Raspberry Almond Linzer Cookies

Happy Valentine's Day! 

Since I love you all so much for reading this crazy blog, I decided to bake you a Valentine's treat to make your heart happy (literally). 

These cookies are the oh-so-so-SO-good-melt-in-your-mouth kind. Seriously, a very reliable taste-testing source told me these were his "favorite cookies ever, hands down." I encourage you to find out for yourself... :)

With a hint of almond, smothered in raspberry jam and topped with a dusting of confectioners' sugar, these cookies are the perfect sweet treat to share with your loved ones this Valentine's Day. Pair them with a warm cup of tea or hot chocolate for an even fancier indulgence!

Have a heart (pun intended) and celebrate Valentine's Day with Raspberry Almond Linzer Cookies made with love. Enjoy!

Raspberry Almond Linzer Cookies
Ingredients: 16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature 2/3 cup plus 3 Tbsp. confectioners' sugar 1 large egg yolk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon almond extract (if almond isn't your thing, you can sub this out for another extract or leave it out altogether for more vanilla-based cookie) 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 2/3 cup seedless raspberry jam
Directions: Preheat oven to 325°F; line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Beat butter and 2/3 cup sugar until fluffy. 
Beat in egg yolk, vanilla and almond extract, then flour and salt. Shape dough into 2 disks; wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least two hours.
On a floured surface, roll out dough to about a 1/8-inch to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut out cookies with a medium or large heart-shaped cutter. Use a smaller heart cutter to cut a window out of half of cookies. 
With a spatula, carefully transfer cookies to prepared baking sheets. Repeat with remaining dough. Gather scraps and roll out again to make more cookies.
Bake cookies in batches until edges of cookies are just golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes, then transfer cookies onto wire racks to let cool completely.
Spread 3/4 tsp. jam over flat side of each cookie that doesn't have a window. Sift 3 Tbsp. confectioners' sugar over each cookie with a window. Top cookies with jam with window-cookes flat side down, so that jam shows through windows. 
Enjoy! Makes about 6-8 cookies (I doubled the recipe).
Recipe adapted from My Recipes.