Cookie Dough

Ingredients

• 8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 cup (about 4 ounces) whole hazelnuts with or without the skin, finely ground in the food processor
• 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour, spoon in and level
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves

Filling, Equipment and Decorating

Ingredients

• 1 cup seedless raspberry preserves
• Confectioners’ sugar for sprinkling
• 2 cookie sheets or jellyroll pans covered with parchment or foil

Procedure

1. For the dough, combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat with the paddle on medium speed until soft and lightened, about 5 minutes. Decrease the speed to low and beat in the ground hazelnuts.
2. Mix the flour and spices and beat it into the butter mixture, continuing to beat until the dough holds together. Remove the bowl from the mixer and use a large rubber spatula to give a final mixing to the dough.
3. Scrape the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap and cover with more wrap. Press the dough with the palm of your hand to make it about ½ inch thick. Slide the dough onto a cookie sheet and refrigerate it until firm, an hour or two or up to 3 days.
4. When you are ready to bake the cookies, set racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.
5. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and divide it into 3 pieces. Place one piece of dough on a floured work surface and return he remaining pieces to the refrigerator. Lightly flour the dough and gently press it with the rolling pin to soften slightly before rolling. Roll the dough a little less than ¼-inch thick.
6. Use a 3-inch plain round cutter to cut the dough into disks, lifting them with a small spatula and arranging them about 2 inches apart all around on the prepared pans. Place the scraps from cutting the cookie in a small bowl and refrigerate them. Repeat with the second and third pieces of dough, refrigerating the scraps every time.
7. Gently knead the scraps together and cut more cookies. Count the cookie bases and use a 1-inch round cutter to make a hole in the center of half the bases.
8. Bake the cookies until they are firm and golden, about 15 to 20 minutes. After the first 7 or 8 minutes, place the pan from the lower rack on the upper one and vice versa, turning the pans back to front at the same time. If you know that your oven gives strong bottom heat, bake the pan on the lower rack stacked on a second one for insulation. Slide the papers off the pans to cool the cookies.
9. While the cookies are baking, heat the preserves in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally. Let the glaze boil gently for about 3 or 4 minutes to evaporate excess moisture. After the cookies have cooled, dust the pierced one with confectioners’ sugar. Turn the unpierced bases over so that the bottom side is facing upward. Spread about ½ teaspoon of the glaze on the unpierced bases and place the pierced ones on top of them. Use a small spoon to fill the area in the center of the top cookie with a little more glaze.