Our fifth day of cookie week brings a cookie recipe that I’ve wanted to perfect for years: Linzer cookies. Linzer cookies typically have a dough that contains some nut flour, and they are rolled out thinly and made into a sandwich with your favorite jam in between. Linzer cookies are a bit more time consuming to make, but as long as you follow the chill times and let them cool completely on the baking sheet before removing, you shouldn’t have any issues! If you’re looking for my other cookie week recipes, you can find my snowball cookies, maple brown sugar cookies, healthy peanut butter blossoms, and chocolate-dipped brownie cookies linked.
These cookies have both almond flour and almond extract in them, but they also have all-purpose flour in them so they are not gluten-free. The dough is like an extra nuttier sugar cookie dough that does need to chill before you roll it out. After you roll out the cookies, they will need to refrigerate again for at least one hour before baking. I know having two refrigeration steps can be time-consuming, but I promise that these cookies are worth it. When you cut the cookies out, you will cut all the cookies into the same shape, and half of them will have a portion of the middle cut out. I kept mine as simple lattice-edged circles, but you can do hearts, stars, or anything you want! After the cookies are done baking, you need to let them cool completely on the parchment lined baking sheets before moving onto the next step.
Spread your favorite jam onto the bottom portion of the cookies. I used strawberry here because I wanted something red, but you can use any kind you want, or even use a variety of jams. Sift powdered sugar over the top portion of the cookies and carefully sandwich them on top of the jam. From here, you can serve the cookies as is. But if you want something extra, you can use red and green icing to make holly berries and leaves on the cookies.
These Linzer cookies are the perfect addition to your cookie boxes. Check back tomorrow for the last recipe of cookie week!
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup finely ground almond flour
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 1½ cups unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg, at room temperature
- 1 tsp. almond extract
- Powdered sugar for dusting
- Jam for filling
- In a medium bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, almond flour, and salt. Set aside.
- Using a stand mixer or a large bowl and a hand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy and light in color. Add the egg and mix well again. Finally add the almond extract and mix until combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix until just combined.
- Refrigerate the dough for 1-2 hours. Line your baking sheets with parchment paper.
- On a floured surface with a floured rolling pin, roll out the dough to about ⅛ inch thick. These cookies are very thin because they are going to be sandwiched together. Cut all of the cookies into the same shape. Place the cut cookies onto the prepared baking sheet. Cut the centers of half of the cookies out. Refrigerate the cut cookies for 1-2 hours.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Wait to remove the cookies from the refrigerator until the oven is preheated.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes until the edges just begin to brown. Let cool completely on the baking sheet before removing with a metal spatula. Metal spatulas are thinner than silicone and you will have better results using one for these cookies.
- Sift powdered sugar over the halves of the cookies that have the center cut out and spread jam on the other halves. Place them together.
- If you'd like to add a decoration to the cookie, you can use sprinkles that are shaped like holly berries. You can also use a mixture of powdered sugar, food coloring, and a dash of water to frost holly berries onto the cookies.
- These cookies are best enjoyed within a day of making them but will last for a second day as well before they begin to get soggy.
- Enjoy!
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