Black cherry and chocolate linzer cookies recipe

We love the simple, refined flavors of classic holiday Linzer cookies. However, we have a hard time keeping chocolate out of recipes where its flavor would be so complementary, so naturally we had to find a way to sneak it into a souped-up Linzer cookie. For this version, we were looking for a dough that was less rich than the traditional one to accommodate the extra depth from the chocolate, so we omitted the nuts for a more basic butter cookie dough. But we still wanted a subtle nutty flavor, so we kept the almond extract, which perfumed the dough with a lovely aroma. Once the bottom cookies had cooled, we spread them with melted bittersweet chocolate for a deep, dark contrast to the buttery cookie. We let the chocolate set and then topped it with the requisite jam. We replaced the raspberry jam with black cherry preserves, which have a unique, almost wine-y flavor that was a sophisticated match for the dark chocolate and a complementary pairing for the almond-scented dough. With a showering of confectioners’ sugar, these small sandwich cookies are as impressive as any full-scale dessert.