Sometimes, you have such a great idea that you think you’ve almost won a lottery with it. A few days ago, I had an idea….
Sitting on my dining table, with a hot cup of coffee in one hand and typing in the other. I typed in ‘snowflake cutters’, and there it was at William-Sonoma website. I added it to the bag, quickly forgetting about it, as I had lots to do that day. After a couple of days, I was watching my favorite Vlog on YouTube, when I saw an ad of those same snowflake cutters staring at me. It’s funny how the advertising agencies can monitor all your Internet activities. And, of course, it’s showing me the thing that I wanted to buy. Weird. I finally went ahead and ordered and waited for it for 4 whole days. They came on a Thursday, so pretty and screaming at me to use them soon. My idea: making Lintzer cookies with the snowflake cutter. The bottom cookie would be a round plain one and the top would be this gorgeous snowflake like cookie dusted with powdered sugar and jam peaking through the tiny little cutouts. They looked perfect in my mind. I didn’t see anything like that on Pinterest or anywhere. They definitely are going to be stunning. Oh well, I thought it would be stunning.
The next day, I set out my camera, staged everything, pulled out my frozen dough and took a pretty shot of it with the snowflake cutter. And then, my beautiful dream was shattered. One press into the dough, with weighted breath for it to pop out of the cutter, it didn’t. Everything got stuck in there. I tried hard to use a small wooden spoon to pop out the cut outs, they just broke badly. I tried dusting the cutter for my next try, that didn’t do anything. I tried again, again, and again, but to no avail. After all my ordeals I was convinced that those cookie cutters were just ornaments. I pulled all the dough together, rolled it out and re-froze the sheet. I then thought to myself, “No wonder the linzer cookie was made traditionally with simple cutters.” My idea did seem beautiful, but it really wasn’t too practical. There was a reason…(sighs)
After a couple of hours, I got my trusty cookie cutter set and made these beautiful ones . The cutter of my dreams didn’t work for this, but I will come up with some cookie dough which will work with the snowflake cutter. If you know a recipe or trick, please let me know. In the meanwhile, I leave you with these delicious cashew cookies with apricot and raspberry jellies.
I have seen recipes with almond flour in them or all flour. Here the cashews add a great touch, nutty and tasty. A few things that I have learnt:
- Roll the dough between 2 plastic wraps and freeze them on baking trays. That way, you just pull them out, cut them, transfer to another tray and bake them. It also doesn’t stick to the cutters. It’s easy and a trick I learnt from a pastry chef. It works. You cut down on the refrigerator time.
- Dust the top of the cookies separately and then sandwich them.
- They stay perfect in tightly bottled jars for about 3-4 days and then they turn too soft. You can bake and store, sandwich them when are you ready to give them out too.
And for all you new cooks, remember, trying new things is always important, even if they fail miserably like mine did. Trust me, I wouldn’t have come close to where I am today as a self taught cook without making many mistakes. Try to go out of your comfort zone, and even if it doesn’t work, don’t take it to heart too much! Just find another alternative and cook away, like I did!
Luv Asha
- 1 stick/113 grams unsalted butter softened
- ½ cup white sugar
- 1 egg
- ½ cup cashews
- 1½ cups All Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- pinch of salt
- Strawberry and Apricot Jam
- Powdered or confectioners sugar
- Toast the cashews in a pan or put in an oven for 5 minutes. Let cool completely. Use a food processor, add the cashews and ¼ cup of sugar and powder it. Make sure not to process it too much or else it will be a paste. Take the powder out and set aside.
- Beat softened butter and sugar till soft and fluffy in a stand mixer or hand mixer.
- Add the egg and mix it well.
- In a bowl, add the cashew powder, all purpose flour, baking powder and salt and mix well.
- Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and form a dough. Wrap the dough in a plastic with wrap and refrigerate for an hour or even overnight. Alternatively, You could also roll it to a ¼ of an inch in between 2 plastic wraps and lay it on a flat baking tray and freeze for 20 minutes or refrigerate for 30 minutes and cut out and bake.
- Roll the dough to a ½ cm and cut out the desired shapes. For lintzer cookies, use one size of cookie cutter and cut a smaller hole in the middle for half the cookies before baking and bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned.
