linzer cookies

Winter holidays (yes, I’m as always a bit slow, it’s already passed) are synonymous with cookies to me, or at least the idea of cookies. Cookies are small and easy to eat but still fairly indulgent. The size makes them perfect for sharing and as long as they’re relatively sturdy, they travel well as gifts. Of course these umbrella statements only apply to some sorts of cookies as they’re quite the diverse group.

These Linzer cookies were my and The Cousin’s contribution to the holiday baking. I ended up feeling very lethargic (in the cookie-making department at least) after these so my dream of a large variety of cookies did not come to fruition (luckily for those wanting cookies, my sister picked up the slack).

I’ve been admiring a number of gorgeous Linzer cookies, small tender cookies hiding colourful spots of jam. It seems like they all pop out of their hibernation during the winter holidays just as I go into hibernation.

The challenge came in finding the appropriate cookie cutters. My cousin overcame my own functional fixedness-plagued mindset, coming up with the clever idea of using some piping tips as a punch for the centre of the cookies. Until that I had spent half an hour looking through all the bottles and containers we had to find a suitably sized bottle cap, but everything was verging on the side of much-too-big. The piping tips gave a considerable amount of choice in size.

I’ve decided to present this as a generalized recipe as these cookies are wonderfully adaptable to whatever flavour combination you set your mind to. For instance, consider play around with the:

• Nuts – use any sort of nut so long as they are finely ground – for instance, almonds, walnuts or pistachios
• Citrus zest – add the zest of a lemon or orange
• Spices – for instance cinnamon, cardamom, anise, ginger, black pepper and so forth – or any combination of spices
• Fillings – I often use whatever sort of jams I have in the fridge; other fillings could include ganache

Some combinations I’ve made are almond, cardamom, lemon and ligonberry jam or walnut, anise and apricot jam.

linzer cookies any way you like it

• Servings: 15-20 assembled cookies
• Print

This recipe is adapted from Spice in the City’s linzer cookies.

• 115g (1 stick) butter, softened
• 50g granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg yolk
• 35g finely ground nuts
• zest of a citrus fruit, optional
• 140g flour (can use half whole wheat if you like!)
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• spices: 1 tsp ground cardamom or 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon or 1/4 tsp ground star anise, optional
• fillings: jam of any sort

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light. Beat in the egg yolk and the vanilla extract. Mix in the lemon zest and ground almond.

Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder and spices ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, mixing until just combined and a soft dough is formed. Wrap the dough in plastic and place in the fridge to chill completely.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line two baking trays with parchment paper.

Roll out the cookie dough on a floured surface until 1/4-1/8″ thick. Use a 2″ metal cutter to cut out circles of dough (or use a small glass or lid of your desired size. Use a piping tip to cut a small hole from the centre of half the circles of dough. Arrange the cookies on the parchment-lined trays about half an inch apart (they will not spread much).

Collect the scraps of dough and chill them again briefly before rerolling and cutting out additional cookies. Repeat until all the dough is used. Chill the trays of cookies – chilling again before baking will help the cookies hold their shape.

Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the edges and bottom of the cookies are lightly browned. Let cool completely on the tray.

Spread a small spoonful of jam on the cookies without cutouts. Top each with one of the remaining cookies, pressing gently to sandwich the filling. Dust the cookies with powdered sugar.