| 1 | Heat oven to 350 degrees. |
| 2 | Lightly grease cookie sheet(s) or line with parchment paper. |
| 3 | Beat butter and ?cup of the confectioners" sugar in large bowl of electric mixer on high speed until well combined. |
| 4 | Mix in vanilla. |
| 5 | Stop the mixer and add the flour and ground nuts. |
| 6 | Mix on low speed just until combined. |
| 7 | Using 1 teaspoon dough for each, roll into rounds. |
| 8 | Place on baking sheet. |
| 9 | Dip the bottom of a flat glass in confectioners" sugar, reserving ?cup for this purpose. |
| 10 | Press each ball, flattening to a 1-inch round. |
| 11 | Bake just until they begin to color, 9 to 11 minutes. |
| 12 | Transfer to a wire rack to cool. |
| 13 | Spread bottoms of half the cookies with preserves, using about ?teaspoon for each cookie. |
| 14 | Sandwich together with another cookie. |
| 15 | For icing, mix remaining 1 cup confectioners" sugar with just enough water to make it spreading consistency. |
| 16 | Tint icing with food color, if desired. |
| 17 | Decorate top of cookies with icing, using a pastry bag, if desired. |
| 18 | fifth-place winner in the 1995 chicago tribune holiday cookie contest: by isabelle clarke garibaldi of burr ridge |
