Linzer Cookies

5 from 8 votes

Linzer Cookies are traditional Austrian Cookies that are so tender and buttery! An easy recipe for jam-filled almond shortbread cookies with lots of tips.

Prep Time30

Cook Time12

Chill Time1 30

Total Time2 12

Course: Baking

Cuisine: German

Servings: cookies

Author: Julia Foerster

Equipment

Linzer Cookie Cutter

Ingredients

½ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup unsalted butter softened
2 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla sugar or vanilla extract
2 large egg yolks
1 cup ground blanched almonds or other ground nuts or almond flour
¼ tsp cinnamon
1 tsp lemon zest finely grated

To decorate:

¼ cup powdered sugar
½ cup (seedless) jam e.g., raspberry, strawberry

Cups - Metric

Instructions

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter and sugar. Add flour, salt, vanilla sugar, egg yolks, ground almonds, cinnamon, and lemon peel. Mix until a crumbly dough forms. Press dough together with your hands and flatten into a disk. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least an hour.
Take the dough out of the fridge, divide into two portions, and shortly knead portions by hand.
On a floured work surface, roll out the dough. It should be 1/5 inches (5mm) high. Cut half of the dough using a round cutter with your chosen insert and an equal number of rounds without the insert. Transfer cut out cookies to a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Chill cookies on the baking sheet for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350F (177C). Bake cookies for 8-12 minutes in the middle of the oven until edges are very lightly browned. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack and let cool completely.
To decorate the cookies, sprinkle the cookies with the cut-out with powdered sugar. Pipe jam on top of the cookies that don’t have a hole and put one of the other cookies on top. Let the cookies dry on the cooling rack for about 2 hours then transfer to cookie tins with parchment paper in between. Store in a dry and cool place.

Notes

IMPORTANT: Spoon and level the flour, instead of scooping it out of the container. Using too much flour will make the dough crumbly and difficult to handle!
Instead of ground blanched almonds, you can also use the same amount of ground hazelnuts, walnuts, or pecans. Almond flour works too!
After chilling the dough divide it into smaller portions to make kneading easier. Because of the butter, this dough will get hard when chilled, but kneading it makes it easy to roll out.
If the dough gets too warm after rolling it out several times, chill it for a few minutes.
While traditionally a round cookie cutter is used, you could also use a heart-shaped cookie cutter or any cookie cutter you like. But the easiest way to make these cookies is to use a Linzer Cookie Cutter that comes with little shapes that can be inserted into the round cookie cutter.
If the cookie dough sticks to the work surface instead of the cookie-cutter, use a thin spatula to lift the dough a little bit and sprinkle some flour under it.
Chill the cut-out cookies on the baking sheet in the fridge until the dough is cold. This way, the cookies get tender and crisp!
Don't bake these cookies for too long! They should NOT brown, take them out of the oven when the edges start to get lightly golden. They might look soft, but they will firm up while they cool.
I recommend only using a small amount of filling! The thicker the layer of filling, the softer the cookies will become when they are stored for a few days. You can use a piping bag (my preferred way) or a knife to put it on the cookie.
These cookies taste best after a day! The jam will infuse the cookies, and they will get a little bit softer.

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