A classic Christmas treat, these Linzer Cookies have jam sandwiched between the almond flavored cookie tops and bottoms. Covered with powdered sugar, this is the perfect holiday dessert.
One cookie that I will always love is these Linzer Cookies. They are a fun, beautiful and absolutely flavorful cookie that you cannot get enough of.
What I love about this dessert is that you can customize them to your liking. We went with raspberry jam with these but you can use any of your favorite flavors.
I love cut out cookies during the holiday and while these are cut out not really into shapes you get the fun centers that you can cut out into any shape that you like.
We went with hearts and stars, we fit it super flattering and fun and you can use that extra dough to make tiny little cookies if you wish!
You can find the mini cookie cutters on Amazon. They are also super fun to use on other things such as cutting out shapes in kids sandwiches etc.
Linzer Cookies are a classic and I don’t remember a Christmas without them and if you’ve never tried them, now you can and I can’t wait to walk you through the process!
Some of my other favorite holiday cookies we have on our site include: Chewy Sugar Cookies, Peppermint Double Chocolate Cookies and Spice Cookies.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- With minimal ingredients the dough comes together quickly.
- You can use any jam that you’d like.
- Swap out your shapes in the middle for other holidays.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE AT BOTTOM):
Raw whole almonds
All-purpose flour
Cinnamon
Salt
Salted butter
Granulated sugar
Egg
Vanilla extract
Raspberry jam
Powdered sugar
HOW TO MAKE LINZER COOKIES, STEP BY STEP:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the raw nuts (blanched or unblanched) on a baking sheet. Toast them on the middle rack until lightly browned (this will take 5 to 10 minutes).
- Once they have cooled completely, pulse them in a food processor.
- Once this mixture is finely ground, pulse in the flour, cinnamon, and salt, set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until it is creamy. Then beat in the sugar until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes).
- Beat in the egg, make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl so everything is mixed well then beat in the vanilla.
- Mix the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. Beat on low speed until just mixed, do not over-mix.
- Form the dough into 2 disks, wrap each disk in plastic wrap and place it into the refrigerator. Allow this to chill for at least 2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Remove one disk at a time from the refrigerator and place it on a well-floured surface. Allow it to sit for 1 or 2 minutes before rolling. Roll it out to about ¼ inch thick, you will need to be generous with the flour.
- Use a 2 ½ inch cookie cutter to cut out as many cookies from this dough as you are able to.
- Use a smaller cookie cutter to cut out a shape from the middle of half of the cookies. Roll scraps into a disk, wrap, and allow to chill. Then you can roll this out again to make more cookies.
- Place the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 12- 15 minutes. They should be just starting to turn golden on the edges, remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool slightly on pan. Then remove them to a wire cooling rack and allow to cool completely.
- Once the cookies are completely cooled, spread a heaping ½ teaspoon of jam onto the bottom side cookies. Dust the top cookies (with the cut out) with powdered sugar. (Make sure to dust the top cookies with powdered sugar before placing them on the jam cookies otherwise the jam center will not show as well.)
- Place the cookie with the cut-out on top of the jam cookie.
ARE THERE OTHER FILLINGS I COULD USE?
Yes! You could use other flavors of jam such as apricot, strawberry, lingonberry, etc. Or you could also use lemon curd or a chocolate spread like nutella.
MY DOUGH IS CRACKING WHEN I ROLL IT OUT, WHAT SHOULD I DO?
Make sure to let the dough sit for a minute or 2 out of the refrigerator to slightly warm up. Then, if it still cracks, you can patch the cracks with scraps of dough.
MY DOUGH IS STICKY, HOW CAN I FIX THIS?
Put the dough back into the refrigerator and allow it to chill again. It is easier to work with when it is well chilled.
If you still find that it is sticky, use more flour on the rolling surface and rolling pin. I like to sprinkle the top of the dough with flour as well.
DO I HAVE TO TOAST MY ALMOND?
This is an optional step that really doesn’t take that much time, but no you do not have to toast them. Toasting your almonds will give you a more rich flavor that we like.
HOW TO STORE:
The dough can be made up to 5 days ahead and kept in the refrigerator. Once baked, place the cookies in an airtight container and you can keep them at room temperature for 2-3 days.
These can also be frozen, to do that place in a freezer bag or container and they will keep for up to 1 month. Let defrost at room temperature.
TIPS AND TRICKS:
- This recipe can be doubled, they make great gifts for holiday cookie baskets.
- Switch up your filling, see my tips above on some ideas.
- You can toast your almond or not, we like toasting them because it brings out the flavor.
- You can use any cookie cutter style you like but make sure it is 2 1/2 inch.
- Make sure to separately dust the tops of the cookies with powdered sugar before placing over jam.
- These can be frozen, see above on how to do that.
If you want a super classic and delicious treat for the holidays, then you absolutely cannot pass up these Linzer Cookies!
If you like this recipe you might also like:
If you’ve tried these LINZER COOKIES or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and what shenanigans I’m getting into!
Linzer Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup raw whole almonds
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup salted butter softened
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup raspberry jam
- ½ cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the raw nuts (blanched or unblanched) on a baking sheet. Toast them on the middle rack until lightly browned (this will take 5 to 10 minutes).
- Once they have cooled completely, pulse them in a food processor.
- Once this mixture is finely ground, pulse in the flour, cinnamon, and salt, set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until it is creamy. Then beat in the sugar until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes).
- Beat in the egg, make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl so everything is mixed well then beat in the vanilla.
- Mix the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. Beat on low speed until just mixed, do not over-mix.
- Form the dough into 2 disks, wrap each disk in plastic wrap and place it into the refrigerator. Allow this to chill for at least 2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Remove one disk at a time from the refrigerator and place it on a well-floured surface. Allow it to sit for 1 or 2 minutes before rolling. Roll it out to about ¼ inch thick, you will need to be generous with the flour.
- Use a 2 ½ inch cookie cutter to cut out as many cookies from this dough as you are able to.
- Use a smaller cookie cutter to cut out a shape from the middle of half of the cookies. Roll scraps into a disk, wrap, and allow to chill. Then you can roll this out again to make more cookies.
- Place the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 12- 15 minutes. They should be just starting to turn golden on the edges, remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool slightly on pan. Then remove them to a wire cooling rack and allow to cool completely.
- Once the cookies are completely cooled, spread a heaping ½ teaspoon of jam onto the bottom side cookies. Dust the top cookies (with the cut out) with powdered sugar. (Make sure to dust the top cookies with powdered sugar before placing them on the jam cookies otherwise the jam center will not show as well.)
- Place the cookie with the cut-out on top of the jam cookie.
Notes
- This recipe can be doubled, they make great gifts for holiday cookie baskets.
- Switch up your filling, see my tips above on some ideas.
- You can toast your almond or not, we like toasting them because it brings out the flavor.
- You can use any cookie cutter style you like but make sure it is 2 1/2 inch.
- Make sure to separately dust the tops of the cookies with powdered sugar before placing over jam.
- These can be frozen, see above on how to do that.
Nutrition
Tornadough Alli is not a nutritionist or dietitian, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and nutritional value is important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and values can vary depending on which brands were used.
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