linzer cookies with fig jam

the whole repurposing craze has caught me. i just love it-the idea of turning useless stuff into a money maker; i’m all about that. honestly, i do like the idea of using things in a new or unusual way. we hung a wire window planter box up on our kitchen wall. ok, not exciting. except we hung it upside down and use hooks to hang pots from it. fascinating stuff, i know! what does it have to do with cookies? nothing. it was the repurposing thing, i went off track here…

so, back to the story, as a tuesdays with dorie baker, i often make things i would not generally make for just the two of us. it is often way more than we can eat. sometimes i cut the recipe in half or freeze half. for a recent baking challenge, we made a crostata. it called for a rich, short crust that was loaded with almonds and sesame seeds. since i wanted to make a smaller tart, i had a big ball of dough leftover and i froze it for another day. a recent get together of local food bloggers seemed like a good time to use it since it would make wonderful bite sized linzer cookies. read all about the tart and see the recipes by clicking here.

cookie cutters are something i collect; i have hundreds of them. literally, hundreds. this is an inexpensive set that i found while wandering through a local tjmaxx/homegoods store. they are double sided so you can use the straight side or the fluted side-10 cutters for the price of 5!

to roll out little bite sized sandwich cookies, i used a pair of thin wooden dowels. that is my secret for a consistent thickness and by choosing different sized dowels, i get the dough rolled out to the necessary thickness every time.

to cut the window of the top cookie in the sandwich, i pulled out a different set of cutters. this is a larger set of straight circles made of metal.

a quick sprinkle of sanding sugar gave the cookies a nice sparkle.

a small dollop of homemade fig jam was the perfect choice of filling for a dough studded with almonds and sesame seeds.

finishing the sandwiches with the top cookie

all ready to go on my fancy vintage pressed aluminum serving tray-a treat fit for serving to food bloggers! and by the way, i came home with an empty tray…