Lemon Curd Linzer Stars

Directions

1. Place pecans in a food processor. Cover and process with on/off pulses until finely ground. Transfer ground pecans to a small bowl. Stir in flour and salt; set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl beat butter and granulated sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg, vanilla, and lemon peel. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in as much of the flour mixture as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour mixture. Divide dough in half. Cover and chill about 2 hours or until dough is easy to handle.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. On a lightly floured surface roll half of the dough at a time until 1/4 inch thick. Using a 2-1/2- to 3-inch star-shape cookie cutter, cut out dough. Using a 1-inch star-shape cookie cutter, cut a star from the center of half of the cookies.* Place cookies 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
4. Bake for 8 to 12 minutes or until edges are light brown and centers are set. Cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute. Transfer to a wire rack; cool completely.
5. Dip the tops of the cutout star cookies in Powdered Sugar Icing and, if desired, sprinkle with jimmies, nonpareils, yellow sugar, and/ or edible glitter. (Or sprinkle tops of cutout cookies with powdered sugar.) Let stand on a wire rack set over waxed paper until icing is set. Spread about 1 teaspoon of the lemon curd on bottoms of the whole cookies (without icing). Top with the iced cutout cookies, bottom sides down.