They go by various names, jelly cookies, spitzbuben (their "real" name), or window pane cookies when we make this version with our square cookie cutters. The original recipe, which is swiss or german in origin, used a butter cookie dough, but we usually add some ground hazlenuts to the dough, which makes them more like an austrian linzer tort.
The general idea is to make an equal number of tops and bottoms - they're the same shape and size, but with a window cut out of the tops. Dust the tops with powdered sugar and sandwich some jelly between the layers, and they're good enough to hide a few away when company comes.
What you see here is the last step in the assembly process:
My mother put a small note on the bottom of her recipe when she passed it along to me that said "do this over the sink." I didn't fully appreciate that note until I sprinkled powdered sugar all over my countertop the first year. That's why we're putting this tip up top! A drying rack over the sink and a small sieve (or you can use a sifter, but I think they're a pain to clean!) makes cleaning up the sugary mess a snap.
We melt the jelly in the microwave, about 45 seconds for a small jar, emptied into a bowl. It has to be cool enough not to run all over the place, but liquid enough to get a smooth, glossy blob on the bottom. You can see from the picture that you want your jelly blob to be just big enough to reach under the edges (think glue) but you don't want it smooshing out the edges. While this takes practice, the up side is you can eat your mistakes.
I bake my cookies on parchment paper for two reasons. It makes swapping out the pans easy, because they're essentially clean under the paper and because you can slide the entire sheet of cookies off your cookie sheet onto the cooling rack. I find I break fewer tops this way.
These cookies are extra work, like any roll-out cookie. I portion the dough into several lumps to refrigerate because it's easier to work your way through a small batch of dough before it gets too warm and soft to handle (and that doesn't make for good cookies either). That said, I always make a double batch, because they are everyone's favorite. Well, they're my favorite!
You can find other recipes on the web for spitzbuben, but here's the one I've been using, adapted from my mother's holiday notebook.
Spitzbuben
2 sticks of unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar plus more for dusting the tops
2 large egg yolks
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour (you can substitue up to 1/3 cup of the flour with finely ground hazlenuts but if you use more nuts, the dough will be dry and crumbly. I put the whole nuts in the food processer and run it until they have the consistency of cornmeal)
For the filling: 2/3 cup (1 small jar) seedless rasberry jam. Blackberry jam is also good.
Beat butter with an electric mixer until it is light and fluffy. Add the sugar and combine well. Add yolks beating well after each addition. Add flour and fold in thoroughly. Divide the dough into two equal portions and wrap in plastic wrap. Press it into even squares and refigerate until firm, at least 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 350*. Line two sheets with parchment paper. Lighly flour your working surface and roll the chilled dough out to about 3/16 inch thick. Using a 2-inch cookie cutter, begin cutting tops and bottoms. Tops have a smaller shape cut out. If you don't have ideal cookie cutters, you can use a round biscuit cutter for the larger size and a pastry bag tip or small shot-glass for the center cut-out.
I recommend doing a sheet of tops and a sheet of bottoms so you have the same number of each in every batch.
Put them in the oven, reduce the temperature to 325* and bake for about 12 minutes until they are golden brown. Transfer the parchment paper to cooling racks to cool completely.
Tip: let your cookie sheets cool thoroughly between batches - a warm sheet will begin melting the cookies as you put them on and they will look uneven.
When you're ready to assemble the cookies, follow the instructions above.
The cookies keep well between wax-paper layers in an airtight container for up to two weeks (or so I've been told!) You can also make the cookies ahead of time and freeze them in ziploc bags for a month without powdered sugar or jelly, then assemble when you're ready.
Here's hoping you enjoy your own version of this delicious tradition!
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