Italian Almond Cookies

Italian Almond Bars (aka: Venetians), courtesy of Weight Watchers (2 pts per bar)

Prep: 30 min; Bake 10 min; Serves 72

Make Ahead: 2 months

2C all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1C unsalted butter, softened

1C sugar

1 (7 oz) can almond paste

4 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract

10 drops red food coloring

6 drops green food coloring

1/4 cup seedless red raspberry spreadable fruit

1/4 cup low sugar apricot preserves

6-8 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted

1: Place the oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and pre heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray 3 (9X13X1) baking sheets with nonstick spray. Line the pans with wax or parchment paper; lightly spray the paper with nonstick spray.

2: Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. With an electric mixer on high speed, beat the butter, sugar and almond paste in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until well blended. Beat in the vanilla and almond extract. Decrease the speed to low. Add the flour mixture, mixing just until blended.

3: Divide the dough into thirds (about 1 1/2 cups each); transfer each third into a medium bowl. Tint one batch of dough pink with the red food coloring and another batch green with the green food coloring. Leave the remaining dough untinted. Scrape each batch of dough into a baking sheet, spreading the dough in each pan evenly. Put 2 pans on the upper oven rack and the remaining pan on the lower rack. Bake just until the edges turn golden, about 12 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through. Transfer to racks to cool completely.

4: Invert the layers onto a work surface and remove the paper. Transfer the green layer to a cutting board and spread with the spreadable fruit. Top with the untinted layer and spread it with the apricot preserves. Top with the pink layer to form a stack. Cover the stack with plastic wrap and top with another cutting board or large heavy flat pan to weigh it down. Refrigerate overnight.

5: Remove the plastic wrap. Spread the melted chocolate over the top layer and let the stack stand until the chocolate sets. with a large sharp knife, cut lengthwise into 12 (3/4 in) strips and then crosswise in to 6 (2 in) strips, to make 72 bars in all. Pack the bars in freezer containers with a sheet of wax paper or plastic wrap between each layer. Cover and freeze up to 2 months. To serve, let stand in a single layer at room temperature until thawed, about 1 hour. ENJOY!!