Dutch Letters

Dutch Letters

A recipe for these was mentioned, yet no recipe was posted (hint...hint to the person).

Another member sent this link-
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/11490/dutch-letter-cookies/

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

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°F (190°C).

In a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/4" to 1/8" thickness, making as square as possible. Cut the dough into strips 6" long and 1-1/2" 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.

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Comment's and Notes
(Some were mentioning it is like one's sold in a bakery in Pella, Iowa):

I got a tip from a baker in my area, who refuses to give out their recipe, to section the dough in balls and dip each ball lightly in a small bowl of water then pat it down, and definitely use lots of filling, Also I only baked about 12 minutes until edges turned golden. It did work and I didn't have to lightly flour or use a rolling pin, both of which I'm not fond of.

The only suggestion I would make is to make sure the almond paste/sugar/egg mixture is mixed very well and all the lumps are gone. Otherwise, you have trouble piping the mixture out onto the dough - very annoying.

I did make smaller ones easier to handle. Next time I will add about a 1/3 cup of chopped toasted almonds to my filling. Wonderful and a KEEPER!

I did have a lot filling left over and there is not enough filling in the actual cookie when I cut the dough to 1-1/2" like recipe says. Next time I will be cutting dough 2" to 2-1/2" so that there is room for more filling. Otherwise, these are amazing!

When I was baking them I thought I had messed them up because they never really turned brown, but I took them out at the specified time they tasted perfect. I had leftover filling so next time I will double the flour mixture.

(posted 8/15/10)