Dutch Letter Cookies Chef John's Recipe

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Dutch Letter Cookies

"These are delicious, tender, flaky cookies filled with almond paste. They are the first ones to disappear at our house during the holidays. You can shape them into any letter you desire, try spelling out names or greetings."

Ingredients :

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, chilled
1/3 cup ice water
8 ounces almond paste
1 egg
1/4 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/3 cup granulated sugar for decoration

Instructions :

Prep :	Cook : 12M	Ready in :

In a medium bowl, stir together flour and salt. Cut in chilled butter until the texture of the mix is mealy with pea sized lumps.
Add ice water gradually while stirring with a wooden spoon until dough forms a ball. Cover your dough and chill for 1/2 hour.
To make filling, in a small bowl, mix together the almond paste and sugar. Add the egg and mix well.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C ).
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/4 to 1/8 inch thickness, making as square as possible. Cut the dough into strips 6 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide (about the width of a ruler). Using a pastry bag or a strong plastic bag with a small hole cut from the corner, pipe almond filling down the center of the strip starting halfway down. Fold the top half of the strip down over the almond filling to match the bottom.
Shape strips into desired letters, brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until golden brown. If you are using all butter in your recipe, check after 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.