Ischeler Tortelettes, Shortbread, Chocolate & Apricot

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These Ischeler Tortelettes are a chocolate covered almond shortbread with apricot filling! The chocolate and apricot pair beautifully together! Another vintage Christmas Cookie in my collection, this one is Austrian.

These Ischeler Tortelettes are a chocolate covered almond shortbread with apricot filling! Ischeler Tortelettes have such a gorgeous flavor and texture.

Another cookie Mom and I have been making for eons are Ischeler Tortelettes. I literally have to threaten my teenagers with a swift death, if they steal any out of the freezer! There is a really good reason for that! Read on!

I recall one year when my eldest son was in high school, I made a triple batch. Now keep in mind this took 12-15 hours to accomplish such a feat. I was running out of freezer space and being that it was very cold that year, I was using the front porch for added freezer space!

On Christmas Eve I was making cookie plates for friends and family. I grabbed the cookie tin marked Ischelers and it was amazingly light! I think he probably left 5 in a tin that had once held about 50. That’s one small indication of just how addictive these cookies are! (Lucky for him I had another tin!)

The recipe we have is from a magazine recipe cutout from 1961. They are my favorite, along with both sons, my sister, one sister in law… Hence the reason we have to do the minimum of 4 different kinds!

Everyone has a different favorite! Jam Filled Cookies, Christmas Cut Out Cookies and Hildabrötchen are the other 3. They are by no means difficult but they do take quite a while to make. For a single batch, about 4-5 hours depending on how big your cutter is.

What are your favorite Christmas, or holiday cookies? I hope you enjoyed the post today for these delicious Ischeler Tortelettes! Give them a try and let me know what you think!

Enjoy! And have fun cooking!

Tools I Use to Make Ischeler Tortelettes

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• Marble rolling pin
• marble board
• baking sheets
• cutters

Recipe

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Print Pin

5 from 5 votes

Ischeler’s Tortellettes

Vintage Austrian Christmas Cookies are a family favorite!

Course Dessert

Cuisine European

Keyword ischeler's tortellettes,, jam filled christmas cookies,, jam filled cookies,

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 2 hours

Total Time 2 hours 15 minutes

Servings 36 cookies

Calories 126kcal

Author Beth Neels

Ingredients

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 cups sifted flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 cup ground blanched almonds
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 cup apricot jam

For Glaze

• 3/4 cup (4 oz) semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Blanched almonds , halved

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

For Dough

• Sift flour with baking powder and salt.
  
• Cut 1 cup butter in small pieces.
  
• Add butter, ground almonds, sugar, lemon juice and rind to flour,
  
• Knead with hands until dough is very smooth and firm.
  
• Chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.

For cookies

• Roll small parts of dough between waxed paper to 1/8″ to 1/4″ thickness; dough is easier to roll if it is left out of refrigerator for at least 15 minutes. 
  
• Cut into 1″ or 2″ rounds. 
  
• Bake cookies on greased and floured cookie sheets, or on parchment paper covered sheets, in moderate oven (350 F) 10 minutes, or until golden. Remove cookies carefully. Very thin cookies are fragile.
  
• After cooling, put two cookies together with jam in between, sandwich fashion. 
  
• Melt chocolate and 1 tablespoon butter over hot, not boiling, water. Beat until smooth. If necessary, add more butter or up to 1 tablespoon hot water to achieve spreading consistency.
  
• Frost Tortelettes on top and sides. Decorate tops with slivered almonds immediately. while frosting is still soft. Cool thoroughly before storing. Will freeze up to 1 month.
  

Nutrition

Calories: 126kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 14mg | Sodium: 66mg | Potassium: 35mg | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 3.5% | Vitamin C: 0.3% | Calcium: 1.7% | Iron: 2.7%

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Originally Published 12/14/2014

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