Instructions

1. Toast the slivered almonds on the stovetop in a dry skillet, over low heat until light golden brown, watching carefully so they do not burn. This should take about 5-7 minutes. Cool, then pulse in a food processor into coarse crumbs. Set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat the softened butter and sugar with an electric mixer, until just combined, about a minute.   
3. Add the vanilla extract, orange extract, orange zest, and the egg to the butter mixture. Continue beating for about 30 more seconds.  
4. Add flour, incorporating into the butter mixture until just combined. Fold in ground nuts just until combined. Careful not to overmix, so the dough stays tender.
5. Divide the dough in half, roll the dough out between 2 pieces of parchment sprinkled with flour to about ¼” thickness. 
6. Transfer the dough to a large baking sheet. Roll out the other half of the dough in the same fashion. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. (You can stack the sheets of rolled dough on top of each other, while rolled out in the parchment paper).
7. After chilling, remove the dough from the refrigerator and remove the parchment paper. 
8. Preheat oven to 350℉. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.
9. Working with the first half of the chilled dough, cut out as many circles as possible with a scalloped circle cookie cutter or linzer cookie cutter. This will be the solid “bottom” part of the cookie sandwich. Transfer those cookies to the baking sheet, spacing them about an inch apart. 
10. With the second half of the dough, cut out the “tops” of the cookies, using the same size cookie cutter and then a smaller shape to create a “window” where the fruit preserves will peek through. Transfer to a baking sheet. Be sure to cut the same amount of tops and bottoms (so that they will pair up nicely). With the pieces of cookie that were cut out of the window, you could either bake them for cute tiny cookies, or add to the "scraps" pile to reroll.
11. Bake cookies for approximately 12-14 minutes, or until edges are just starting to turn brown. Remove and cool on a wire rack.
12. While baking cookies, re-roll the remaining scraps, chill on parchment paper, and cut more cookies as directed above.
13. When cookies are cooled, spread about ½ teaspoon of raspberry preserves on the middle of a cookie (one of the full bottom cookies).
14. To the window cookies (the ones with the shape cut out), sprinkle with powdered sugar. Place these gently on the cookie with preserves, pressing lightly.