- After the cookies are completely cooled. Take the cookies with a cut center and sprinkle with some powdered sugar before assembling it. Spread with some jam and sandwich it.
- You can sandwich them before serving. The plain cookies will stay good for a week in an airtight container.
- ENJOY!
Make sure to refrigerate the dough and then roll and cut out.
Love, love, LOVE the cookie trick Asha! So smart! I need to start doing that on my shortbread cutout cookies! These are absolutely gorgeous, and no sticking, eh? The colorful jam and presentation is a fabulous gift idea. Were these for the bake sale? If so, I bet they sold out in a flash! Delicious recipe my dear and the cashews = delicious! xo Happiest of holiday to you and yours, Asha!
Thank you so much for your kind words Traci. Means a lot.
Yes, I made a huge batch of these and boxed them for the sales and few more different cookies, Chocolate chip was one for sure. It really turned out very well. Thanks my friend. Happy Holidays to you my lovely.
xoxo
Those cookies are STUNNING!!! I remember when I used to chow them down without even blinking an eyelash! ha!
I’m sorry your snowflake linzer cookies didn’t become a reality, but these are stunning nonetheless! I’ve never made them and I know I need to change that. Thanks for the tips, and I’ll be sure I don’t try to use my snowflake cutters!
Haha, yup, no snowflake cutter for these. Thanks Marcie, I was pretty excited for this one. Looking forward to seeing yours sometime.
Have a wonderful day.
The traditional linzer dough is a hard one to work with. It’s very moist and sticky and really hard to roll. I understand why they keep them simple! I did make some heart shaped linzers for Valentines one year, they came out quite pretty.
No worries though, these cookies are quite stunning! Gorgeous shapes and beautiful filling.
I completely agree, the dough was hard to deal with, but rolling between sheets and freezing really helped.
Thanks my friend. Hugs
Baking Linzer cookies has been in my wishlist for christmas. However will try baking them eggless. I have some fresh strawberry jam, so shall use it up . Thanks for sharing Asha. As for the snowflake cookie cutter, thankfully I don’t have them and you don’t get it easily here. Pinned!!
Eggless will be awesome. I’ve done that and it tastes great, crispier. Thanks my friend.
aww that sucks but these turned out equally beautiful!! love!
It does, doesn’t it?! Oh well, I will find a way to use them.
Thanks my dear.
Gorgeous! I love lintzer cookies with its buttery dough and sweet preserves. Merry Xmas to you and your family and a very blessed 2016.
Thanks dear Denise. Hope you and your family are doing wonderful and Merry Christmas to you. Hugs.
Beautiful cookies and lovely cashew version of the classic lintzer! Lintzer cookies have been on my list of things to make for x’mas but I’ve still yet to do it, so I’m happy to admire them here. And I agree about trying things even if you’re uncertain or it doesn’t work out. In most cases, there’s a way to “save” it. You switched up your game plan admirably and these are just lovely! Enjoy all the cookies and holiday fun! I’m off to bake and pack up more gifts…
Hope you are doing well. You have baking up a storm in that kitchen of yours. Linzer cookies are pretty amazing right?! Hope you get to make them. I agree, there’s always a way to save it. Thanks my friend and sending you loads of hugs.
Sorry to hear your story of the cutters.. sometimes things seems so promising turn out not as much.. but you have a fighter spirit for sure 🙂 if it was me I would have given up. Sometimes I freak out from commercials on my laptop .. do they hear us talking :)))), amazing really. Liked your cookies a lot.. Fb this at once.
Thank you for stopping by. I agree they did turn out well. Oh yes, the commercials are scary.
xx
Yup, I know kitchen disasters. All too well. 🙂 Sorry the snowflake cutters didn’t work out — terrific idea, though. Still, these more traditionally-shaped cookies are terrific, too. Thanks!
I’ve never frozen my cookie dough – why Asha – that’s a brilliant idea – thanks so much for passing that along. I am sorry your snowflake cutters didn’t work this time – but I have a feeling you will find a way to make them work – even if it takes you many tries. And Asha – these are gorgeous – any sort of cutout cookie is hard for me to master and these are stunning!
