Linzer Cookies.
I can’t think of a better dessert to share for the New Year.
These powder dusted heart filled cookies lift people from the inside out.
I can forever sit and stare at these delicate jam dropped cookies. While working, kissing Rainey, or making dinner, these cookies steal my attention. It’s bittersweet to eat and see them eaten. One by one they disappear, until their sweet goodbye. I’ve never been this conflicted by a cookie.
How do you choose where to travel? We chose our last trip by one single photo of Hallstatt, Austria. Our whole trip surrounding this town. We arrived by train into Linz, home of the Linzer Cookie. Although I didn’t see one Linzer cookie, we found an entire Muesli store.
We rented a car and hugged the Austrian countryside, walked Hallstatt—taking a wooden boat across, and even captured our very own picture. Being there was heaven on a heart.
Across Austria and Germany, I looked through stands and bake shops at Linzer cookie cutters, buying a handful. Once home for the cookie season, I used a mix of ones purchased there and from years past.
- RSVP – Endurance stainless steel biscuit cutters – Set of 4 square rippled.
- Jokumo – 11 piece round linzer cutters 430 stainless steel.
- various linzer cutters from Sur La Table, Germany, Austria.
How To Make Linzer Cookie Dough?
Midnight Baking Video One – https://youtu.be/VOOpNeaFxg4
Midnight Baking Video Two – https://youtu.be/gPwj8PepIJk
How to Cut Linzer Cookies?
There’s a difference in baking and baking for a blog. I’m learning; at times alongside Avi Pie. Thank you for being with us on this journey <3
- In the below video you’ll see we intermix top, bottom, and inside of windows too, then count to see if we have enough, which works.
- The dough softens quick so in retrospect, thought of an easier more organized way to explain.
- Divide the dough in four when placing in the refrigerator.
- Remove and work one dough at a time.
- Cut and bake bottoms out of the first two doughs, then tops and windows out of the second two.
- Make, bake, and eat the inside of the windows too. Aren’t they cute?
- https://youtu.be/MH3kPyMQJrc
They don’t expand much, so lots can fit on a cookie sheet.
Once cooled, gather supplies—a small butter knife and tiny spoon help greatly. About 1/3 to 1/2 cup red jam should be enough. Some say seedless, but I like seeds and the way they look, so yeah!
Spread a thin layer of jam so each bite has a teeny bit, but not too much because we don’t want any to squeeze out the sides once the top’s in place.
I can hear my mom now, if this feels excessive, add jam to the middle of the cookie, sandwich, and move to the next ; )
I add a tiny bit more jam to fill the middle,
So the heart or flower looks plump and full.
Powdered Sugar
In years past, I dusted tops separate, added jam to the bottoms, then assembled. The cookies looked like a winter wonderland.
Because I prefer the taste of the cookies on their own and thought others might too, I chose to dust sporadically this year.
Because there can never be too many hearts and flowers in the world,
or echos and memories of those hearts…
Linzer Cookies (Linzer Kekse)
Ingredients:
- 2/3 cup hazelnuts - skinned, toasted, cooled
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar divided
- 2½ cups unbleached all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1½ teaspoon cinnamon (sea level = 1 teaspoon)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground clove (optional, but exceptional) (sea level = ¼-½ teaspoon)
- 1 cup or 2 sticks unsalted butter - room temperature
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract (sea level = 1 teaspoon)
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract - optional, but exceptional
- 1/2 cup red jam
- powdered sugar - for dusting
Instructions
Toasting Hazelnuts
- Preheat oven to 375-400° F.Spread 2/3 cup hazelnuts on a rimmed baking pan and and toast for 8-10 minutes. Remove. Either:1) rub loosened skin with a kitchen towel. 2) place in a metal sieve fitted over a bowl and rub until skins are removed. * Skinning can be a pain, some hazelnuts are stubborn. This time, skin remained on 1/3, so we subbed 1/3 with toasted almonds and moved on with the recipe.
- In a food processor, pulse cooled nuts and 1/4 cup brown sugar until fine ground.
- In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and clove. Set aside.
- With an electric mixer on medium-high, cream butter and remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about five minutes. Add nut/sugar mixture and beat until well incorporated, about 1 minute. Add egg, vanilla, and almond. Reduce speed to the lowest setting and mix until just combined.
- Continue with the mixer on low. Slowly add the flour mixture in three to four batches, making sure each is incorporated before moving to the next. Taste the dough. Does it have enough spice? Extract? If not, add carefully then stir to incorporate, so as not to overwork the dough.
- Divide dough in four, flatten to 1-inch disks, wrap and refrigerate for one hour or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two large baking pans with parchment or a Silpat.* I used a Silpat to make these cookies. Parchment or a light greased pan may need more or less baking time, so keep watch close to the finish time.
- 1.) Choose corresponding linzer cookie cutters, one larger (1½" ruffled square, rectangle, flower, circle), one smaller (1" heart, hole, star, flower, tree, bell). It's important to work pretty fast and for that reason with one dough at a time.2.) Using a lightly floured work surface, rolling pin, and one disk at a time— roll the dough to an even 1/4" thick. Dip the larger cookie cutter in flour to prevent sticking and cut. Repeat, then use a metal spatula to place the shapes on a cookie pan. Gather the extra dough bits, ball, wrap, and place in the refrigerator to chill.
- Bake 8-12 minutes, or until the edge starts to brown. * If oven bakes uneven, rotate pan halfway through.
- Remove and let stand a few minutes, then transfer to cool on a wire rack.
- While the first cookies bake, cut bottoms from the second dough, then window (exposing red jam) tops from the third and fourth doughs. With collected and chilled dough, re-roll once only, cut and bake more shapes. Window insides can be saved, refrigerated, baked, powdered and enjoyed too!
Assembly
- 1.) Dust tops with powdered sugar. 2.) Spread a thin layer of jam on the bottoms, including an extra dollop in the middle.3.) Carefully place the window top without squeezing jam out the side.4.) Share the love ❤️
Notes
- If omitting almond extract, extra vanilla can be used.
- Dough can be made up to two days in advance.
- Cookies can be stored for a couple weeks in a tin can.
Nutrition
