Maria's Ischli Cookies

---------- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05

Title: Maria's Ischli Cookies
Categories: Cookies
Yield: 2 Dozen

1/4 lb Almonds or hazelnuts; chop
-fine
1/2 lb Butter; room temp
1/4 lb Sugar
1/2 lb Flour
Seedless raspberry preserves
CHOCOLATE ICING
1/4 lb Bittersweet chocolate; melt
1/4 c Water
3 tb Superfine sugar
1 ts Instant espresso coffee
1 tb Butter

If you cannot buy nuts already ground, then grind them in a processor,
taking care not to overprocess them or they will turn oily; you can also
process them with the sugar to prevent them from turning oily. (Note if you
are working with whole hazelnuts, toast them first in a 400~ oven, rub off
skins, let cool and then grind.) Combine the nuts with the butter, sugar
and flour; you will have to combine this dough with your hands; if a bit
too dry, add drops of lemon juice or rum. Form dough into a roll 1 1/4"
thick. Refrigerate overnight in waxed paper or parchment. Following day
preheat the oven to 350~. Cut dough into 1/4" slices and bake on an
ungreased cookie sheet for 15 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven and
cool cookies on a rack. When cooled to room temperature, sandwich two
cookies together with raspberry jam and spread some of the chocolate icing
(see below) over the top cookie. For a pretty presentation, set them in
fluted paper cups. CHOCOLATE ICING-Melt chocolate with water and sugar.
When melted, add instant coffee and cook over very low heat for 5 minutes.
Turn heat off, add butter and let icing cool to room temperature. (Don't
let it get too firm or it will be hard to spread over cookies.) Yield: 1
1/2 cups. Source: Cooking Monday to Friday, TVFN. MM Waldine Van Geffen
vghc42a@prodigy.com.

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