Perfect Linzer Cookies

Hello, everyone! I’m so sorry that I haven’t been able to post these past few weeks. But now I’m back and ready to share this recipe for Linzer Cookies from King Arthur Flour.  These cookies are so gorgeous and delicate, and they’d make a lovely holiday gift. Another bonus is that the dough freezes extremely well, so you can make it ahead!

How was everyone’s Thanksgiving, by the way? I’d love to hear how things went in the comments. We started with these homemade Parker House rolls with lunch.

Then came the big dinner!

The table looked beautiful…

But the food looked even more beautiful!

We ended with a trio of desserts: Salted Caramel Apple Pie, my grandmother’s Pumpkin Pie, and a Flourless Chocolate Cake. Complete with ice cream and whipped cream, of course!

Aaaand now for the cookies! We’ll start with creaming some butter, sugar (granulated and powdered), baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla.

Next up, throw in some almond flour, all purpose flour, and an egg…

And mix until a dough forms. Then take a sizable bite of dough…

Before dividing it in half, wrapping it, and sticking the dough in the fridge to firm up.

When the dough’s all ready, roll it out to about 1/8 of an inch thick. It may seem thin, but one of the great things about these cookies is how they’re not doughy. Cut shapes using whatever cookie cutter your heart desires, then cut smaller shapes out of half of them.

Throw ’em into a 375 F oven for 8-10 minutes, or until they’re golden like this! Set aside the bottom halves…

And dust the tops with confectioner’s sugar. As you can see, mine got a little too brown.

But no one has to know that.

Pretty! See? Powdered sugar hides all mistakes!

Now for the fun part: spread a layer of your favorite filling. I used raspberry and apricot jam, and some Nutella for my chocolate-loving brother.

Top with another cookie…

And repeat! These are so fun and festive.

And the cut outs from the top halves make great mini sandwich cookies.

Enjoy, friends!

Here’s a shorter version of that recipe for you:

Linzer Cookies

from crumbsandnibbles.com, originally from kingarthurflour.com

Makes about 5 dozen sandwich cookies, depending on size

Ingredients:

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup confectioner’s sugar, plus more for dusting

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup almond flour

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 egg

Jam, Nutella, preserves, etc. for filling

Directions:

1. Cream the butter, both sugars, salt, baking powder, vanilla, and cinnamon.

2. Mix in both flours and the egg.

3. Divide the dough in half, wrap with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour OR freeze until needed*.

4. Preheat oven to 375 F.

5. Roll out dough to 1/8 of an inch in thickness and cut shapes. Cut smaller shapes in half of the cookies to create the top halves. Place onto a parchment lined baking sheet. The cookies won’t spread much, so they can be pretty close together (I’d leave an inch).

6. Bake 8-10 minutes, or until light golden in color. Cool completely on a wire rack.

7. Dust the tops of the top halves (the ones with the cut outs) with confectioner’s sugar. Spread a bottom cookie with the filling of your choice and sandwich with a top half.

*NOTE: If you choose to freeze some dough, just put it in the fridge the night before you want to bake it and then roll out as usual.

Happy holidays, and happy nibbling!