How to wow at this year's cookie swap: Linzer tart cookies

I think cookie swaps are one of the most adorable and accessible holiday party options. At the holidays, everyone is over-tasked, tired and broke; and the prospect of cooking a big meal for the entire family or bouquet of friends is daunting and exhausting. And too often, menu traditions can become old and we grow tired of cooking and eating the same things year after year. Cookie swaps allow for quick, inexpensive prep and countless recipe options.

I have a few trusty cookie recipes that I love and can always fall back on - mom's (unintentionally) gluten-free peanut butter cookies (which can be made into delicious fudge sandwiches), red velvet gooey butter cookies, and a classic chocolate chip cookie. However, ever since my parents bought a hard-backed 100+ page cookie cookbook when I was a child, I've loved experimenting with new recipes. And today, as a holiday gift for my boss and a test-run for my grandmother's cookie swap this weekend, I made raspberry linzer tart cookies.

My boss is a Brooklyn native through-and-through who has opened my eyes to many Yankee foods and culinary words (red sauce = gravy? what?), and linzer tarts are one of his favorite obsessions. I've looked for a year for a bakery making linzer tarts, but they they have no idea or contain either almond flour, almond extract or toasted almonds - and he has a serious nut allergy that I tirelessly protect him from. But today I found a delicious and incredibly easy nut-free recipe for the linzer cookies.

They do require several "resting" periods, but those respites actually allowed me time to clean up and rearrange between steps. Chilling times, excluded, these cookies are no more time consuming than any other recipe; because really, making uniform "dump cookies" where everything's mixed in one bowl and dropped onto sheets is pain in the ass.

The dough for this recipe makes a flaky, drier-than-most, subtly sweet shortbread-like cookie. If you enjoy shortbread, this is a great recipe - just nix the filling and cut it into any shapes you like. Also, this would be a wonderful base for those who love the Girl Scouts' Samoas/Caramel deLites. All you'd need to do is a top with a caramel/coconut mix (as easy as mixing shredded coconut with caramel ice cream topping) and drizzle with chocolate.

The filling is traditionally raspberry or strawberry preserves (with or without seeds, it's up to you) but this could be done to suit your palate. Apricot, currant or fig preserves would be great between the two cookies; just make sure it is a very thick, not watery jam, jelly or preserve. And imagine how impressed your friends would be if you'd made the preserves yourself too (that's next year's goal).

With linzer tarts, you cut the dough into circles and then cut a shape of your choice (traditionally a heart or spade) into half of the circles (I didn't have small shape cutter, so I used a tiny shot glass), so that when you sandwich the jam in between two cookies you have a pretty window to view the preserves. This stacking gives you a perfectly balanced cookie - the dough is very plain and the jelly can really pop and hit sweet and/or tart notes without being overpowering.

And we eat first with our eyes, so let me just say that these are BEAUTIFUL cookies. Just look at them! They look old fashioned without being heavy-handed and they give this air of sophistication, as though they're from some high end bakery or someone's grandma spent hours slaving away over them. They look wonderful as large cookies, but I also made mini sandwiches out of the tiny cutouts and they were gorgeous too! (And perfectly portioned for little kid tea parties).

If you're looking to impress and be the talk of the cookie swap this year, I highly recommend this recipe.

Nut-free Linzer Cookies

Ingredients:
3/4 lb (3 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 c granulated sugar
1 large egg at room temperature
3 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/4 t kosher salt
1 t vanilla extract
3/4 c thick preserves (I used raspberry)
powdered sugar for dusting

Method

Preheat oven to 350 and line baking sheets with parchment paper.

With an electric mixer, blend sugar and butter together until light and creamy. Add the vanilla and egg, beat until blended.

In a separate bowl, mix the salt and flour, then add them slowly to the butter and sugar mixture, mixing on low until the dough starts to come together.

Turn the dough onto a floured surface and shape into a flat disk. Split dough into two pieces, wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

Roll the dough into 1/4" thick and cut 2 3/4" rounds with a plain or fluted cutter. Try to make sure your dough is even, so that you don't have cookies which are thicker in different parts. The thinner cookies will be easier to eat, too.

With half of the rounds, cut a hole in the middle of each round. Place all cookies (even the cutouts) onto sheets and chill for 15 minutes. These cookies don't rise much, so you can really cram them onto the pan, just make sure they lay flat or they will be curled or angular.

Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes, until the edges just begin to brown. You won't think they're done, but once the edges start to hint at golden color, pull them.

Allow to cool to room temp. Spread preserves on the flat side of each solid cookie - around 1 T per cookie - and sandwich with a cookie with a cutout. Press gently to make sure they stick.

Dust the top of the cut-out cookies with powdered sugar.

Remember the warmer the cookies get, the more likely your preserves are to drip. I keep mine in the fridge until I'm ready to serve them or keep them in a cool place while left out.