Best Spitzbuben Recipes

SPITZBUBEN (SWISS JAM COOKIES)

Steps:

• Beat the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy.
• Beat in the almond meal and vanilla flavouring and the white of 1 egg.
• Add the flour and knead until smooth.
• Chill dough in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours.
• Preheat over to 325 degrees.
• Roll out the dough on a lightly floured cutting board to the thickness of 1/8"-1/4" (the thinner the dough, the better the cookie).
• Cut with small round, star, or diamond-shaped cookie cutters.
• Use a smaller cookie cutter to cut a "window" in half the cookies (these will be the top of the cookie sandwiches).
• Place all the cookies on lightly buttered and floured cookie sheets.
• Bake for 12-15 minutes, until golden.
• Remove cookies from the baking sheet and let cool.
• Spread the cookies without a "window" with fruit jam.
• Coat the cookies with "windows" in confectioners' sugar, and then place on top of the cookies with fruit jam.

SWISS SANDWICH COOKIES (SPITZBUBEN)

Steps:

• Make cookies:
• Sift together flour, confectioners sugar, vanilla powder, and salt.
• Heat butter with an electric mixer until creamy. Mix in flour mixture at low speed just until blended. Form dough into a disk and chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, about 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 300°F.
• Roll out dough slightly less than 1/4 inch thick on a lightly floured surface and cut out 1 1/2-inch rounds.
• Arrange 1 inch apart on greased baking sheets. Reroll scraps once (cookies become tough if dough is worked too much). Whisk together powdered egg whites and water. Brush cookies with egg whites and sprinkle with sanding sugar.
• Bake cookies in batches in middle of oven until pale golden, 10 to 15 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool.
• Fill cookies:
• Sandwich jam and preserves between unsugared sides of cookies, filling half with raspberry and half with apricot.

SPITZBUBEN

Steps:

• To Make Vanilla Sugar: Combine 1 1/2 to 2 cups sugar with a rinsed and dried vanilla bean in a pint jar. Cover and shake well. Shake occasionally for 2 -3 days. Use flavored sugar, replenishing with fresh sugar, as needed.
• Beat butter or margarine until soft and fluffy. Mix in the confectioners' sugar, vanilla sugar, and salt until mass has a lighter color.
• Beat the egg white into the creamed mixture, making sure to incorporate fully. Add in the flour and mix. Cover the dough, and rest the dough in the refrigerator for one hour.
• Take the dough out of the refrigerator, and roll it out until it is about 3/4 inch thick. Cut out circles with pastry cutters. Cut smaller shapes into the middle of half of the circles.
• Bake in a preheated 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) oven for 6 to 8 minutes.
• Warm up marmalade, apricot, or raspberry jam. Put some jam on the cookies without the holes in the middle. Then put the cookies with the wholes on top of the ones with jam. Sprinkle a bit of confectioners' sugar on top to make them look nice.

SPITZBUBEN - A GERMAN HOLIDAY COOKIE

Steps:

• 1. Heat oven to 350.
• 2. Sift flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Mix butter, vanilla, *1 1/2 c. sugar, eggs and milk. Beat well. Add flour mixture and ground nuts. Mix well. Divide dough into 2 - 3 portions. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate several hours.
• 3. Flour wooden board and rolling pin. Cut w/cookie cutters (I use the small gingerbread man cutters for Christmas)and place on ungreased cookie sheets.
• 4. Bake approx. 10 min. until VERY lightly browned. DO NOT OVERBAKE. Cool to a warm temp. While still warm spread a cookie with jam, put another cookie on top to make a cookie sandwich and roll in remaining *1 c. sugar. Place on racks to cool. Store in tightly covered plastic container. Cookies are best when eaten the next day.