Best Austrian Linzer Cookies
Austrian Linzer cookies are very special. Not just because they are beautiful but they are also very delicious. Making them isn't as easy as throwing ingredients in a bowl and baking. Giving someone a box of almond Linzer cookies isn't the same as giving any other cookies. Sandwiched with an assorted delicious filling of jams and chocolate makes a perfect treat any time of the year especially during the festive season.
What do you bake during Christmas? Do you make lots of cookies? cakes? Sweet? I grew up with lots of cookies, cakes, and sweets because my mom took orders for these meaning everybody depended on her for their Christmas goodies. Growing up beside mom making cakes, cookies and learned them not realizing I was a baker myself. I thought all kids grew up the same as me. Of course, over the years when I went away from home I realized a lot of my friends didn't know how to bake which made me the baker, cook in the house.
I must admit that being a grown woman jam sandwich cookies are still one of my absolute favorite cookies. I love, jam anything and my sandwich cookies are always a treat.
It's Linzer cookie time or as my kids say jam cookie season. When they were little I'd make this often during the year too not just the holidays. Linzer cookies are one of my favorite cookies to bake (and eat). It's a bit time consuming but the end result is so fascinating. Also, they make a great project for kids. Not to mention the jam in there gets the kids all excited.
- About these Almond Linzer cookies
- Let's Talk Ingredients and Substitutes (Save/Pin)
- Homemade Nut Meal / Almond Meal
- Useful Tips and Tools
- How to Make The BEST Austrian Almond Linzer Cookies (Save/Pin)
- Tips for making the perfect Almond Linzer cookies
- Troubleshooting - Linzer cookies
- Frequently asked questions
- You may also like
About these Almond Linzer cookies
This is a simple, easy and effortless recipe for the best Austrian Linzer cookies, I promise. It will give you rich, crisp and buttery sandwich cookies that you can wow family and friends with on holidays and special occasions. The dough is almond-based so it has this wonderful almond flavor and crumbles that just melts in your mouth. Accompanies with jam it's absolute heaven.
If you don't want to use almond I highly recommend my Classic Linzer cookies recipe which uses a shortbread cookie dough as a base. I will be sharing my brown sugar jam sandwich cookies as well as my matcha jam sandwich cookies with you soon too. I told you I love jam sandwich cookies - didn't I?
Let's Talk Ingredients and Substitutes (Save/Pin)
- Almond Meal - My mom made these with mostly cashews because those were easily affordable and available to her. I make these with an almond meal because those are available to me. The point is you can use any nut meal that is available and affordable to you.
- Cornstarch - This is what gives these cookies that crumble in the mouth texture. If you must omit cornstarch I'd say add some rice flour or all-purpose flour.
- Unsalted Butter - I always use unsalted butter in my baking. And yet, if you have to use salted butter - go ahead just omit the salt in the recipe.
- Fillings - This is the fun part so make it count. I've given you suggestions that we love to have at home. And yet, you can use anything that you want. Jams, Nutella, buttercream.
Homemade Nut Meal / Almond Meal
I know some of you do not get nutmeal where you are and that's OK. Nut meal is just ground nuts. The main reason we buy it commercially is that nuts have a tendency to be oily when ground. Commercial grinders work at a very high-speed and do the job quickly and easily with less cornstarch.
But you can also make nut meal very successfully at home. All you need to do is add a bit of sugar or cornstarch, or even flour to the nuts in the food processor when grinding them. The sugar/cornstarch/flour prevents the nuts from releasing any oils. As a result, giving you a nice dry powdered almond meal.
Every nut will give you a different quantity of ground powder but for the purpose of this recipe - grind ¾ cup almond with the cornstarch you have in this recipe in a food processor. This should give you the 1 cup almond meal you need for this recipe.
Useful Tips and Tools
- I prefer to weigh my ingredients with a kitchen scale for accurate measurements. Also, when appropriate, I use my measuring cups and spoons. Read - how to measure ingredients correctly when baking.
- I'm not a slave to mixers. And yet, when you need some good creaming, I highly recommend you use the Kenwood or Kitchen Aid mixers.
- A good baking tray is always important. So, try using a light-colored baking tray. Another option is to line the baking tray with parchment paper.
- If you aren't going to fill or decorate cookies, a regular rolling pin will work just fine. I like to use my cookie rolling-pin that has the side spacers that will also help you with rolling. So all your cookies are leveled and bake evenly.
- Also, it is really important to cool cookies completely on all sides. So, after 10 mins take them off the baking tray to prevent them from cooking further. Place them on a cooling rack so air circulates on all sides. This prevents steam from going back into the cookie, thus, keeping them crispy not soggy.
- Most cookies usually bake between 10 to 12 minutes. Since cookies bake quickly they can also get over-baked. This is due to our tendency to get distracted at the last minute. Hence, my solution is a kitchen timer that is always set to 10 minutes. I turn it on as soon as I place the cookies in the oven. This has saved me many cookies since my kids always keep me busy.
How to Make The BEST Austrian Almond Linzer Cookies (Save/Pin)
Prepare the dough
- Combine baking powder, salt, cornflour, flour, and almond meal together.
- Cream butter, sugar and confectioners sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg and egg yolk.
- Followed by the vanilla - combine well.
- Lastly, add the flour mix.
- The dough will be soft and requires to be chilled.
- Divide dough into two discs and wrap in cling / plastic wrap.
- Refrigerate for at least an hour or until cold enough to roll.
Prepare for rolling
- Preheat the oven at 170 C / 340 F.
