Spitzuben

By LoriCaputo

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cups butter
• 2 1/4 cups ground blanched almonds
• 2 teaspoons vanilla flavoring
• 3 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• apricot or strawberry jam
• confectioners' sugar

Preparation

Step 1

Beat the sugar and the butter together until light and fluffy. Beat in the almonds and the vanilla flavoring. Add the flour. Knead until smooth. Chill 1 to 2 hours. Preheat oven to 325 F. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured cutting board to the thickness of 1/8 to 1/4 inch; the thinner, the better the cookie. Cut with small round, star or diamond-shaped cookie cutters. Place the cookies on lightly buttered and floured cookie sheets. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden. Remove cookies from the baking sheet. Spread half the cookies with apricot jam. Top with the remaining cookies, dip the edges into confectioners' sugar.