Linzer Tarts

By Christy Rost

Everything comes up hearts when you serve buttery Linzer Tarts. These European favorites are two-layered, heart-shaped vanilla cookies with a strawberry fillling. Linzer Tarts make heartfelt gifts or a simple, but romantic dessert for Valentine's Day.

Ingredients:

1		cup unsalted butter, soft
1 ¼		cups confectioners sugar
2		eggs
1		teaspoon vanilla
3		cups flour
1		teaspoon salt
1		teaspoon baking powder
1/3		cup ground slivered almonds
1		10-ounce jar seedless strawberry jam

Cream butter with confectioners sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla until smooth.

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, salt, baking powder and ground almonds. Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture to form a soft dough. Cover dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate 1-2 hours until well chilled.

Roll out cookie dough on a floured pastry cloth to ¼-inch thickness. Cut with a 3-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter and place cookies on ungreased cookie sheets. Cut centers out of half of the cookies using a 1-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter.

Bake cookies at 375 degrees for 6-7 minutes until edges are light brown. Remove from cookie sheets and cool on a wire rack. When cookies are completely cool, spread solid cookies with strawberry jam, mounding jam in center of cookie; top with remaining cookies. Sift cookies with confectioners sugar.

Recipe makes 22-25 Linzer tarts.