…….What Zer? I asked in surprise.  Linzer , my friend replied quite matter of factly.

“Jam Bishcoot” I said firmly, and that’s  how I know these treats from way back when. They can also be “Cream Bishcoot”, with different flavoured creams sandwiched in between., I added, to prove my vast knowledge in the Bishcoot world.

…… “Ebarey petey betha hobey”, It will hurt your tomorrow, warned my Ma, and. hid the box on the very back of the top shelf in the pantry. The round blue box with pictures of cherub faces adorned with flowers on their heads had been our target ever since Baba brought it home.

Afternoon was a time Ma had to herself, she sat on the veranda with the fleeting winter sun on her back either with a novel in hand or her knitting. We sisters decided that would be the perfect time for the heist.

The youngest sibling was directed to climb to the top of the pyramid formed by the older girls. She would hand over the box, which would be emptied  in lighting speed and kept back in place.

We held our breath as the tiniest hands grabbed the corner of the box. Just when I was deciding if I would lick the jam first or give a bite, Bam, my sister lost her concentration and fell. A bunch of red beaked parrots were fighting on the guava tree.

The rest went pretty fast. Ma came running, a tight slap on my face for putting my youngest sister through this traumatic event. The usual “I told you so”…

Recipe : Made 8.

Ingredients

All purpose flour                  1 cup

Almond flour                        1/4 cup

Unsalted butter                    1/2 cup

Icing sugar                           1/2 cup

Vanilla extract                      1/4 tsp

Salt                                     1/8 tsp

Raspberry jam                      1/4 cup

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a bowl combine flour and almond flour and salt.

In a stand mixer, beat butter and icing sugar, until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and beat another minute.

Lower the speed and add the dry ingredients, mix till combined.

Gather the dough, flatten in two disc about an inch thick, cover with plastic wrap and keep in the fridge for about an hour. Roll the cookie dough between two layers of parchment to 1/4 inches thick. Use a 3 inches cookie cutter to cut the cookies, gather the scraps, roll again and cut.  I used a heart cookie cutter on half of the cookies to get the design  Chill for about 30 minutes in the fridge. Bake 10 to 12 minutes. Let the cookies sit on a wire crack. When cool take spoonful of jam and put it on the cookie surface without the heart cutout. Seat the heart cut out cookie on top.

Enjoy.

Notes;

I added a couple table spoon of milk to the dough, as it appeared very dry to me.

The rolling pin was from @maria.leonova