Ischler Tortchen

2 ½ quarter pound sticks unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1 ¾ cups ground almonds
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
5 tablespoons of Raspberry Jam
Confectioners sugar

Cream butter and sugar in stand mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in flour, cinnamon, and almonds ½ cup at a time until stiff dough forms. Form into ball. Wrap in wax paper and refrigerate for an hour.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Roll dough to 1/8 inch thick. With 2 ½ inch cookie cutter cut out as many circles as you can. Knead left over dough; roll out and cut more circles. Place cookies on an ungreased 14 x17 cookie sheet one inch apart. Before placing in oven, cut out the center of half the cookies with a ½ inch circle cutter. I use the cap of a small bottle of vanilla. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes until cookies just begin to color. Watch them carefully because they burn easily. With a metal spatula, gently ease the cookies off the baking sheets onto a cake rack. Cool for 20 minutes, then make sandwiches with a thin coating of jam. Sprinkle tops with confectioner’s sugar.

Adapted from The Cooking of Vienna’s Empire, published by Time-Life