Linzer Cookie Recipe

‘Tis the season of cookie exchanges and baking and this Linzer Cookie Recipe creates festive, simple butter cookies with flavorful jam peeking through sugar-dusted cookies.

I love a cookie exchange.

It’s so much fun to taste other people’s traditions.

In Miami, my favorite cookies were made by Tanya.

She had a son six weeks older than my son and the two would play together often growing up.

I loved the holidays when Tanya would have playdates and the children would return with paper plates filled with sugar cookies they decorated.

As an adult, I still seek to make these same cookies.

Or at least have my sugar cookies turn out as delicious as Tanya’s.

For my family, Christmas cookies come in all shapes and sizes.

We love our afternoon of cookie decorating with our chewy and delicious sugar cookie recipe, but one of our favorites to share is this recipe for Linzer Cookies.

 

 

Linzer cookies are one of my favorites for gift giving.

They are beautiful and far easier than they look. Experiment with the seedless jams for a flavor that captures you.

We love to use Strawberry Habanero Preserves for this recipe; it adds a great flavor to the cookie.

You’ll love this Linzer cookie recipe. It’s your choice of jam sandwiched between perfect shortbread cookies.

They’re easy to make with big wow factor and easy to customize with the different shapes and flavors of jam!

In place of jam, fill the Linzer cookies with lemon curd (or any type of citrus curd), Nutella, or any other fillings that you choose.

I first heard about Linzer cookies from our friend from Austria, where the cookie legend says these cookies became popular hundreds of years ago.

The Linzer cookies are a spin on Austria’s Linzer torte.

It’s a simple sandwich of buttery shortbread filled with a colorful jam poling through, creating a colorful window.

Linzer Cookie Recipe Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cups finely ground almonds
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup butter, softened
2/3 granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam
Powdered Sugar

Linzer Cookie Recipe Directions:

Make the Dough:

In a small bowl, combine flour, almonds, and cinnamon; set aside.

In a bowl beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

Add egg and vanilla; mix well.

Add flour mixture; mix only until incorporated.

Divide dough into two pieces; press into small disks, about 1″ thick.

Wrap separately in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2-hours or until firm enough to roll.

Cut Out the Cookies:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

On a floured surface, roll out one disc of dough 1/8″ thick (keep remaining dough chilled).

Cut half of the dough using a round cutter.

Cut the other half the dough using a smaller cutter to remove the center.

Transfer to parchment paper-lined baking sheets.
Bake 10-12 minutes or until light golden brown.

Cool on cookie sheet for 2-minutes; remove from sheet and cool completely.

Assemble the Linzer Cookies:

Invert bottom cookies, spread with about 1-teaspoon of your favorite jam.

Dust the top cookies with powdered sugar.

Gently sandwich cookies together by placing the sugar-dusted cookie on top of the jam spread cookie.