Chocolate Dipped Vanilla Pistacho-Almond Sandwich Cookies

Ingredients for the cookies:
1 3/4 cups flour
12 T unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
2 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon fine salt

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Ingredients for the filling:
1/2 cup shelled and unsalted pistachios
1 T sugar
3 1/2 ounces almond paste, at room temperature, chopped
2 T cherry liqueur, preferably kirsch
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

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Ingredients for the glaze:
1/2 cup sugar
3 T light corn syrup
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, preferably 54 percent, roughly chopped

Preparing the cookies:
In a bowl, beat 1/2 cup flour, butter, and confectioners' sugar with a handheld mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add yolks one at a time, beating until smooth after each addition. Add salt and remaining flour; beat to make a dough. Halve the dough, flatten into 2 disks, and wrap each with plastic wrap. Refrigerate dough for 1 hour.

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Preparing the filling:
Heat oven to 325 degrees F. In the bowl of a food processor, process the pistachios with the sugar until finely ground. Add almond paste and process until combined. Add the kirsch and vanilla and process until combined; set filling aside.

Transfer 1 dough disk to a lightly floured surface and roll with a floured rolling pin to a 1/8-inch thickness. Using a 1 3/4-inch round cookie cutter, cut out 24 cookies. Repeat with remaining dough disk. (Combine and reroll scraps to make 48 cookies in all.) Place cookies 1-inch apart on 2 parchment paper–lined baking sheets and bake, rotating pans halfway through, until cookies are pale golden, about 20 minutes. Let cool.

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Preparing the glaze:
Bring sugar, corn syrup, and 3 tablespoons of water to a boil in a 1-quart saucepan over high heat. Remove from the heat, add chocolate, and swirl pan to coat the chocolate with the sugar mixture. Let sit without stirring to allow the chocolate to melt, about 5 minutes. Slowly stir the chocolate with a rubber spatula until smooth; set aside to let cool slightly.

Spoon about 1 teaspoon of the filling onto 24 cookies and top with remaining cookies. Gently press cookies together to sandwich them. Dip half of each cookie into the chocolate glaze. Transfer to a rack and let the glaze solidify.

Makes 24 cookies