170g(1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter(at room temperature)
70g(¾ cup) granulated sugar
1egg yolk
70g(¾ cup) ground hazelnuts (you can also use raw almonds or almond flour)
200g(1 ½ cup) gluten-free flour mix
½teaspoonsalt
½teaspoonground cinnamon
1teaspoonpure vanilla extract
½cupstrawberry or Raspberry jam*link for homemade jam in the instruction
confectioners sugar for dusting
Instructions
Preheat your oven to (175°C) 350°F and set aside a clean tea towel. Place hazelnuts in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet, and place in the center of the preheated oven. Roast for 10 minutes, or until fragrant. Remove the hazelnuts from the oven and place them immediately in the center of the tea towel, cover the hazelnuts with the towel and rub vigorously from the outside of the towel to remove the skins of the hazelnuts. Place the peeled and roasted hazelnuts in the bowl of a food processor along with ¼ cup (50 grams) white sugar, and process until finely ground. Adding the sugar will help prevent from proccesing the hazulnuts into a paste or a butter.
In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and remaining 50g of sugar until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Beat in the vanilla extract and egg yolks. Finally, beat in the ground almonds and then the flour mixture. Divide the dough in half, cover each half with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm (for about 1 hour) .
Preheat oven to 175° C (350°F). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Remove one ball of dough from the refrigerator. On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough until it is about ¼ inch (.5 cm) thick. Using the desired cookie cutter, cut the cookies. Place the cookies about 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart on the prepared baking sheet. Use a smaller cookie cutter to cut out the centers of half of the cookies on the baking shee.t
Repeat with the second ball of dough. (Note: If you find the cookies are soft, place the baking sheets with the unbaked cookies in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes to chill the dough. This will prevent the cookies from spreading and losing their shape when baked.)
Bake the cookies for about 12 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.
To Assamble the cookies
If you want to make a homemade strawberry jam. Check out this recipe.
Once the cookies are completely cooled, place the cookie tops (with the cutout centers) face up on a clean sheet of parchment paper. Sprinkle evenly with confectioners’ sugar. On a separate sheet of parchment paper, place the whole, bottom cookies, face down, and place 1 teaspoon of jam on the underside of each cookie, spreading the jam into an even layer. Top with the sugared cookies. Do not use much pressure in assembling the cookies or the tops will break.