Husarenkrapferl

In my grandmother Eva's kitchen in Kent, the Christmas baking started in November. Gretel would arrive with her notebook and a very specific list. Vanillekipferl first, then Linzer Augen, then these: Husarenkrapferl. She always made them last because they were her favorites and she wanted to give them her full attention.

Husarenkrapferl are almond shortcrust cookies, rich with butter and ground almonds, rolled into small balls and pressed with your thumb to make a hollow. You fill that hollow with jam, Ribiselmarmelade (red currant) if you're traditional, Marillenmarmelade (apricot) if you're from the right part of Austria, and then you bake them until the edges turn golden and the jam bubbles gently in its little well. They come out looking like tiny jeweled buttons.

The dough is forgiving and a pleasure to work with. Cold butter, ground almonds, flour, egg yolks, a little Vanillezucker. You bring it together quickly, chill it, then roll. Every ball gets your thumbprint. Gretel always said this was the most personal cookie in Austrian baking because every single one carries the mark of the hand that made it. No two look exactly alike. That's the point.

They keep beautifully in a tin for two weeks, which is why they're perfect for Weihnachtsbäckerei, the Austrian tradition of baking dozens of different cookie varieties in the weeks before Christmas. A proper Austrian Christmas plate has at least five kinds. Husarenkrapferl earn their place every year.