Delicate shortbread cookies with an Italian accent.

Step-by-step preparation

Cooking time: 50 mins

1. STEP 1

   

   Let's start with shortcrust pastry. First, sift 450 g of wheat flour. Add 1.5 tsp. baking powder, 1/3 tsp. vanillin, a pinch of salt, 100 g of sugar and 70 g of corn starch. Mix all dry ingredients thoroughly.

2. STEP 2

   

   We also send 180 g of softened butter there and grind the dough into crumbs.

3. STEP 3

   

   Add 1 egg and one white and knead the dough. Do not knead this dough for a long time. If you see that it turns out to be dry and does not form a ball, add 1-2 tbsp. l. cold water.

4. STEP 4

   

   The result is a soft, elastic dough that does not stick to your hands. Place it in a bag or wrap it in cling film and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes.

5. STEP 5

   

   In the meantime, let's prepare the filling. To do this, mix 250 g of mascarpone, 60 g of sugar, 1.5 tsp. cornstarch, yolk and zest of one medium lemon. You can replace mascarpone with custard, well-mashed fat cottage cheese or ricotta. The result is a fairly thick mass, which will then be very convenient to work with.

6. STEP 6

   

   Take the dough out of the refrigerator and divide it in half. We send one part back to the refrigerator, and roll the second into a layer about 3 mm thick.

7. STEP 7

   

   Then we cut out future cookie circles with a diameter of approximately 7-8 cm. From this amount of dough I got 36 such circles. Accordingly, 18 pieces, because each one needs 2 such circles.

8. STEP 8

   

   In order to assemble the cookies, place approximately 1 tsp on one circle. filling, and then covering it with a second circle, gently press along the edge with your fingers. To prevent the filling from leaking out and the cookies to keep their shape, go around the edge with a fork.

9. STEP 9

   

   Preheat the oven to 180 degrees, cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and lay out the cookies. I got 2 batches of 9 pieces.

10. STEP 10

    

    My oven operates in the bottom-to-top mode without convection and the cookies baked for 17 minutes. Be sure to focus on your oven. Ready-made cookies do not brown too much, so do not overcook them in the oven.

11. STEP 11

    

    When you take out the cookies, let them cool and sprinkle with powdered sugar. The delicate sandy and creamy delicacy is ready! Bon appetit!