chill your cookie sheet full of molded cookies for at least 1/2 hour in the fridge.
8 While the first half of the cookies are chilling, roll out the second half of the dough for the backs of the cookies. Using the same size cutter that you used to cut out your cookies with the image, cut matching backs. Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet and refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour.
9 Take one cookie sheet out of the fridge and immediately place it in the center rack of a preheated 350 degree F oven. Bake your cookies about 8-10 minutes, depending on the size of the cookies. Remove the cookies when the bottoms are just beginning to turn golden brown. The tops should still be ivory. Let cookies cool for 5-10 minutes on the pan, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
10 To fill the cookies. Place the cookies with the image flat side up and spoon 1/2 teaspoon jam into the center, spreading it slightly. Top with a cookie that has the impression.
Yield: One batch will make approximately 12 complete 2 1/2 inch cookies.
© Copyright 2018, Lee Shepherd. All rights reserved.
TIP: I find the best results for sugar / butter cookie recipes is to place the impressed cookies (on a baking tray) into the refrigerator for several hours (or overnight) and then place the chilled cookie sheet directly (from refrigerator) into a preheated oven and then allowing the cookie to rest for ten minutes on baking tray before removing them to cool completely. Most butter cookie recipes (including chocolate butter cookie) perform well using this method.