---------- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05

     Title: Maria's Ischli Cookies
Categories: Cookies
     Yield: 2 Dozen

   1/4 lb Almonds or hazelnuts; chop
          -fine
   1/2 lb Butter; room temp
   1/4 lb Sugar
   1/2 lb Flour
          Seedless raspberry preserves

          CHOCOLATE ICING

   1/4 lb Bittersweet chocolate; melt
   1/4 c  Water
     3 tb Superfine sugar
     1 ts Instant espresso coffee
     1 tb Butter

 If you cannot buy nuts already ground, then grind them in a processor,
 taking care not to overprocess them or they will turn oily; you can also
 process them with the sugar to prevent them from turning oily. (Note if you
 are working with whole hazelnuts, toast them first in a 400  oven, rub off
 skins, let cool and then grind.) Combine the nuts with the butter, sugar
 and flour; you will have to combine this dough with your hands; if a bit
 too dry, add drops of lemon juice or rum. Form dough into a roll 1 1/4"
 thick. Refrigerate overnight in waxed paper or parchment. Following day
 preheat the oven to 350 . Cut dough into 1/4" slices and bake on an
 ungreased cookie sheet for 15 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven and
 cool cookies on a rack. When cooled to room temperature, sandwich two
 cookies together with raspberry jam and spread some of the chocolate icing
 (see below) over the top cookie. For a pretty presentation, set them in
 fluted paper cups. CHOCOLATE ICING-Melt chocolate with water and sugar.
 When melted, add instant coffee and cook over very low heat for 5 minutes.
 Turn heat off, add butter and let icing cool to room temperature. (Don't
 let it get too firm or it will be hard to spread over cookies.) Yield: 1
 1/2 cups.

 Source: Cooking Monday to Friday, TVFN.

 MM Waldine Van Geffen [email protected].

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