Maria's Ischli Cookies

Ischli cookies are a traditional Austrian cookie that belongs on every holiday cookie tray. Two thin, buttery nut shortbread rounds sandwiched with seedless raspberry jam and capped with a thin layer of chocolate icing. They’re elegant, they’re rich, and they taste like something from a Viennese pastry shop.

The dough is just four ingredients: ground nuts, butter, sugar, and flour. No eggs, no leavening. That simplicity means the quality of each ingredient shows. Ground hazelnuts give the cookies a toasty, almost coffee-like depth, while almonds produce a lighter, more delicate flavor. Either works beautifully.

Grinding nuts at home requires restraint. A few seconds too long in the food processor and you’ve got nut butter instead of nut flour. Processing them with the sugar helps absorb the oils and keeps the texture right. If using whole hazelnuts, toasting and skinning them first removes the bitter tannins in the skins and deepens the flavor dramatically.

The dough is mixed by hand. It’s too crumbly for a mixer. If it feels dry, a few drops of lemon juice or rum (either one) bring it together. Refrigerating the formed roll overnight firms the butter and makes slicing clean ¼-inch rounds easy.

Chef Tips

• Slice the chilled dough roll with a sharp, thin knife for clean edges. A dull knife compresses the dough and makes uneven cookies
• Bake until just golden, not browned. These cookies are delicate and burn quickly
• Match cookies by size before sandwiching so the pairs look uniform
• Set finished cookies in paper cups for a bakery-style presentation that also keeps the chocolate icing from sticking to everything

Variations

• Use apricot jam instead of raspberry for a more traditional Austrian pairing
• Top with white chocolate icing instead of dark for a sweeter, milder finish
• Add a pinch of cinnamon to the dough for a warm, spiced variation