Phenomenal Phoods

Apricot Cookies (Aprikosenplatzchen)

Ingredients:

For the cookies:

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/4 cups icing sugar
• 250 grams Marzipan (this works out to be just a teensy bit more than one tube of Marzipan)
• 1 egg
• 1 egg white
• 1 cup butter
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 package vanilla sugar (I often can't find vanilla sugar in the States and just add 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon almond extract

For the filling and glaze:

• 1 jar apricot preserves
• 1 1/2 cups icing sugar
• 2 tablespoons Kirsch
• 1-2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon almond extract

Instructions:

For the cookies:

1. Sift flour onto a clean surface and make a well in the centre. (I use a bowl for this, but the classic recipe instructions do say to just do this on your countertop). Add cold butter, cutting it in with a pastry cutter until it forms small pea-sized bits.
2. Add the marzipan (you will have to use your fingers to squash the marzipan so it mixes in properly and without lumps), icing sugar, vanilla sugar, salt, and almond extract.  Mix the eggs with the baking soda and add to the mixture. Work with your hands until it forms a smooth dough. Wrap in saran wrap and refrigerate for an hour.
3. Roll out the chilled dough and cut into rounds. Make an equal number of whole circles and circles with a small hole cut out of the center. I apparently can't count, and I had way too many whole circles.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F for 8-10 minutes.

For the filling and glaze:

1. Heat the apricot jam and put it through a sieve to smooth it out. Spread a small amount of jam on each bottom cookie and top with one of the cookies with the holes in the center.
2. Mix the icing sugar, Kirsch, almond extract and milk until runny enough to brush onto the cookies but not so runny that it will just slide right off. Add more milk or icing sugar as needed to get the right consistency.
3. Brush each cookie all over with the glaze.