One of the prettiest Christmas sandwich cookies I know of is this Traditional Raspberry Linzer Cookies recipe that’s made with butter, almond flour and raspberry jam.
Austrian Favorite: Traditional Raspberry Linzer Cookies Recipe
The holidays wouldn’t be as special without Christmas cookies. And, one recipe in particular that is a must is Traditional Raspberry Linzer Cookies.
This is a buttery sandwich cookie that offers a center filled with raspberry jam and dusted with powdered sugar.
DID YOU KNOW? Linzer cookies were named after the city where they are said to have been first made: Linz, Austria, and the Linz Torte, a pastry which offers both a dough lattice and raspberry jam filling.
I was first introduced to this sandwich Christmas cookie thanks to Grandma Jenny (my mom’s mom). She was a talented cook and during the holidays made quite a number of delicious cookies and cakes for her children and grandchildren to enjoy. Shapas and Bishop Cake are two examples of this, along with her Linzer Cookies.
In fact, Linzer Cookies have been made throughout the United States for generations by families of German and Austrian descent. Here in Milwaukee where German families immigrated from Europe, recipes like this has kept memories of their homeland alive.
But Linzers differ from other holiday cookies in that the recipe is made with both all-purpose flour and almond flour.
The other difference is that traditionally it’s made with hard boiled egg yolks.
I give homage to this classic recipe by including hard boiled egg yolks in mine also.
And the filling is simply raspberry jam. It gives this shortbread cookie a sweetness that is reminiscent of warm summer days.
For this recipe, I use Stonewall Kitchen Seedless Raspberry Jam.
The rest of the recipe follows suit like most cookie recipes.
To Make:
First, cream the sugar and butter.
To this add the zest of one lemon.
Mix well and slowly add in the dry ingredients: almond flour, all purpose flour, cinnamon, ground cloves, salt. It’s best if you drop in one third cup at a time until it is completely incorporated into the batter.
Then chill the dough for about an hour before rolling out.
And, speaking of rolling out cookies, you can do so using a floured surface or with parchment paper. I’ve used both with great results.
Roll out to 1/4 inch thick.
Here are two video tutorials to help you be successful in rolling out your Linzer Cookies.
How to Roll out Cookies Using Flour (Video)
How to Roll out Cookies Using Parchment Paper (Video)
After cutting out the cookies, lay them out on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Be sure to place only the top cookies on one baking sheet and the bottom cookies on another. You want to do this because the cookie layers bake at a different rate.
Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F and bake for approximately 10 minutes or until slightly golden along the sides.
Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool on a cooling rack before adding warmed raspberry jam to the bottom layer.
Finally, dust the top layer with powdered sugar.
Next, place this on top of the the jam-lined bottom cookie.
Fill the center opening with extra jam, if needed.
Store finished cookies in a sealed container until ready to eat.
It’s best if you store cookies unfilled until it’s time to serve them. Use wax paper or parchment paper between the layers of cookies, so that they won’t stick together. Enjoy!
For more amazing holiday cookie ideas, be sure to check out Wisconsin Homemaker’s Recipe Section.
Traditional Raspberry Linzer Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 cups almond flour
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 10 tbsp softened butter
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 whole egg
- 2 hard boiled egg yolks crumbled
- zest from 1 lemon
- 12.5 oz Stonewall Kitchen raspberry jam
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together: flour, almond flour, cinnamon and cloves. Set aside.
- Using a stand mixer with paddle, cream the butter and sugar together.
- Reduce the mixer speed and add one at a time: the crumbled hard boiled egg yolks, 2 egg yolks and 1 whole egg.
- Then, add the flour mixture, one cup at a time, making sure that each cup has been incorporated into the batter.
- Once mixed, refrigerate the dough in a sealed container for about an hour.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Remove chilled dough from the refrigerator and divide the dough in half.
- Roll out each dough amount until it is 1/4 inch thick.
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- With the first dough, cut out only 3 inch circle cookies and place each on one baking sheet. (These will be the base of the Linzer cookie.)
- With the second dough, cut out 3 inch circle cookies, but also cut out the center with a 1 inch cutter. Place these cookies on the other sheet. (These will be the top to the Linzer cookie.)
- Bake the cookies for approximately 10 minutes. You’ll see just a bit of golden along the sides of the cookies.
- Remove cookies from oven and place them on a cooling rack. Allow to completely cool.
- When cooled, heat raspberry jam in a small pot just until smooth, not too runny.
- “Frost” the base cookie with the raspberry jam with an offset knife or the back side of a spoon.
- Powder sugar the tops of the cookies.
- When ready to assemble, place the top of each Linzer cookie on top of the base.
- Add more jelly to the opening if needed.
- Carefully store the cookies in a sealed container until ready to eat. Enjoy!
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