| 3 cup All-purpose flour | | 12 cup Granulated sugar | | 2 x Egg yolks, beaten | | 1 tbl Pure vanilla extract | | 1/2 tsp Salt | | Grated rind of 1 lemon | | 1 cup Unsalted butter, softened | | filling---- | | 12 oz Apricot preserves | | 1 tbl Fresh lemon juice | | 1 tbl Rum | | Confectioners' sugar |
| | Preparation Time: 1 1/4 hours | | Cooking Time: 10 to 12 minutes | | 1. Sift flour into a large mixing bowl and make an indentation or well in the center of the flour. Add the sugar, egg yolks, vanilla , salt and lemon rind to the well. Mix the ingredients in the well together with the flour. Then cut in the butter using a pastry cutter or two sharp knives. At this point the dough will resemble coarse crumbs. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and knead it with your hands until smooth and firm. Divide dough in half and shape into two balls. | | 2. Wrap tightly in plastic. Refrigerate until firm enough to roll out, about 1 hour. | | 3. Meanwhile, heat the apricot preserves over low heat, stirring constantly. Stir in lemon juice and rum . Let cool. | | 4. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Place the chilled dough on a lightly floured surface or between two sheets of floured wax paper. Roll out with a floured rolling pin to about 1/4-inch thickness. Cut out circles of dough about 2 inches in diameter. Place half of the circles onto greased or non-stick cookie sheets. Cut the other half of the circles again with a small shot glass or cookie cutter to form a ring shape. (Make an equal amount of rings to circles.) Place the rings onto buttered baking sheets. Bake until light gold, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool a little on the cookie sheets. | | 5. To assemble, brush the still-warm circles with the cooled apricot mixture. Place one ring on top of each circle and press gently (they break easily) to secure. Spoon a small dollop of the apricot mixture into the center of the cookies. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. | | Cool. Store in a tightly closed tin. | | Infused with bits of lemon and pure vanilla and filled with apricot preserves and rum, the buttery rounds brought second-place honors to their baker, German-born Anne Kroemer of Chicago. Anne uses a wine glass and a smaller schnapps glass to cut out these cookies. We've made them slightly smaller by using round cookie cutters; biscuit cutters work as well. |
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