Linzer Cookies — Two layers, one truth, and the courage to publish everything

March. The month of the book. Two weeks to publication. The cherry trees are budding. The timing is accidental and perfect. The book about the Japanese grandmother arrives with the Japanese trees. The blossoming is the metaphor. The metaphor is the life.

I made sakura mochi — the pink cherry blossom rice cakes — to celebrate the season and the approaching publication and the fact that the world, for one bright month, is going to hear about Fumiko's miso soup. The sakura mochi were soft and sweet and the cherry blossom leaf was salty and the combination was hope, the way it is hope every spring, the way every spring is a publication of sorts — the earth publishing its new season, the trees publishing their blossoms, the shiso publishing its first sprouts. Everything publishes in March. I am publishing in March. The timing is correct.

I am nervous. I am anxious. I am terrified. I am also: ready. The readiness and the terror coexist in the same body, the way the salt and the sweet coexist in the sakura mochi, the way the grief and the love coexist in the chipped bowl, the way the Japanese and the American coexist in me. The coexistence is not contradiction. The coexistence is the condition. The condition is: I am both. Always both. And the book is both — both memoir and cookbook, both personal and universal, both Fumiko's and mine — and the both-ness is the book's truth, and the truth is about to be published, and the publishing is the bravest thing I have ever done, braver than the divorce, braver than the blog, braver than the three-AM miso soup, because the publishing says: here. Here is everything I have. Here is my grandmother. Here is my grief. Here is my soup. Read it. Taste it. Hold it. Let it hold you.

I wanted to make sakura mochi — and I did, and they were everything — but when it came time to share a recipe, I kept coming back to these Linzer Cookies, because they are the most honest food I know: two separate layers pressed together into one thing, a window cut through the top so you can see what’s inside, sweetness dusted over all of it. That is the book. That is me. Two layers, one truth, the filling visible to anyone who looks. These are the cookies I baked the week before everything changed, and I want you to have them too.

Linzer Cookies

Prep Time: 30 min | Cook Time: 12 min | Total Time: 1 hr 15 min (includes chill time) | Servings: 24 sandwich cookies

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup almond flour (finely ground)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 2/3 cup raspberry jam (or strawberry jam), seedless
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar, for dusting

Instructions

1. Make the dough. Whisk together the all-purpose flour, almond flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, beat the butter and granulated sugar together with a hand mixer on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract; beat until combined. Reduce speed to low and gradually mix in the flour mixture until a soft dough forms.
2. Chill. Divide the dough in half, flatten each half into a disk, and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (or up to 2 days) until firm enough to roll.
3. Preheat & roll. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Working with one disk at a time on a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to 1/8-inch thickness.
4. Cut. Using a 2 1/2-inch round (or fluted) cookie cutter, cut out an even number of cookies. Using a 3/4-inch to 1-inch small cutter (star, circle, or heart), cut a window from the center of exactly half the cookies — these will be the tops. Re-roll scraps as needed. Place all cookies on the prepared baking sheets.
5. Bake. Bake for 10–12 minutes, until the edges are just barely golden and the centers look set. Do not overbake; the cookies should remain pale. Let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
6. Dust the tops. Once fully cooled, sift powdered sugar generously over only the cut-out (windowed) cookie tops.
7. Fill & sandwich. Spread about 1 teaspoon of jam onto the flat side of each solid bottom cookie, spreading nearly to the edges. Gently press a powdered-sugar-dusted top cookie over each filled bottom, window side up, so the jam shows through. Allow to set for 15 minutes before serving.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 165 | Protein: 2g | Fat: 9g | Carbs: 21g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 40mg