Viennese Punch Cookies
A Viennese-style sandwich cookie flavored with punch, filled with rum, apricot jam, and chocolate pieces, and finished with a pink icing glaze.
Ingredients
Unsalted butter (softened)
16 tablespoons (2 sticks)
Powdered sugar
1 cup
Sliced almonds (ground to a fine powder in a food processor)
1 cup (about 4 ounces/100 grams)
All-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
2- cups
Dark rum
2 tablespoons
Orange zest (finely grated)
2 teaspoons
Lemon zest (finely grated)
2 teaspoons
Powdered sugar (sifted)
2 cups
Dark rum (for the glaze)
2 tablespoons
Water (for the glaze)
2 teaspoons
Red food coloring (liquid)
1 drop
Baked cookie scraps (for the filling)
to taste
Apricot jam (strained)
1/2 cup
Semi-sweet chocolate (melted and cooled)
2 ounces (50 grams)
Instructions
1
Preheat the oven
Position oven racks in the upper third and lower third of the oven; preheat to 350°F (180°C). Prepare two baking sheets lined with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
2
Cream the butter and sugar
Place the butter and powdered sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat at medium speed until soft and light, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the ground almonds and beat to combine.
3
Finish the dough
Remove the bowl from the mixer and use a large rubber spatula to stir in the flour until the dough comes together and is smooth. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and divide into 3 equal portions.
4
Roll and cut the cookies
Dust the dough and the work surface with flour and gently roll the dough out to about 3/8 inch (1 cm) thick. Use a round cutter to cut out 2 to 2.5 inch (5 to 6 cm) cookies and place them on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart. Reserve the scraps in a bowl. Repeat rolling and cutting with the remaining two pieces of dough, gathering all the scraps together as you go.
5
Bake the cookies
Bake the cookies until they are firm and have lost their sheen, 15 to 20 minutes. After 7 to 8 minutes, swap the positions of the top and bottom sheets and rotate the pans front to back. If the bottom of the oven is browning too quickly, double-pan the bottom sheet by placing it on top of another baking sheet. Slide the parchment with the cookies off the sheet and onto a rack to cool.
6
Bake the scraps
While the cookies bake, spread the scraps in a single layer on a parchment- or foil-lined baking sheet. Bake using the same method as the cookies, then cool on a rack.
7
Make the filling
Break the cooled scraps into pieces and place them in a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Pulse until coarsely ground. Add the jam, melted chocolate, rum, and orange and lemon zests, and pulse until the filling just holds its soft shape.
8
Assemble the sandwich cookies
Flip half of the cookies over so that the flattest side is facing up. Spread less than 1 tablespoon of filling on each base cookie, spreading to within 1/8 inch (3 mm) of the edge. Top with another cookie and press gently together.
9
Make and apply the glaze
Combine the powdered sugar, rum, water, and food coloring in a medium saucepan. Stir until smooth. Heat over low heat until the glaze is just warm, about 110°F (45°C). Use a small offset spatula to spread a thin layer of the glaze on top of each cookie.
