Tart raspberry jam is sandwiched between crunchy almond shortbread cookies for one of my favorite cookie recipes: Linzer cookies. These crunchy, buttery, and jammy treats feature windows of raspberry jam, presenting beautifully and promising to be the star of any dessert spread.
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
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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!
Frequently Asked Questions
Leftover linzer cookies will keep covered in an airtight container for up to 5 days. They also can be frozen in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Defrost the cookies in the refrigerator or on the countertop for 30 minutes – 1 hour, or until thawed through.
Serve these buttery linzer cookies with hot tea, freshly brewed coffee, or a glass of homemade eggnog. Snack on them while you are decorating the Christmas tree or watching your favorite holiday movies. Serve them alongside lebkuchen for an Austrian-themed holiday dessert spread, or tray them up alongside petit fours and raspberry tarts for the raspberry lovers in your life.
Yes, save time during the busy holiday season by making the linzer cookies dough ahead of time! Prepare the dough as directed before patting them into the discs, wrapping them tightly in plastic wrap, and freezing them in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Defrost the discs overnight in the refrigerator or until thawed through before rolling the dough out and baking according to the directions. If making homemade jam, you can make that ahead of time too, freezing it until needed and defrosting overnight in the refrigerator or on low in the microwave.
If you love this recipe try these out!
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!
Linzer Cookies
Equipment
- Mixer
- Rolling Pin
- Cookie cutters
Ingredients
- 2⅔ cups all-purpose flour (320g)
- 1½ cups almond flour (150g)
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1½ cups unsalted butter softened (340g)
- 1 cup granulated sugar (200g)
- 2 large egg yolks
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup raspberry jam or strawberry jam strained (120mL)
- Powdered sugar to garnish
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, almond flour, cinnamon, and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar 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.
- With the mixer on low, gradually add the flour mixture 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 one disc at a time to ¼-inch thickness. Using a 2-inch round cutter, cut out the cookies, rerolling scraps as needed. You should have about 36 cookies. Place the cookies about 2 inches apart on the baking sheets.
- Using a ½ to ¾-inch round, diamond, or star cutter, punch out the center of half of the cookies (about 18). Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until the edges are light golden brown. Let cool on pan, 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, let cool completely, about 30 minutes. Repeat with the remaining dough.
- Turn the whole cookies flat side up and place about ½ teaspoon of jam in the center. Dust the cookies with holes with powdered sugar. Place the sugared cookies on top of jam, pressing gently to create a cookie sandwich. Store cookies flat in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Notes
- 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!