Drei Augen Cookies (Three Eyes Cookies)

Yield: about 36 cookies

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 sticks butter
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole unblanched finely ground almonds
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 1/2 cups currant jelly

Instructions

1. Cream the butter and sugar until very well blended. Add the flour, almonds and cinnamon.
2. Divide the dough into thirds. Place each third between sheets of wax or parchment paper. Roll out into a circle that is 11 inches in diameter and 1/8 inch thick, making sure no creases are forming on the underside of the dough.
3. Place the sheet with covered rolled dough on a cookie sheet and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours.
4. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F, and butter cookie sheets.
5. Remove sheet with dough from the refrigerator and peel paper off the top side. Using a 1 1/2 inch cutter, cut circles of dough from the 11 inch circle. Then, using something 3/8 inch in diameter, cut three holes in every other cookie.
6. Carefully lift each round to the baking sheet and space them an inch and a half apart. Bake the cookies with the holes on a different sheet than the cookies that do not have holes. The ones with holes cook faster. Bake them one sheet at a time for about 8 minutes each. Do NOT allow them to become brown.
7. Remove the cookie sheet to a rack and allow the cookies to become firm before removing them.
8. Sift confectioners' sugar over the cookies that have holes in them.
9. Boil the currant jelly for two minutes. Cool to lukewarm. Turn the cookies that do not have holes over so you have the bottom up. Spoon 1/2 teaspoon jelly on each cookie. Top with a cut out cookie. Press lightly and the jelly will show through each hole.

Notes

You can vary the filling between the traditional red currant, raspberry and cherry.