It's time to go outside and enjoy the flowers. There is a lovely lady I know who is going to take her children to see the Botanical Garden. Of course, some cookies and lemonade would be very welcome on such an excursion, so she wrote me with a request. It sounded like such a lovely way to spend a summer afternoon, that I thought you all might enjoy having a recipe for happiness.

With only a couple of changes, this dough can be used to make two much-loved traditional cookies. The Almond Crescents are light nibbles, just right with an afternoon glass of lemonade. Linzer Tarts are a bit more substantial, and typically served with coffee as dessert after a meal.

This can be a marvelous rainy-day project for you and the children. Little hands can make the crescents, whilst big ones do the rolling and cutting for tarts.

Ingredients

2 cups self-rising flour
1 cup ground almonds (for crescents) or
1 cup ground walnuts (for tarts)
1 cup butter or margarine, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg yolk mixed with 1 tablespoon water (for crescents)
1 cup sliced almonds (for crescents)
2 cups confectioner’s sugar, approx. (for tarts)
1 cup seedless raspberry jam (for tarts)


Method

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Blend together the self-rising flour and ground nuts, then set aside until needed. Cream butter and sugar together until light. Beat in the 2 egg yolks and the extracts. Beat in the flour mixture.

For crescents: Shape the dough into crescents, and place on a greased cookie sheet. Stir the other egg yolk with the water, and brush this over each cookie. Press a few sliced almonds into each cookie. Bake for 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool on waxed paper.

For tarts: Sprinkle your rolling surface with some of the confectioners sugar. Place the dough atop the sugar, and sprinkle more sugar on top. Roll the dough to 1/8 inch thickness, and cut rounds about 2 inches in diameter. Cut 1 inch diameter circles from the center of half the rounds. Bake as for crescents. As soon as the cookies are done and placed on the waxed paper, dust the tops with more confectioner’s sugar. When the cookies are cooled, spread the ones which do not have the center cut-out with the jam. Place the cookies which do have the cut-outs on top of the jam, and press lightly together.