Viennese Punch Cookies

Total Time: 1 hr 5 mins Preparation Time: 35 mins Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• 16 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 cup almonds, slivered, finely ground in the food processor (about 4 ounces)
• 2 1/2 cups flour, plus more for the work surface (spoon flour into a dry-measure cup and level off)
• 1/3 cup apricot preserves, strained
• 2 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted and slightly cooled
• 2 tablespoons dark rum (may substitute strained apricot preserves, see headnote)
• 2 teaspoons orange zest, finely grated
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest, finely grated
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted after measuring
• 2 tablespoons dark rum (may substitute strained apricot preserves, see headnote)
• 2 teaspoons water
• 1 drop liquid red food coloring

Recipe

• 1 position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 350 degrees. line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
• 2 for the dough: combine the butter and confectioners' sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer or hand-held electric mixer. beat on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes, until soft and light. add the ground almonds and mix well.
• 3 remove the bowl from the mixer and use a large spatula to incorporate the flour, mixing until the dough is smooth. lightly flour a work surface and turn the dough out onto it; divide into 3 equal portions.
• 4 lightly flour the dough, then gently roll it to about 3/8-inch thick. use a plain round cookie cutter to cut out 2- to 2 1/2-inch cookies and place them, spaced 1 inch apart, on the prepared pans. reserve the scraps from cutting the cookies in a bowl.
• 5 roll and cut the remaining 2 pieces of dough, reserving the scraps from the rolling and cutting with the others. there should be 48 cookie rounds.
• 6 bake the cookies for 7 to 8 minutes, until they are firm and dull-looking, rotating the baking sheets top to bottom and front to back 1/2 way through. (if you know that your oven gives strong bottom heat, use a third baking sheet to insulate the one on the lower rack.) slide the parchment papers off the baking sheets to cool the cookies.
• 7 arrange the dough scraps in a single layer on a parchment- or foil-lined baking sheet. while the cookie rounds are cooling, bake on the middle rack for 15 to 20 minutes, until firm, then cool the scraps on a wire rack.
• 8 for the filling: break up the cooled scraps and place them in the bowl of a food processor. pulse to grind coarsely. add the preserves, melted chocolate, rum, and orange and lemon zests; pulse until the filling holds a soft shape.
• 9 to fill the cookies, turn 24 of the cookies over so that the flattest (bottom) sides are facing up. spread a little less than 1 tablespoon of the filling on each cookie to within 1/8 inch of the edge. top with the remaining cookies, placing them bottom side down on the filling and gently pressing the two cookies together.
• 10 for the icing: combine the confectioners' sugar, rum, water and food coloring in a medium saucepan; stir until smooth. place over low heat and cook for several minutes, until it is just lukewarm (about 110 degrees measured on an instant-read thermometer). use a small offset spatula to spread a thin coat of the icing on top of each cookie. let set completely before storing or serving.