Citrus Sandwich Cookies

Ingredients

Citrus Cookies

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 14 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
• 2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest
• coarse sugar, for sprinkling

Citrus Filling

• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon heavy cream
• salt, a pinch

Directions

1. 1

   Make the dough: in a bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together; set aside.

2. 2

   In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on med-high speed until well combined, about 1 minute.

3. 3

   Beat in the egg yolk and citrus zest.

4. 4

   On low speed, add the flour mixture and mix just until blended.

5. 5

   Scrape the dough onto a work surface and gather it up into a disk; wrap the disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, until firm.

6. 6

   Cut and bake the cookies: position two racks near the center of the oven; preheat oven to 350°; line two baking sheets with parchment paper or foil.

7. 7

   Place the chilled dough on a lightly floured work surface and sprinkle it lightly with flour.

8. 8

   Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to a thickness of 1/8 inch.

9. 9

   Using a 1 ½ inch scalloped cookie cutter, cut out as many cookies as possible from the dough.

10. 10

    With a 1/2-inch round cookie cutter, cut out the centers of half of the cookies (these will be the tops).

11. 11

    Stack and press together the scraps and chill for 15 minutes before rerolling.

12. 12

    Carefully transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheets, spacing them ½ inch apart and placing the tops and bottoms on separate sheets (the tops will take a minute or so less to bake than the bottoms).

13. 13

    Sprinkle the cookies with coarse sugar; bake cookies, two sheets at a time, for 9-11 minutes, or until lightly browned on the bottom (not on top).

14. 14

    Transfer cookies to wire racks and cool completely.

15. 15

    Make the filling: in a small saucepan, bring the orange and lemon juices to a boil over high heat; boil for 3-5 minutes, until reduced to about 1 tablespoon; let cool completely.

16. 16

    In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter, powdered sugar, cream, salt, and cooled citrus juices on medium speed until smooth.

17. 17

    Assemble cookies: Spread about 1 teaspoon of filling onto the bottom of bone of the whole cookies.

18. 18

    Top with one of the cut-out cookies, right side up, and press the cookies lightly together.

19. 19

    Repeat with the remaining cookies and filling.

20. 20

    Serve cookies at room temperature or chilled.