Low-Carb Linzer Cookies for Christmas
I know, it's a little early for Christmas cookies, but – as regular readers of Stephencooks know – I love request cooking. Ask me to cook it for you, I'm there with the goods. This time the request was from Emily Fleischaker, Associate Multimedia Editor of Bon Appetit, asking me if I'd be interested in participating in Bon Appetit's "Blog Envy" Holiday Dessert Bake-Off.
Well, Bon Appetit is the mag that recently named my town (Portland, Maine) as the "Foodiest Small Town in America" so already I'm predisposed to want to play along with them. And – did I mention that I love request cooking? I'm there!
Year-end holiday meal days – Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's – are mine fields for people with diabetes. To survive with glucose readings intact you need a plan and a fairly high level of dedication. Missteps lurk at every platter and plate. So, as I considered what to present for the Bon Appetite bake-off, I wanted to make something satisfying but also something that people looking to control glucose levels can eat without suffering debilitating guilt with the morning-after finger-stick.
These sinful-looking cookies – inspired by the ancient Linzer Torte, which dates back to the 17th century -- are only 7 grams of carbohydrates each, thanks to the wonder of almond flour. Almonds, as you may know if you're on a glucose control regimen, are the ultimate wonder food: low in carbohydrates, high in fiber, high on the satisfaction index.
Low-Carb Linzer Cookies
Yeild: about 30 cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup no-calorie granulated sweetener (such as Splenda)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup cold butter, cut in 1/4" pieces (one stick, 4 ounces)
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 cups almond meal/flour (such as Bob's Red Mill ground blanched almonds)
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 tablespoons ice water
- 2 1/2 tablespoons unsugared seedless raspberry jam (such as Polanar)
- 2 teaspoons powdered sugar (confectioners sugar; 10x)
Method
Preheat oven to 350º.
1. Place sweetener, salt, butter, almond extract, cinnamon, almond flour and all-purpose flour in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse repeatedly to incorporated butter with the meal. Do not overprocess.
2. Add ice water and pulse briefly to combine.
3. Place contents of the processor bowl into a one-gallon food storage bag. Knead for a few seconds to coalesce ingredients into a lump. Chill dough for 30 minutes in the freezer.
4. Divide chilled dough into 4 equal portions. Place 3 portions back in the refrigerator.
5. Roll remaining portion of dough between sheets of parchment paper to a thickness of about 1/8".
6. Cut rolled dough with a cookie-cutter into 2" rounds.
7. Using a steel spatula, transfer one-half of the 2" rounds to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
8. Using mini-cookiecutters or a small knife, cut shapes from the center of remaining rounds. Remove shapes from rounds.
9. Spread 1/4 teaspoon of the jam on each of the rounds on the baking sheet.
10. Place one of the shape-removed rounds on each of the whole rounds on the baking sheet.
11. Repeat steps 6 through 11 for each of the remaining portions of dough.
12. Bake 15 minutes in the preheated 350º oven.
13. Immediately after removing from oven, sift the powdered sugar over the cookies.
14. Allow to cool thoroughly before removing from baking sheet.
Nutritional Estimate 30 Cookies. Per cookie: 96 Calories; 7 g Total Carbs; 1 g Dietary Fiber; 1 g Sugars; 7 g Fat; 8 mg Cholesterol; 41 mg Sodium; 2 g Protein. Weight Watchers: 2 points.
Print this recipe.The Bon Appetit Bake-Off is a competition, with the winner decided partially by reader votes. Take a look at the other entries by clicking HERE. Of course, I'd like your vote, if you think these little cookies are worthy of support...
Email
ShareThis
Comments
The comments to this entry are closed.
Just lovely! And I'm embarrassed to admit that I'd never thought about the idea of using a nut flour to reduce the carbs in baked goods. What a revelation! Will pick some up today.
PS I thought I had an early start on Thanksgiving and here you are, on Christmas!
Posted by: Alanna | November 02, 2009 at 12:38 PM
Hey - you are back and blogging! I've been sadly absent from my Google reader for the summer, but today I logged on suddenly noticed that you had new posts - hurrah! Welcome back :) The cookies look gorgeous.
Posted by: Jeanne | November 03, 2009 at 10:29 AM
Never too early for a cookie recipe.
Paz
Posted by: Paz | November 06, 2009 at 09:27 AM