This is an original Austrian Linzer Cookies recipe fully translated into English. Super soft and buttery cookies which melt in your mouth. Intense in flavor.
Linzer Cookies are soft, buttery, and full of flavor. These are traditional Christmas cookies here in Austria. You can get them everywhere, literally. It's funny that you can buy them all year long, not just at Christmas, though they are considered as Christmas cookies.
They are soft, buttery, and melt in your mouth. The dough contains almonds, lemon juice, and cinnamon, and the baked cookies are filled with apricot jam.
When it comes to apricot jam, here in Austria it is popular to add a splash of rum to the jam. If you want to do that as well, take ½ cup of jam and 1-2 tbsp of rum depending on your preference.
Making the dough is as easy as making any regular cookie dough. Start with mixing the butter until it is creamy. Then add powdered sugar, followed by egg yolks. Stir in vanilla, salt, lemon juice, and cinnamon. In the end, add flour and almond flour.
For further processing, it is the easiest when you divide the dough into two and form into discs. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and let chill at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.
I highly recommend using a kitchen scale and weighing the ingredients. Cups differ in size, and too much of (almond) flour would dry them out. If you use cups instead of a kitchen scale, spoon and level the dry ingredients into the cup.
Another importance to say is that they don’t spread during baking. They stay in shape as you cut them. Use any cookie cutter you like.
Storage
They should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature. They stay fresh for up to one week.
Freezing
When freezing the unbaked dough, place the wrapped dough disks into a zip-lock bag and remove as much air as possible. Let it thaw in the fridge overnight. In a direct comparison between fresh and frozen dough, you will notice that the frozen dough leads to a tad drier cookies. It freezes well for up to 3 months.
You can also freeze leftovers. Therefore, wrap each cookie separately in plastic wrap tightly and put it into zip-lock bags. Remove as much air as possible from the bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. To thaw, unwrap, and let them sit on the counter for about 1-2 hours.
The softest and best Linzer Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter (226g)
- 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted (120g)
- 2 large egg yolks
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 1 vanilla bean* (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
- 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice (30ml)
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour (300g)
- 1 cup almond flour (100g)
- ½ cup jam of your choice (160g)
- OPTIONAL powdered sugar for decoration
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C. Line 2 or 3 baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a whisk or paddle attachment, mix butter on medium speed until creamy for about 1-2 minutes. Add sugar and mix to combine. Stir in egg yolks until combined. Add salt, cinnamon, vanilla*, and lemon juice and mix just until incorporated. Stir in flour and almond flour on low speed to combine. Divide the dough into two and form into 1 inch thick discs. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and chill at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.
- On a lightly floured surface roll out dough discs into a ¼ inch thickness. Cut out cookies with a 2-inch cookie cutter of your choice and place on the prepared baking sheets with about 1-2 inch space in-between. You should end up with about 64 cookies. Bake one sheet after another for 9-10 minutes until they look dry on the surface. Allow cooling on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Fill cooled cookies with jam by spreading jam on the bottom of one cookie and place another on top. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired. Store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Can I add poppyseed to the dough? If so how much do you recommend? I love the flavor of poppyseed lemon and apricot together
Yes, that sounds like a delicious addition. I recommend adding up to 2 tbsp (14g) to the dough. Hope that helps!