Insanely Delicious Linzer Torte Cookies

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 7×11-inch baking pan.

2. Cream sugar and butter together in a medium bowl with an electric mixer. Beat in egg and lemon zest.

3. Stir flour, ground almonds, cinnamon, and cloves together in a separate bowl. Gradually stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Dough will be stiff and may need to be kneaded by hand in order to come together.

4. Divide dough in half. Press one half into the bottom of the prepared pan. Place remaining half onto a lightly floured surface and roll it with your hands into a long, 1/2-inch diameter rope.

5. Spread jam over the dough in the pan. Cut dough rope into lengths and arrange them across the jam in a lattice pattern.

6. Bake in the preheated oven until top crust is golden, about 40 minutes.

7. Remove from the oven and set the pan on a wire rack to cool before cutting into 1×2-inch bars.

Cut-Out Cookie (Windowpane) Variation:

After completing Step 3, roll dough to a thickness of 1/8 inch and cut into rounds using a cookie cutter. Place cookies 2 inches apart onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Cut a smaller circle out of the center of 1/2 of the cookies. Bake in the preheated oven until firm and light brown at the edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Spread jam on top of the cooled, solid cookies, then sandwich cut-out cookies over top.