- Roll both the disc to about ⅛ inch in thickness on a lightly floured surface.
- To make the bottom cookie cut out the cookies using a Linzer cookie cutter without the center attachment. Or round 3" cookie cutter
- To make the top cookie cut out the cookies using Linzer cooker cutter with the center attachment 0r use round 3" and 0.5" cookie cutters.
- Place the cookies on a parchment-lined baking tray.
- Bake the cookies on the center rack for about 8 to 10 minutes.
- Once baked cool on the cookie sheet for 10 mins then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Sandwich the cookies
- Place a teaspoon of jam on the bottom cookie.
- Dut the top cookies with powdered sugar
- Place the top cookie on the bottom cookie.
Storage and notes
- This dough can be halved or doubled successfully.
- Store them in a cookie jar at room temperature for up to 5 or 6 days.
- To make them in batches you can refrigerate the cookie dough for a week, or
- Freeze the dough for up to one month then - thaw in the fridge overnight before using.
Tips for making the perfect Almond Linzer cookies
- Always have all the ingredients at room temperature so the butter and sugar cream well.
- Use castor sugar or pulse the sugar in a food processor so it dissolves easily when creaming into the butter
- Rest the dough before rolling the cookies. Resting helps the butter firm up again which makes it easier to work and prevents spreading
- If the rolled cookies dough is soft, place it in the fridge for 15 minutes before you cut the cookies. Chilled cookie dough will give well-defined shapes.
- Preheat the oven for a good 15 minutes making sure the oven is at the right temperature. A cold oven will spread the cookies.
- Place cut cookies in the fridge while the oven is preheating to prevent spreading.
- When baked leave the cookies on the tray for 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.
Troubleshooting - Linzer cookies
Why are my shortbread cookies spreading?
Make sure you don't have the oven at very low temperature. The low oven can cause the butter to melt and spread the cookies.
My Austrian Linzer cookies are underbaked?
Gingerbread cookies typically take between 6 to 8 minutes unless they are rolled too thick. The cookies will continue to bake on the hot baking tray even after taking them out of the oven. Having said that if you feel the cookies are very underbaked, you can put them back into the oven for 2 to 3 minutes. Keep a close eye as they can easily overbake
Frequently asked questions
If stored properly in a cookie box these will stay fresh for up to two weeks.
Place cookies in a cookie jar or airtight container to prevent them from going soft
Yes, you can freeze the dough wrapped well in a ziplock bag. Thaw in the fridge overnight when ready to use.
You can also freeze the rolled cookies on a cookie sheet between parchment papers. Wrap the tray in plastic to prevent drying out.
Alternatively, freeze the baked cookies between parchment papers and thaw in the fridge overnight when ready to use.
The cookie base for the Linzer cookies is a shortbread dough so they are crisp but crumbly not hard, neither too soft
A typical Linzer cookie disc will take between 8 to 10 minutes. The outside of the cookies will have a slight color. The cookie will be set when you touch with your finger. Always, take into account that the cookies will continue to cook on the hot baking pan even after you take it off the oven.
We have used very little leavening of baking powder in this Almond Linzer cookies to prevent them from spreading too much. Baking soda will make the cookies puffy with rounded corners taking away those sharp edges. So, no it's best to use only baking powder.
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Description
Ingredients
For the shortbread cookies
- 110 cup (110 cup) Almond meal (see note to use whole almonds)
- 1 cup (125 g) All-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp Cornflour
- 8 oz (226 g) Unsalted Butter (1 cup, 2 sticks) room temperature
- ¾ cup (150 g) Sugar
- 2 tbsp Confectioners sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 Egg
- 1 Egg yolk
- ½ tsp Baking powder
For the filling
- ¼ cup Strawberry jam or any other jam
- ¼ cup Chocolate Ganache Or
- ¼ cup Nutella Or
- ¼ cup Dulce de leche Or
Instructions
- PREPARE THE DOUGH
- Combine baking powder, salt, cornflour, flour, and almond meal together.
- Cream butter, sugar and confectioners sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg and egg yolk.
- Followed by the vanilla – combine well.
- Lastly, add the flour mix.
- The dough will be soft and requires to be chilled.
- Divide dough into two discs and wrap in cling / plastic wrap.
- Refrigerate for at least an hour or until cold enough to roll.
- PREPARE FOR ROLLING
- Preheat the oven at 170 C / 340 F
- Roll both the disc to about ⅛ inch in thickness on a lightly floured surface.
- To make the bottom cookie cut out the cookies using a Linzer cookie cutter without the center attachment. Or round 3″ cookie cutter
- To make the top cookie cut out the cookies using Linzer cooker cutter with the center attachment 0r use round 3″ and 0.5″ cookie cutters.
- Place the cookies on a parchment-lined baking tray.
- Bake the cookies on the center rack for about 6 to 8 minutes.
- Once baked cool on the cookie sheet for 10 mins then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- SANDWICH THE COOKIES
- Place a teaspoon of jam or another filling on the bottom cookie.
- Dut the top cookies with powdered sugar
- Place the top cookie on the bottom cookie.
Recipe Notes
- This dough can be halved or doubled successfully.
- Store them in a cookie jar at room temperature for up to 5 or 6 days.
- To make them in batches you can refrigerate the cookie dough for a week,
- or Freeze the dough for up to one month then – thaw in the fridge overnight before using.
Equipment
Nutrition Information
The nutrition information and metric conversion are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee its accuracy. If this data is important to you please verify with your trusted nutrition calculator. Thank you
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