Linzer cookies are a holiday staple. They are crisp, buttery, and melt-in-your-mouth delicious! Dusted with powdered sugar and filled with homemade cranberry sauce, these might be the best Christmas cookies ever!
These Linzer cookies will make you the star of the Christmas cookie exchange! What’s more, if you enjoy baking and giving homemade cookies as gifts, these package really nicely if you wait 24 hours after the cookies have been assembled and the jam has had some time to set!
What’s In This Blog Post
Linzer Cookie Ingredients
Almond flour –We are using almond flour today, but you could use any kind of nut flour like hazelnut or pistachio!
Cake flour – If you don’t have cake flour, remove 3 Tablespoons of All-Purpose flour and replace it with cornstarch.
If you’re located in another country, you can find cake flour but it might need to be ordered online. In the UK, look for Shipton mills cake and pastry flour.
Cranberry Jam – I’m making a yummy cranberry jam for my Linzer cookies, but any kind of sweet jam or filling will work! You can even use store-bought jam if you don’t want to make your own.
Cake Crumbs – I always have leftover cake laying around, so this isn’t an uncommon ingredient in my house. If you don’t have extra cake crumbs on hand, you can either buy a cupcake or cake from the store and crumble that up, or just use more cake flour. The cake crumbs add more flavor to your cookies.
How to Make Cranberry Filling for Linzer Cookies
I like to make my cranberry filling ahead of time to allow it to cool down completely. You can easily make this a few days in advance. Don’t like cranberry? Try making raspberry filling instead.
- Combine the water, sugar, zest, juice, and cranberries together in a saucepan over medium-high heat until it begins to simmer. Stir occasionally to prevent burning.
- Lower the heat to medium and let the mixture reduce for about 10 minutes or until the mixture is thickened.
- Remove from the heat and let the mixture cool before using.
- Once your filling is cool, use an immersion blender or blender to make your cranberry filling smoother and easier to pipe. Totally optional.
Pro-Tip: For a thicker filling, combine 2 teaspoons of cornstarch with 1 Tablespoon of cool water to make a slurry. Add the cornstarch to the filling at the end of cooking, and then cook it for an extra minute to thicken.
How to Make Linzer Cookie Dough
- Combine your cake crumbs, cake flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, and almond flour together with a whisk. (If you don’t have cake crumbs you can replace them with more almond flour) Set aside. Pro-Tip: You can use any kind of nut flour for this recipe including hazelnut, pistachio, or cashew!
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream the room temperature butter and the sugar until it’s light and fluffy.
- Add the room temperature egg and vanilla to your butter/sugar mixture and mix it until it’s incorporated.
- While mixing on low, add in your flour mixture and mix until the dough comes together. Don’t over-mix it.
- Divide the dough into two flattened disks.
- Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for an hour or overnight.
How to Assemble Linzer Cookies
- Preheat your oven to 325ºF and line a cookie sheet with some parchment paper.
- Let your dough warm up until you can roll it out without it cracking. Mine took about an hour.
- Dust the rolling pin and the surface with some flour to prevent sticking. Roll out your dough to 1/8″ thick.
- Use the Linzer cookie cutter without the window attachment and cut out 24 backs.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges begin to turn golden brown.
- Use the Linzer cookie cutter WITH the window attachment and cut out 24 fronts.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes or until the edges just begin to turn golden brown. Pro-Tip: If you have any leftover dough you can press it together and roll out more fronts and backs and bake them off.
- Transfer your baked cookies to a cooling rack to allow them to cool.
- Dust the fronts with some powdered sugar.
- Fill a piping bag with your cranberry filling. Pipe some filling around the outside of one of the back cookies, about 1/4″ thick.
- Place the front cookie on top and gently press down.
- Fill the center of the cookie with some more cranberry filling.
Your cranberry filling will develop a skin after 24 hours and will then be suitable to package if you desire.
How do you use a Linzer cookie cutter?
Linzer cookies are often made using a Linzer cookie cutter. These cookie cutters usually have a fluted outer edge and a center cutter that is detachable so that you can make the cookies with the center cut out.
Some Linzer cookie cutters are all one piece. Use one side to cut the backs of the cookies and then flip the cutter over to cut the front of the cookie with the window.
FAQ
You don’t have to have a Linzer cookie cutter to make these cookies. You can use any cookie cutter that you have, and then use another, smaller cutter to make the window. Whatever cookie cutter you use, be sure to dust it with a little flour to prevent sticking while you cut your cookies.
You can freeze the dough before rolling it out for up to 6 months (thaw in the fridge) or freeze the finished cookies airtight for 1 month.
There are all kinds of Linzer cookie variations. They can be filled with any type of sweet filling like raspberry, strawberry, cranberry, or even chocolate ganache.
Traditional Linzer cookies are made with either apricot or red currant jam.
Absolutely! Allow the cranberry filling to cool to room temperature, and then store any leftovers in a freezer-safe storage container for up to 6 months.
In the 1850s, Franz Holzlhuber, an Austrian immigrant, who immigrated to America as a musician, artist, and poet is credited for bringing Linzertorte to America. A Linzer cookie isa variation of Linzertorte.
Linzer cookies are Austrian German.