These cookies look amazing!
They look so festive and stunning, Asha. I love the use of cashew here.
Sorry I’m late to this post!!! These cookies are so beautiful, I only missed them because I have been caught in self loathing and trying to bake my way into the holiday spirit. Anyways, I hate when an idea or recipe fail happens, but it is apart of life… especially food bloggin’ life! In all honesty these cookies are awesome, and I’m somewhat happy you had a fail. *don’t kill me for saying that* it’s just these are amazing! I’m obsessed with anything cashew, so these beauties need to happen in my kitchen!!! Love them. LOVE your photography, my dear! Pinned! Xoxo
I have to admit I get highly discourage when a cooking adventure does not go as planned. So much time, money and effort goes into making special dishes like this. But your second attempt turned out so well. Before I read that you had to switch cutters, I wouldn’t have realized the cookies weren’t made with the original snowflake cutter you wanted to use. I had a similar situation with taking photos yesterday where the first attempt didn’t work out. My camera kept jamming. But I was determined to try again (because I had put so much effort into getting ready). I found a new location and went for it. The camera started working and the photos turned out great. I guess I have to admit this lesson can apply to cooking. Next time I’m in the kitchen and things don’t go my way, I’ll think of you, try not to get discouraged and give it another shot 😉
xx Yasmin
http://banglesandbungalows.com
Love this post, Asha! Yes, rolling cookie dough for cutouts between two sheets of lightly floured plastic food wrap does the trick as does either chilling or freezing the dough. The higher the butter content in the recipe, the dough will perform better for cutouts after a pass in the freezer. This is how I prepare dough for cutouts and how I instructed to do so back many moons ago on recipe cards when I had a holiday copper cookie cutter line. This method makes cutting out cookies with cutters so much easier! Plus, if you get distracted (hello, busy moms?) you can quickly place the tray back into the fridge or freezer then resume the cutout work when whatever crisis has ended. 😉 Sorry your experiment with the snowflake cutter didn’t work for this recipe. Those tight corners do not like to release raw cookie dough…especially with ground nuts. Next time, try a nut-free dough recipe for your snowflake cutouts. If the dough gets stuck in the tight corners, try using the blunt end of a wooden skewer, from the underside so it doesn’t mess up the top of the baked cookie, to help release the cutout. This, of course, only works for open-style cookie cutters like your pretty snowflake cutter. Good luck with your dreamy holiday snowflake cookies, Ash! And thanks for sharing your story with this yummy recipe for Cashew Linzer Cookies! xo
Looks like we both made cashew cookies this week, although yours are much more elegant!
Isn’t it strange how we have a picture of how things should turn out and they almost never do the way we imagined it! You know how I failed miserable with decorating my own cookies! 🙂
That cookie trick of yours is fantastic and I will definitely be using it. Happy Holidays dear Asha! <3
These look darling. Perfect for the holidays. I have never made lintzer cookies before. I am afraid they won’t turn out for some reason. Sorry your cookie cutter idea didn’t work 🙁
Well you saved the day beautifully, or shall I say deliciously. Sometimes simple is better. GREG
I love the beauty and elegance of this cookie, Asha! I’ve never made linzer cookies before but now I want to rush to the kitchen and try! And as far as kitchen disasters go – I’m becoming quite the master…gotta love those teachable moments! Thanks for sharing your story and this special little cookie, my dear! xo
Linzer cookies are beauties. Looks like it is linzer cookies galore everywhere this holiday season (I made them too!).
I like your version with cashews, Asha. They look delectable!
We learned something again: those are called Lintzer cookies!:) Even though the cutters didn’t work as promised, you managed to create a stunning result. Perhaps just like the one you had in mind when you started?:) Because those are so beautiful!
All us bloggers have been there, camera on the tripod, lights in the background, and something doesn’t work as it’s supposed to!:) So we totally get the frustration!:) But you did a great job, and overcame the obstacles! Kudos!
We also think that chilling the dough always helps with the cutters. We don’t chill it when we want to make cookies by hand, when we need a softer dough, like in melomakarona (we baked a huge bunch of those this Christmas!).
Have a beautiful day dear Ash!
xoxoxo