I so enjoy incorporating things that are close to my heart in my shop; handmade items, houseplants, and now baking! I love to bake and do so on a weekly basis, most recently making Linzer Cookies.
Linzer cookies are buttery, jam-filled sandwich cookies based off of the Viennese Linzer Torte (a nutty jam-filled pastry with a lattice design on top), originating in Linz, Austria. The cookies have a shortbread-like texture and nutty flavor that comes from finely ground almonds (or in this recipe, almond flour!) in the dough.
This recipe has three flavor combinations including a lemon cookies with raspberry jam, a lemon cookie with lemon curd, and a cinnamon cookie with raspberry jam. All three are so so yummy and I guarantee when making this for friends and family you're going to get a lot of praise (and possibly a refill request when your cookie dish is returned, true story!)
This recipe is truly so simple and I hope when you give it a try you tag me so I can see your beautiful Linzer Cookie creations!
(I am going to link the Linzer Cookie cutter I purchased. I used the heart design with valentines day coming up. What's a sweeter valentine to give loved ones than confectioner sugared sandwich cookies!)
Ingredients:
170g Butter, Softened
99g Sugar
Zest of 1 Lemon or 1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1 Egg Yolk
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
160g Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
72g Almond Flour
1/4 Teaspoon Sea Salt
Raspberry Jam or Lemond Curd, for filling
Confectioners' Sugar, for dusting
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Instructions:
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To make dough: In a big mixing bowl beat butter, sugar, and lemon zest (for lemon cookie) OR cinnamon (for cinnamon cookie) with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Make sure to scrape the bowl as you go! Add egg yolk and vanilla, and beat until combined.
- In a separate smaller bowl, whisk together the flour, almond flour and sea salt. Add this dry mixture to your bigger bowl with the wet mixture and beat until just combined. Try not to over beat! (Mixture may look a bit crumbly, but just take a spatula and start smooshing all the little bits together and the dough will form in no time!)
- Divide the dough in half (I use a scale to make sure my halves are even) and pat each half into a disc. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour to firm up. (One disc will be used to make the bottom halves of your sandwich cookies while the other will be for the top halves)
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To assemble: Remove one dough disc from the refrigerator, and let it soften for 5 to 10 minutes, until it feels soft enough to roll (still cold but not rock-hard). On a floured surface, roll one disc of dough about 1/6"-thick. Using your Linzer Cookie cutter (linked above) without the center cut-out attached, cut out your cookies (these will be the bottom halves of your sandwich cookies). Transfer rounds to a parchments-lined baking sheet. Gather scrap dough, roll, and repeat. If at any time during this process the dough becomes sticky and hard to work with, simply refrigerate for about 20 minutes until firm.
- Place the cookies in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350°F.
- While the first half of cookies are chilling, take second dough disc and repeat step 4. Except we are going to use the little cutout center attachment (I used the heart shape for valentines day). Place cookies on parchment lined baking sheet and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
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To bake: Bake cookies for 10 minutes until the edges are just beginning to golden/brown (depending on your oven you may or may not need to add an extra minute or two, but I found that 10 minutes was consistent for me). Let them cool on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Repeat until all cookies are baked.
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To fill the Linzer Cookies: Place the cookies with the cut out centers (tops) on a plate and using a sift or fine mesh strainer, shake confectioner's sugar over the tops.
- With the remaining cookies (bottoms), turn them flat side up and spoon about a 1/2 teaspoon of raspberry jam or lemon curd onto the center, spreading slightly. (This is the fun part where we can make our flavor combinations!)
- Take sugar-dusted tops and place on top of the jam/curd topped bottom halves, gently pressing
*Storage: Store filled Linzer Cookies in an air tight container in refrigerator for several days; freeze for longer storage
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Happy Baking!