Linzer cookies are an Austrian sweet made from the dough of a Linzer torte which just happens to be the oldest written recipe in existence. Named after the city of Linz, Austria, the torte is a kind of pie with a sweet black currant filling, sliced nuts, and an almond-based lattice crust. Dating back to 1655 when nuts were much easier to come by than ground-up wheat flour and less expensive.
Eventually, someone had the grand idea to cut that dough into cookies shaped like hearts, stars, and circles. Half of the cookies would get the center cut out and this is called a Linzer eye. After the Linzer cookies were baked, they were traditionally filled with a black currant jam and dusted with powdered sugar.
More Recipes You’ll Love
Linzer Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
Linzer Cookies
- 6 ounces (170 g) unsalted butter room temperature
- 4 ounces (113 g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large (1.76 oz) egg room temperature
- 1 ounce (28 g) cake crumbs or cake flour
- 8 ounces (227 g) cake flour or substitute with All purpose flour, remove 3 Tablespoons of flour and replace with 3 Tablespoons of cornstarch.
- 1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 ounces (85 g) almond flour or hazelnut flour, a combination of both, or pistachio flour
Cranberry Filling
- 12 ounces (340 g) cranberries
- 7 ounces (198 g) sugar
- 8 ounces (227 g) water
- 1 Tablespoon orange zest
- 3 Tablespoons orange juice
Equipment
- Linzer cookie cutter (or two cutters, one about 2" and one 1/2")
Instructions
Cranberry Jam Instructions
- Combine water, sugar, zest, juice, and cranberries together in a saucepan over medium-high heat until it begins to simmer. Stir occasionally to prevent burning.
- Reduce the heat to medium and let the mixture reduce for about 10 minutes or until the mixture is thickened.
- Remove from the heat and let the mixture cool before using.
- Once your filling is cool, use an immersion blender or blender to make your cranberry filling smoother and easier to pipe (optional). Pro-Tip: For a thicker filling, combine 2 tsp cornstarch with 1 Tablespoon cool water to make a slurry. Add the cornstarch to the filling at the end of cooking, and then cook it for an extra minute to thicken.
Linzer Cookie Dough Instructions
- Combine your cake crumbs, cake flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, and almond flour together with a whisk. (If you don’t have cake crumbs you can replace them with more almond flour) Set aside. Pro-Tip: You can use any kind of nut flour for this recipe including hazelnut, pistachio, or cashew!
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream the room temperature butter and the sugar until it’s light and fluffy.
- Add the room temperature egg and vanilla to your butter/sugar mixture and mix it until it’s incorporated.
- While mixing on low, add in your flour mixture and mix until the dough comes together. Don’t over-mix it.
- Divide the dough into two flattened disks.
- Refrigerate for an hour or overnight.
Cookie Assembly Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325ºF and line a cookie sheet with some parchment paper.
- Let your dough warm up until you can roll it out without it cracking. Mine took about an hour.
- Dust the rolling pin and the surface with some flour to prevent sticking. Roll out your dough to 1/8″ thick.
- Use the Linzer cookie cutter without the window attachment and cut out 24 backs.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges begin to turn golden brown.
- Use the Linzer cookie cutter WITH the window attachment and cut out 24 fronts.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes or until the edges just begin to turn golden brown. Pro-Tip: If you have any leftover dough you can press it together and roll out more fronts and backs and bake them off.
- Transfer your baked cookies to a cooling rack to allow them to cool.
- Dust the fronts with some powdered sugar.
- Fill a piping bag with your cranberry filling. Pipe some filling around the outside of one of the back cookies, about 1/4″ thick.
- Place the front cookie on top and gently press down.
- Fill the center of the cookie with some more cranberry filling.
Notes
- Bring your butter and eggs to room temperature or even a little warm to ensure your batter does not break or curdle.
- Use a scale to weigh your ingredients (including liquids) unless otherwise instructed (Tablespoons, teaspoons, pinch etc). Metric measurements are available in the recipe card. Scaled ingredients are much more accurate than using cups and help ensure the success of your recipe.
- Practice Mise en Place (everything in it’s place). Measure out your ingredients ahead of time and have them ready before you start mixing to reduce the chances of accidentally leaving something out.
- If the recipe calls for specific ingredients like cake flour, replacing it with all purpose flour and cornstarch is not recommended unless specified in the recipe that it’s ok. Substituting ingredients may cause this recipe to fail.
- If you’re in the UK, search for Shipton mills cake and pastry flour. If you’re in another part of the country, search for low protein cake flour.
- You can use any kind of nut flour including pistachio, cashew, or hazelnut in place of almond flour.
- You can substitute cake crumbs for more almond flour. The cake crumbs just add moisture to the cookie.
- You can blend your cranberry filling so that it’s smoother if you desire.
- Your cranberry filling will develop a skin after 24 hours, and will then your cookies will be suitable to package up. These cookies are excellent for holiday cookie exchanges and homemade gifts!
What is a cake crumbs ? And can we make it ? Thanks 😍
Cake crumbs are just crumbs leftover from cake trimmings or cupcakes. Like if you level off a cake, crumble up the dome and those are your cake crumbs
What could I substitute the almond,hazelnut or pistachio flour with? We have severe nut allergies in our house.
More cake flour
These are delish! I subbed more cake flour for cake crumbs. Great work, Liz!!!