Linzer Cookies are a soft, tender almond cookie sandwiched with raspberry jam and topped with confectioner’s sugar. The cookie dough is flavored with brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and almonds. These are the best linzer cookies you’ll ever try!
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Set this dry mixture aside.
If using whole almonds process the almonds and a ¼ cup of the brown sugar in a food processor, until they are finely ground. Be sure to pulse, so this does not make almond butter. If you are using almond meal, then just mix the meal with ¼ cup brown sugar.
In a large bowl with a hand mixer or in a stand mixer, beat the butter and the remaining ¼ cup of brown sugar until light and fluffy, which will take about 2 to 3 minutes. This is called the creaming method! It is helpful if the butter is already at room temperature for when you cream the butter and sugar. Do not expect it to get as intensely fluffy as it might for a cake batter. There is too much butter for that.
Add the egg and vanilla, and beat to incorporate.
Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add the ground almond mixture. Next add the flour mixture in several additions. Mix until it is just-combined, and be careful not to over-mix. Remember to scrape down the sides of the bowl so everything is incorporated!
Divide the dough in half. Shape each half into disks and wrap each disk securely in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, which will take at least 2 hours, or overnight. You want it to be firm and set so you can get beautiful cookies that don’t shrink or spread.
Roll, Cut, and Bake:
Allow the disks to warm up on the counter until they are still cool to the touch but slightly softened. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Dust your counter with bench flour. Roll out each piece of dough to as close to an ⅛ inch thickness as you can. In the pictures, I rolled it to a little less than ¼ inch, but I ended up with slightly chubbier cookies. This dough is a little sticky, so you might have to re-flour your counter.
Cut the dough with your cookie cutter of choice, and place on a prepared baking sheet. Space the cut pieces of dough one inch apart. Use a smaller cookie cutter, or paring knife, to cut out the centers of half the pieces. Keep your scraps, because you can (and should) re-roll them!
Once all your dough is cut, you can opt to chill your cookies again before you bake them. Chill them until they are firm to the touch, which will take about 20-25 minutes. I recommend this step, but it is technically optional.
While baking, rotate the cookie sheets halfway through. You want to bake until the edges begin to brown, which for me was 8-10 minutes for the bottoms and 6-8 minutes for the tops.
Cool slightly on the cookie sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Assemble and enjoy:
When the tops (the ones with holes) have partially cooled, dust them generously with powdered sugar. Spread about ¾ teaspoon of preserves on each bottom (the cookies without holes). You can use a little more if you like, but I didn’t want the raspberry flavor to overpower the almond flavor. Spread the preserves until they reach the edges!
Place a powdered top on each bottom and press gently to stick them together. You can begin enjoying them immediately, but they do get better as the days go on! Waiting will give the flavors an opportunity to meld together and the cookies to soften slightly.
Video
Notes
Flavor Tips - Wait a day or two after assembling these cookies to eat them and the flavors will meld together beautifully.Technique - Don’t force your dough to roll out. Instead, wait just a little bit for it to soften before rolling. Storage - Keep these cookies in a sealed storage container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Store between layers of parchment paper. Recipe adapted from Real Simple | November 2010Yield:18 Cookies