Linzerhearts

Recipe By Molly O'Neil

I have been making these cookies for the past few years. Joan and I fell in love on Valentine's day and it is a special anniversary for us. These are a great way to celebrate Valentine's Day

6 tablespoons cookie crumbs

1 cup almonds -- finely ground

3/4 tablespoon sugar -- plus 2 tablespoons

2 1/4 cup pastry flour

1 teaspoon baking powder -- scant

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon sea salt -- finely ground

1 cup chilled unsalted butter

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups raspberry preserves -- seedless

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter. Beat in the remaining sugar. Beat in one egg and the vanilla extract until creamy, Stir the dry ingredients into the butter until just combined. Halve the dough, form into 2 disks, wrap in plastic and chill until very firm, at least 2 hours.

On a floured surface, roll out half the dough to a 1/6 inch thickness. Use a pastry brush to brush off the excess flour on the top of the dough. And use a large (about 3 1/2 inches at its widest point) heart-shaped cutter to stamp out as many hearts as possible. Use a wide spatula to transfer them to parchment-lined cookie sheets and chill. Gather the scraps, form in to a disk and refrigerate. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a cup, .lightly whisk the remaining egg. Remove the Chilled large hearts from the refrigerator and, using a small pastry brush, brush a coating of egg around the edges of each. Use a spatula to carefully lift the rings from the cookie sheets and place each over a heart. Press gently with your fingers to make them adhere. Brush the rings with more egg. Bake the cookies until the hearts are lightly colored, about 10 minutes.

Remove from the oven and drop about a tablespoon of the preserves into the centers, spreading to fill. Return the cookies to oven and bake until the jam is set but not bubbling, about 3 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool the cookies on the sheets.

"New York Times"

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 127 Calories; 5g Fat (35.0% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 17g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 24mg Cholesterol; 67mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 1 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

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