Filled Almond Cookies

MAKES 1 TRAY

For the dough: ¾ cup + 2 tbsp (200 g) soft butter, 1¼ cups (150 g) powdered sugar, 3 eggs, 1 pinch of salt, zest from 1 organic lemon, pulp from 1 vanilla bean, 1 cup + 1 tbsp (¼ 1) cream, 2 1/3 cups + 1 tbsp (300 g) flour, 1½ cups + 1 tbsp (150 g) ground almonds

To be sprinkled on top: ½ cup + 2 tsp (50 g) chopped almonds

For the filling: 1¾ oz (50 g) almond nougat (alternatively traditional nougat), 1/3 cup (75 g) butter

Additional: piping bag with a round tip, parchment paper

Preheat the oven to 390°F (200°C), unless you have a convection oven, in which case preheat to 355°F (180°C), or a gas oven, in which case preheat to level 4. Cream the butter with the powdered sugar and eggs. Add salt, lemon zest, and the scraped-out pulp from a vanilla pod. Add in the cream gradually. Mix the flour with the ground almonds and quickly fold in to the mixture.

Pour the batter into a piping bag with a round tip and squeeze circular cookies onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle with chopped almonds. Place into the preheated oven (middle rack) and bake for about 10 minutes, until light brown. Remove and let cool.

For the filling, stir the almond nougat with the butter in a bowl until creamy and then let melt in a double boiler. Assemble these treats by spreading nougat between two cookies to form sandwiches. Place on a wire rack and leave them there to harden.

Let the almond cookies sit out overnight at room temperature before putting them in an airtight container to ensure the nougat filling has completely hardened.

 

It is a quote. Christmas Cookies Dozens of Classic Yuletide Treats for the Whole Family 2015