Delicate, crumbly sandwich cookies made with semolina flour and filled with jam.

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You are probably familiar with Austrian Linzer Cookies, two buttery cookies with a peek-a-boo jam center. You may not have heard of Occhi di Bue, or ‘Eye of The Bull’, a similar Italian cookie. This recipe marries the two recipes together for a delicate, crumbly cookie, filled with your choice of jam or chocolate hazelnut filling.

I always have finely ground semolina flour (also called semola flour) for pasta making. Here, I have added it to the dough for a slightly crumblier texture. If you don’t have the flour on hand, you can simply use entirely all-purpose flour.

Ingredients

▢ 12 tbsp unsalted butter 1 1/2 sticks, room temperature
▢ 1/2 cup powdered sugar sifted (Plus more for dusting)
▢ 2 large egg yolks room temperature
▢ 1/4 tsp salt
▢ 1 tsp vanilla extract
▢ 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
▢ 1/2 cup fine ground semolina flour often called Semola flour
▢ 1/4 c jam of choice citrus curd or chocolate hazelnut spread

Instructions

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix butter and sugar on medium speed for about 2 minutes. Add in egg yolks and beat until combined, followed by vanilla extract.
In another bowl, combine both flours and salt. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl, then slowly add in flour on low speed, mixing just until combined.
On a floured work surface, pat dough into a disc and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to 2 days.
Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
On a lightly floured surface roll out dough into a ¼ inch thickness. Cut out cookies with a cookie cutter of your choice, using a smaller cookie cutter or piping tip to make a hole in the center of half of the cookies. Carefully place on the prepared baking sheets with about 1-2 inch space in-between.
Remaining dough can be rolled out again.
Bake each sheet for 12-15 minutes, just until bottoms lightly brown. Allow cooling on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Sift confectioner’s sugar on the cookies with holes in them.
Fill cooled cookies with jam by spreading jam on the bottom of one cookie and place another on top.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

Notes

Try these variations!
Vanilla Cookie Dough – sub 2 tsp vanilla extract or 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
Sub almond extract for vanilla extract
Try adding zest of orange, lemon or grapefruit
A savory option: a black pepper and parmesan dough with a pepper jelly — YUM!

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