Unlike the pumpkin-pecan pie from last week that was next to impossible to make look pretty, Linzer Sablé cookies are off-the-baking-rack pretty. Marye from Baking Delights listed Dorie's Linzer Sablés as one of the 50 best recipes for Christmas on the internet.

Linzer Sablés are the cookie version of the Linzertorte. Made with ground nuts (in my case ground almonds) and a filling of preserves. I used some homemade strawberry-rhubarb jam from my pantry to fill the middle. Sablés are a French butter cookie. Sablés means "sand" in French and refers to the sandy texture of this delicate and crumbly shortbread-like cookie.

Tips for Cutout Cookies
Cutout cookies are definitely more fussy and time-consuming, but the best tip for making cutout cookies comes from Dorie: use a freezer bag to roll the dough in. This tip is in the directions of her brown sugar-pecan shortbread cookies on page 127. I used to use a Silpat, but I've made some cuts in the Silpat in the process. For this recipe, I used two freezer bags. After I cut the bag open, I just rolled the remaining dough between the two sides of the bag.

I rolled the cookies pretty thin, so they didn't need to be in the oven as long (9-10 minutes for mine). I like them crunchy, but if you prefer them softer, you could roll them thicker or bake them for less time.

Another important tip is to refrigerate the dough before rolling, and optionally after cutting out so that they don't spread too much when baking.

Recipe: Linzer Sablés

Ingredients:

½ cup jam

Since the goal of the Tuesdays with Dorie baking group is to bake through the complete cookbook of Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours (a five-year project!), I thought I should start catching up with the recipes I missed before I joined.

In the beginning, the group was one: Laurie of quirky cupcake who came up with this brilliant idea. The first recipe she tackled was the Brown Sugar-Pecan Shortbread Cookies. On the dedication page in Dorie's cookbook, these cookies are shown in the picture as a favorite of her son's, so it seems a fitting start to such a project.

I’ve always loved shortbread, especially at Christmas, and have a recipe I always make, but it was nice to try someone else’s for a change.

Recipe: Brown Sugar-Pecan Shortbread Cookies

You can find the recipe for Brown Sugar-Pecan Shortbread Cookies in the book Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.

Another Shortbread Recipe
Here is my recipe for shortbread that I’ve used without fail every Christmas:

8 ounces cold butter, cut into small cubes
½ cup sugar
pinch salt
2 cups flour

Combine butter and sugar in mixer. Add salt and just enough flour to combine so that the dough comes together.

Place dough on lightly floured work surface. Knead a bit to smooth edges.

Roll to ⅜-inch thickness and cut into desired shape. Return to refrigerator to chill 20 minutes before baking in a preheating even at 300°F for 20-30 minutes.

Tasting Notes
This was a tasty shortbread with the pecan crunch and hint of cloves. Chilling the dough after rolling is key in this recipe since it tends to spread when baking if you don’t. Also, use cold, unsalted butter. Work dough as little as possible, but just enough to hold its shape. Bake at a low temperatures. Bake only until cookies begin to brown. The paler the color, the better.

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