Almond and raspberry are a winning combination, especially in these tender, sugar-coated cookie sandwiches. The generous amount of almonds in the dough doesn’t just flavor the cookies; it also tenderizes them for a rich melt-in-the-mouth texture. Sandwiched with sweet-tart raspberry jam, these cookies were delicious, but we went one step further to make them extra-special: We coated the sandwiches in granulated sugar for a sweet crunch and bit of sparkle. Filling the cookies with jam and coating them with the sugar while they were still warm helped the sugar stick to the baked cookies once they had cooled. The dough scraps can be gathered and rerolled; wrap them and refrigerate them briefly if they become too difficult to work with. Jams and preserves have superior berry flavor; do not fill the cookies with jelly. Our favorite is Smucker’s Red Raspberry Preserves. Sliced blanched almonds can be substituted for the slivered almonds.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour
- 1¼ cups slivered almonds
- ½ cup (3½ ounces) granulated sugar, plus ½ cup for coating
- 16 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces and chilled
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup raspberry jam
- Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Process 1 cup flour and almonds in food processor until almonds are finely ground, about 1 minute. Add ½ cup sugar and remaining 1 cup flour and process until combined. Add butter and vanilla and pulse until dough forms.
- Transfer dough to lightly floured counter and roll to ¼ inch thickness. Using 2-inch round cookie cutter, cut dough into circles; space circles 2 inches apart on prepared sheets. Gently reroll scraps, cut into circles, and transfer to prepared sheets. Bake until edges are light brown, about 15 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway through baking. Let cookies cool on sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack.
- Place remaining ½ cup sugar in bowl. Working quickly, spread 1 teaspoon jam over bottom of half of warm cookies, then top with remaining cookies, pressing lightly to adhere. Gently toss cookies in sugar to coat and transfer to wire rack. Let cookies cool completely before serving.
