Hazelnut Linzer Cookies with Wine-Infused Jam
 
Makes 24 sandwich cookies
Ingredients
  • 2 cups (250 grams) plus 2 tablespoons (16 grams) all-purpose flour, divided
  • 1 teaspoon (5 grams) baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon (2 grams) ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon (1.5 grams) kosher salt
  • ½ teaspoon (1 gram) ground ginger
  • 1 cup (142 grams) raw hazelnuts
  • 1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, softened
  • ½ cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg (50 grams), room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon (4 grams) vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon (2 grams) almond extract
  • ¾ cup (240 grams) wine-infused jam*
  • ¼ cup (30 grams) confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 cups (250 grams) flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and ginger. Set aside.
  3. Place hazelnuts on a baking sheet, and toast for 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer nuts to a clean towel, and vigorously rub nuts in towel to remove as much of skins as possible. (Don’t worry too much about leaving some skin on the nuts—it adds a nice texture and color to the cookies.) Let cool completely.
  4. In the work bowl of a food processor, place hazelnuts and remaining 2 tablespoons (16 grams) flour; pulse until nuts are finely ground. (The flour will absorb the oils from the nuts and prevent a nut butter from forming in the food processor.) Add hazelnut mixture to flour mixture, whisking to combine. Set aside.
  5. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and granulated sugar at medium speed until creamy, 2 to 3 minutes, stopping to scrape sides of bowl. Add egg and extracts, beating until combined. With mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture, beating until combined. Divide dough in half, and shape into 2 disks. Wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.
  6. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
  7. On a lightly floured surface, roll half of dough to ¼-inch thickness. Using 2-inch round or square, fluted cutter, cut dough, rerolling scraps as necessary. (Refrigerate dough if it becomes too soft to get a clean cut.) Place at least 1 inch apart on prepared pans. Using desired 1-inch or smaller holiday-shaped cutters, cut centers from half of cookies. (Make sure you have the same number of tops to bottoms in each cookie shape.) Reserve some center cutouts for decorative accents. Repeat with remaining dough. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or overnight, or freeze until ready to bake.
  8. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
  9. Bake until edges are golden, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating pans halfway through baking. Let cool completely on wire racks.
  10. Spread 1½ teaspoons wine-infused jam on flat side of all solid cookies. Sprinkle cookies with cutouts with confectioners’ sugar. Place cookies with cutouts flat side down, on top of jam. Refrigerate cookies layered between sheets of wax or parchment paper in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
Notes
Use a variety of wine-infused jams for variety in taste and color. I used Grapefruit Ginger Rosé Jam, Strawberry & Pinot Noir Jam, and Marionberry Jam with Port from Vintner’s Kitchen, available atvintnerskitchen.com. You can also use regular jam.

You can get creative with sizes and shapes of cookies, but remember to account for the sizes and shapes when baking. If you make varying sizes, be sure to bake the cookies of similar size together as smaller cookies will bake quicker than larger cookies.
Recipe by Bake from Scratch at https://bakefromscratch.com/hazelnut-linzer-cookies-wine-infused-jam/