Linzer Cookies
These linzer cookies feature raspberry jam sandwiched between two crispy spiced almond cookies! The perfect addition to any holiday baking list, this delicious cookie recipe is sweet, salty and incredibly addictive!
These linzer cookies are a mini version of the popular Austrian pastry linzer torte. Filled with raspberry jam, these almond-flavored sandwich cookies are the perfect addition to any holiday baking list! While linzer cookies, or linzer augen in German, are most popular around Christmas, I enjoy baking them year round. For Valentine’s Day, use a heart-shaped cutout to make the perfect gift!
making the dough for linzer cookies
To make the dough, you can either buy almond flour or make it yourself by pulsing whole almonds in a food processor until finely ground. If you opt to buy your almond flour, make sure to get an unblanched almond flour (sometimes called natural almond flour or almond meal), which is made with the skins left on. This will give your cookies better color and texture!
Before rolling out the dough, it has to chill for several hours, but I usually make it a day in advance and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight. If you decide to make the dough ahead of time, just let it sit at room temperature for about half an hour before working with it — this will make it much easier to roll out!
To shape the linzer cookies, I used a fluted cookie cutter about 2.5 inches (6 cm) in diameter. Once you’ve cut out all of your cookies, cut out a smaller hole in the center of half of the cookies — these will be your window cookies! If you don’t have a cookie cutter small enough, the large side of a piping tip will work nicely. Make sure to keep your window cookies together on a separate pan as they may need less time in the oven than the whole cookies.
decorating and filling linzer cookies
Before adding the jam, I like to sift a bit of powdered sugar over the window cookies. You can definitely skip this step, but I love the way it looks and think it adds just the right touch of sweetness. Just make sure you do this before adding the jam, otherwise the powdered sugar will cover up your jam-filled windows!
As for the filling, you can use homemade jam or your favorite store bought brand. We always opt for raspberry jam or preserves — Viktor’s favorite! And the deep red color contrasts nicely with the cookies, giving them a very festive feel!
If you’re looking for more sweets to add to your baking list, definitely give these a try:
- joulutorttu | finnish christmas pastry
- german chocolate cookies
- cinnamon rolls
- pryaniki | russian honey spice cookies
linzer cookies
- Total Time: 3 hours 12 minutes
- Yield: 30 cookies
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Chill Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Cuisine: austrian
Ingredients
- 1 cup (230 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- ⅔ cup (135 grams) brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup (100 grams) unblanched almond flour*
- 2 ¼ cups (270 grams) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled*
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- powdered sugar for dusting
- ½ cup (150 grams) raspberry jam
Instructions
Linzer Cookies
- Beat the softened butter and sugar using an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg and vanilla extract and continue beating until combined.
- In a separate bowl, combine the almond flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger and salt.
- Gradually add the flour and almond mixture to the wet mixture and continue mixing until the dough just comes together.
- Flatten the dough into a disc and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough chill in the refrigerator approximately 2 hours* or until firm.
Assembly
- Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C) and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Flour your work surface and roll out the dough to ⅛ inch (⅓ cm) thickness. It may be easiest to start with half of the dough, leaving the other half in the refrigerator.
- Use a cookie cutter* to cut out 60 shapes (the number will vary depending on the size of your cookie cutter; just make sure you have an even number).
- Using a smaller cookie cutter, cut the center out of 30 (or half) of the cookies. These will be your window cookies. Make sure to keep these cookies together on a baking sheet, as they might need just a bit less time in the oven.
- Bake the cookies 12 minutes or until just turning golden brown around the edges. Remove and let cool on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once the cookies have cooled completely, dust the window cookies with powdered sugar.
- Place a spoonful of jam on every whole cookie and top with the window cookies. These cookies are best served on the day of filling, but can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for several days.
Notes
Almond flour: You can make your own almond flour by processing â…” cup (100 g) of whole almonds in a food processor until finely ground.
Spooned and leveled: Scooping a measuring cup into a flour container can result in much more flour than intended, which can affect the success of your cookies. To get a more accurate measurement, use a spoon to lightly scoop flour into the measuring cup until it’s completely full. Then run the back of a knife over the cup to gently scrape off any excess.
Refrigerating cookie dough:Â You can make the cookie dough up to two days in advance. If refrigerating for more than a few hours, just make sure to let the cookie dough sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before working with it.
Cookie cutters: I used two fluted cookie cutters for these linzer cookies. The large cookie cutter was approximately 2.5 inches (6 cm) in diameter.