Sunday Tidbits and a Recipe

I've got a little bit of this and that today on my blog.

The Sweet As Pie Winner from my blog is Mary, you should have received an e-mail :)

My darling buddy DeAnne is having a holiday recipe linky.

Cute button right?!?!?

Don't those look yummy? They're my pb and j linzer stars! My mom is from Germany and my Oma (grandma) always sends Christmas cookies. My favorite are her 3 -tiered linzers and I wanted to take my own crack at it! I made these and 3 other kinds of cookies and gave them to friends and neighbors. They were a hit!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup peanuts

1 tube (16 1/2 oz) refrigerated sugar cookie dough

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup smooth peanut butter

1/2 cup apricot preserves ( I used raspberry and strawberry too!)

3 TBS confectioners' sugar

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Pulse peanuts in a food processor until finely chopped. Add cookie dough, flour, and peanut butter. Pulse until all ingredients are incorporated and dough cleans the inside of the bowl.

3. Divide dough into 2 equal parts. Wrap one part in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use. Roll the other half between 2 sheets of waxed paper to a thickness of 1/4 inch. Place on ungreased baking sheet; freeze for at least 5 minutes.

4. Remove from freezer and peel off waxed paper. Cut out star shapes with a 3-inch star cutter and place back on the baking sheet. Re-roll scraps and cut out more starts for a total of 18. If dough becomes soft, freeze for as few minutes. Bake for 11 minutes at 350. Cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes. Place on wire rack to cool completely.

5. Roll out the remaining dough and cut out 18 stars as in steps 3 and 4. After placing on baking sheet, cut out center with a 1-inch star cutter. Bake and cool.

6. Microwave the preserves for 30 seconds on high. Stir until smooth. Spread 1 teaspoon of preserves onto one side of the uncut cookies. Dust the cutout cookies with the confectioners' sugar and place on preserve-topped cookies to form a sandwich. Press gently.

*Makes 18 cookies. 

Prep time is about 30 minutes.