Raspberry Tart Biscuits

These little biscuits are divine, perfect for afternoon tea, and so much nicer than the bought versions.  You will need two heart shaped cookie cutters, one larger than the other to make these biscuits BUT if you don't have heart shapes, use circles - they'll look just as pretty and taste just as good.

Ingredients:
3 cups plain flour
5 egg yolks
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
1/3 cup ground walnuts
1 1/2 cups raspberry jam

Method:
Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius.  Mix the flour, egg yolks, butter and 1/2 cup sugar in a large bowl. Add the vanilla and mix again. Remove the mixture from the bowl and knead on a lightly floured surface until it creates soft dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

After removing the dough from the refrigerator, lightly flour the surface again and roll the dough out to about 3mm thick. Using the larger heart-shaped cookie cutter cut out the cookie dough until all dough is used. On half of the cookies, use the smaller heart cutter to cut out the center of the cookie; this will be used for the top.  Beat the egg whites and then brush the whites onto the tops of the cookie.  Place the outside edges left from cutting the smaller hearts on top of the larger cookies - this will make a border.

Next, mix the 2 tablespoons of sugar with the ground walnuts. Sprinkle this mixture over the tops of the cookie (the smaller hearts). Bake both sets of the cookies for 10 minutes in the pre-heated oven. Allow them to cool completely.

Once the cookies are cool, spread a thin layer of raspberry jam in the cookie bottom. Place the top on the cookie. This recipe makes about 26 Raspberry Tart cookies.