Dutch Letter Cookies

This is a great recipe, I got a tip from a baker in my area, who refuses to give out thier recipe, to section the dough in balls and dip each ball lightly in a small bowl of water then pat it down, and definitely use lots of filling, Also I only baked about 12 minutes unitl edges turned golden. It did work and I didn't have to lightly flour or use a rolling pin, both of which I'm not fond of. Thanks for sharing this recipe,

These were wonderful and super easy to make with a simple substitution! I did not make the dough for these, I used pre-made puff pastry sheets instead and everyone raved over them and have requested them often.

Dutch Letter Cookies??? My husband request these as he spent time out in Pella, Iowa freqently before we were married and discovered them in the Jaarsma Bakery on the square. I, however, had never heard of them so I found this recipe. He LOVED this recipe and said it was almost identical to the cookies he found in Pella. I found them easy to make; however, the only suggestion I would make is to make sure the almond paste/sugar/egg mixture is mixed very well and all the lumps are gone. Otherwise, you have trouble piping the mixture out onto the dough - very annoying.

These are great, but becareful with the filling or the pastry with blow out. If you think these are good, If you ever get to Pella Iowa, thry the ones from the bakery there. The shape of a big "S" and they are Awesome! I don't live there anymore, so I have to make my own. But when ever I go back to visit a box comes home with me!

These are delicious little cookies that kids can have fun making if there is a patient parent to help out. The almond paste is rich, so use sparingly. (This will also keep the filling from seeping out of the cookie when baking.) Plan on taking some time for these...but they are worth it and make for a lovely tradition. Practice and patience are the key!

These tasted good, but it was my first attempt and I sort of botched it up. Next time I will use more of the almond paste filling (yum!) and roll the dough out flatter. Also, if you make the cookies the size indicated in the recipe, it's too hard to shape into letters. Will make them skinnier next time.

growing up, a friend of my family made these for us at christmastime, and for the past couple years i had been looking to make my own. saw the great reviews and thought i'd try this one. i was excited to see the reference to a pella, iowa bakery, since i also grew up in iowa. this is a great recipe, pretty close to the ones i remember. i did have some extra almond mix leftover (only used a 7oz pkg to begin with). also only used about 1/2 the water the recipe calls for. they can be made into any size you desire. when folding the pastry over the filling, i didn't follow the instructions--i folded them over using the long end, instead of folding in half starting at the short end. make sure to pinch the edges closed very carefully so you don't lose any filling! the pastry was nice and flaky, but i will probably add some sugar next time around. will definitely be making these again and again!

I just made these. I loved them. followed the receipe word for word. I did make smaller ones easier to handle... Next time I will add about a 1/3 cup of chopped toasted almonds to my filling.... Wonderful and a KEEPER! Thank you.

I had these pastries as a child. My Dutch grandmother made them. As I read her recipe after she passed, she didn't use measurements! Just "some butter, some sugar". I was lost! I was so pleased to find this recipe & it is just as wonderful as I remembered from my childhood!

The flavor of the filling is just like the ones from the bakery in Pella, Ia. I used Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry instead of making dough. It was a lot easier than the first time I tried to make these. I did have alot filling left over and there is not enough filling in the actual cookie when I cut the dough to 1 1/2 inches like recipe says. Next time I will be cutting dough 2 to 2 1/2 inches so that there is room for more filling. Otherwise, these are amazing!

I grew up in a small, Dutch town and fondly remember the Dutch letters we bought at the local bakery. These are exactly what I remember!!! The only change I made was to use Almond Cake & Pastry Filling (Solo brand) in place of the almond paste, egg and sugar. I found the filling to be much more frugal than almond paste and it was ready to use as the filling. Thanks for sharing this recipe!!!

These are definately worth the work! We were pleasantly surprised and so were our friends!

These were very good. When i was baking them i thought i had messed them up because they never really turned brown, but i took them out at the specified time they tasted perfect. I had left over filling so next time i will double the flour mixture.

Dutch letters are one of the best treats in the world! I altered this recipe, using puff pastry. It made the process much easier. I didn't try to shape the strips into letters (just the lower case "l"!) While the filling did tend to ooze out some, it didn't detract from the taste. Even using the puff pastry, they are kind of time consuming but well worth the effort!

I make these all the time for my mom. A friend of hers goes to Pella once a year (we live in Iowa) to the tulip festival and brings a bag home for her. When I found the recipe I immediately went to the store for almond paste and made them. I personally dont like them (I dont like the almond filling) but this deserves 5 stars just for the look I got when she took a bite and realized what they were! I am also in the process of making some for her for Mother's Day! THANK YOU FOR POSTING THIS RECIPE! My mom's an expert baker and its nice to be able to suprise her :)

These are soooo good. I got the idea to search for the recipe after visiting Pella, Iowa for tulip festival. They aren't exactly the same but close enough. I will be making these again for special occasions.

These are exactly like the ones I get when I got to the Amish bakery in Jamesport MO. I Have been searching for a recipe to duplicate these, and this is it!!! FANTASTIC!!! And actually not a difficult as I thought they would be. Only took about 15 minutes to roll out and get in the oven! I will be making these for MANY years to come!

This butterletter recipe is very good. We made it for Thanksgiving. The crust was very flakey. We made it into two loaves instead of cookies.

OMG! THIS WAS SO GOOD! I made it because I'm doing a state fair thing for my school and I got Iowa:D So I made this recipe and I had to make it into 300 samples!:d anyway when I was making it I worried it wouldn't be sweet enough sense there was no sugar in the dough. But it never failed me! I made it just like the recipe called for it and it was amazing! I and my bro don't really like almond but we loved this! :D Thanks Claudia, for the great recipe! And also I'm only 15 so its easy enough for me to make.

Totally love these. I don't think I rolled my dough out thin enough because I had almost half of the almond mixture left. Also I think next time I'm going to just use the almond paste instead of the mixture. I made my own paste (very simple) and it's thick enough to roll into a long strip and I think I'll just put that inside. Make SURE you seal the ends of the cookies and the sides so the almond mixture doesn't all run out onto the pan.

This tasted very much like the recipe for banket (see recipes in Allrecipes) tasted. More crust less almond but still the great taste. Thanks for sharing.

I have made these wonderful cookies for many years. My father was the first of my family born in the states (from Holland) these were by far his favorite. Another of my favorites is to add raspberry jam along with the almond paste to give yet another delicious taste. You can't go wrong with this cookie/pastry, especially at Christmas time. A favorite here year after year

I just wanted to agree with Sue the Dec. 16, 2007 review that the bakery in Pella,Iowa have the best Dutch Letters ever. I use to have the address and would order them for the holidays so I'm glad to have found this recipe. Thank You!