A traditional Austrian recipe, these cookies feature flavors of the classic Linzer torte. Almond flour contributes toasty and nutty flavors, cinnamon add warming notes, and tart raspberry jam cuts through the richness to balance out the powdered sugar dusting. Simply irresistible! For more impressive holiday cookie recipes, try my anise cookies recipe, shortbread recipe, and spritz cookies recipe.
What You Need to Make This Recipe
Almond Flour – reach for high-quality almond flour for crunchy and nutty cookies. Use store-bought, or you can also blend up your own by blitzing blanched almonds in the food processor until they form a fine powder. Be sure to not use almond meal as it contains almond skins and is ground too coarse. Raspberry Jam – choose homemade or store-bought jam. To save a step, use seedless jam, though it is simple to strain the seeds out of seeded jam with a fine mesh strainer. If opting for seedless you only need 6 tablespoons. Butter – unsalted butter is the best bet for these cookies, ensuring that they are not too salty. Bring the butter to room temperature for 1-2 hours before starting on the recipe, or until softened and spreadable. Egg Yolk – you will need two egg yolks for this Linzer cookie recipe. Separate the yolks from egg whites using an egg separator or by carefully turning the yolk back and forth between the two sides of the egg shells after cracking, letting the egg whites fall away. Use the remaining egg whites for another purpose, such as making a white Russian or royal icing for sugar cookies!
How to Make Linzer Cookies
- In a large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, almond flour, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar, and lemon zest on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating until just combined, scraping the bowl after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract.
- With the mixer on low, gradually add the dry ingredients until combined. Divide the dough in half, and shape each into a disc. Wrap each disc tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Let the dough stand at room temperature for about 5 minutes or until slightly softened. On a lightly floured surface, roll 1 of the discs to 1/4-inch thickness with a rolling pin.
- Using a 2-inch round cookie cutter, cut 36 cookies, rolling out the second disc and rerolling scraps as needed. Place cookies about 2 inches apart on the cookie sheets. Using a 1/2 to 3/4-inch round, diamond, or star cutter, punch out the center of 18 cookies. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until the edges are light golden brown. Let cool on the pan for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely or for about 30 minutes. Repeat with the remaining dough. Dust the top cookies with holes with confectioners’ sugar.
- Over a small bowl, press the jam through a fine mesh sieve with the back of a spoon. Discard the seeds. Turn the whole cookies flat side up and place about ½ teaspoon of jam in the center. Place the powder-sugared cookies on top of the jam, pressing gently to create sandwich cookies.
Pro Tips For Making This Recipe
Carefully measure the flour. Weigh the flour on a food scale to ensure that the cookies have a light and soft texture. If you don’t have a food scale, you can also spoon the flour into the measuring cups before leveling off with a knife to prevent overpacking. Don’t over-flour the counter when rolling out the dough. You want just enough to keep the dough from sticking to it. Any more, and you risk adding too much flour to the dough, resulting in dry and crumbly cookies. Reduce the amount of jam for seedless. If you are using seedless raspberry jam, you will only need 6 tablespoons of it. Flavor the cookies. For a bright citrus note, beat 1 teaspoon of lemon zest or orange zest in with the butter and sugar mixture. Add 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract with the vanilla for a nuttier flavor profile. You can even add other spices like cardamom or ginger with the cinnamon. Optional: cookie-cutter variations. Use plain cookie cutters or biscuit cutters for a classic appearance or a scalloped cutter for a little flourish. Change the shape of the cut-out by using a star, diamond, Christmas tree, or heart-shaped small cutter instead of a round one. Optional: switch up the jam. Add some variety to your cookie platter by changing the jam you fill the cookies with. Tart jams such as apricot, cherry, or blackberry are all great pics, or you can also fill these cookies with lemon curd!
If you’ve tried this Linzer Cookies recipe, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
