- 1 3/4 cups finely ground hazelnuts (grind whole nuts in a food processor)
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/4 cup Confectioner's sugar for dusting
- 1 cup raspberry jam (or the jam or marmalade of your choice)
- Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
- Whisk together the ground nuts and flour.
- Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the extracts and beat to blend. Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add the nut-flour mixture, mixing only until it is incorporated into the dough.
- Working with a teaspoon of dough at a time, roll the dough between your palms to form small balls and place the balls 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Steadying each cookie with the thumb and a finger of one hand, use the pinkie of your other hand (or the end of a wooden spoon) to press a hole in the center of each cookie. Be careful not to go all the way down to the baking sheet.
- Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point. The cookies should be only slightly colored – they may even look underdone, which is fine: they should not be overbaked. When the cookies are baked, remove the baking sheets from the oven and let the cookies rest on the sheets for 2 minutes before transferring them to cooling racks with a wide metal spatula and sifting confectioners sugar over them.
- Repeat with the remaining dough, remembering to cool the baking sheets before baking the next batch.
- Bring the jam to a boil in a small saucepan over low heat, or bring to a boil in a microwave oven; remove from the heat. Fill the indentations of all the cookies with enough of the hot jam to come level to the top. Cool to room temperature. To store: Wrap well, the cookies will be fine for 3 days a room temperature or up to 2 months in the freezer.