Saffron Cookies with Almond Filling

Here's how:

• 1

  Crumble the yeast into a bowl. Heat the milk or water to 25 °C, pour it over the yeast, and stir until dissolved. Add the remaining ingredients to the pre-dough, mix, and let stand for 20–30 minutes.

• 2

  Add the remaining ingredients to the dough and knead vigorously until the dough is shiny and smooth and pulls away from the sides of the bowl—about 5 minutes with a mixer and 10 minutes by hand.

• 3

  Let it rise for about 30 minutes.

• 4

  Place the dough on a floured work surface and divide it into two pieces. Roll out one piece of dough at a time into a rectangular sheet.

  Sprinkle the almond paste/filling and dust with cinnamon over the entire sheet of dough, then fold the sheet in half twice, like a rolled-up loaf of bread. Cover with a baking cloth and let rise for about 60 minutes.

• 5

  Preheat the oven to 250 °C.

• 6

  Brush with beaten egg. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 10 minutes.

• 7

  Let the rolls cool, then cut each roll into appropriately sized pieces. Place the pieces, cut-side up, on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

• 8

  Place the baking sheet in the oven at about 150 °C for about 30 minutes, until the pieces have dried and turned a nice color. Remove the baking sheet and let the pieces cool on a wire rack.