Linzer Cookies

These beautiful cookies make for a special centrepiece

As one who loves baking and pouring over recipes, it is safe to say that this time of year I get completely overwhelmed by the sheer variety and range of cookies. Do I want to make pistachio thumbprints, chocolate chunk shortbread, cherry walnut rugelach, cut-and-roll sugar cookies, triple-ginger cookies, or white-chocolate dipped biscotti?

I have literally years’ worth of “Christmas Baking” special-edition cooking magazines that I save and obsess over every year.

This year, I might have to get rid of them and start fresh. Oh! Even typing that hurts a little. But my recipe overload is overwhelming.

If I do clean out my recipe stockpile, I will save this one. I love Linzer cookies. My mother made them every year, so it’s just not the holidays without them. My favourite kinds of holiday cookies are buttery and delicate, and the tiny touch of raspberry adds a sweet tang to their richness. I also enjoy making such festive and decadent treats that make for a lovely present. If you’re going to fiddle about with cookie cutters, you might as well go to town and make some Linzers. The people in your life will thank you for them.

I like using classic raspberry jam as a filling.

Linzer Cookies
From the Joy of Cooking

Yields 40 sandwich cookies

Delicate, flaky, buttery–with a tiny dollop of ruby-red jam peeking through a cut-out–these cookies are so pretty, and so festive. These beautiful treats are a lovely additional to any holiday cookie plate, and perfect with a mug of afternoon tea.

Ingredients
Dough:
2 1/2 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unblanched almonds, finely ground

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
10 ounces (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar

To decorate:
1 cup unsifted powdered sugar
2/3 cup raspberry jam

Method
Cream butter and granulated sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes. In a separate small bowl, combine the flour, ground almonds, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. Incorporate flour mixture into butter mixture and combine well.

Cut ball of dough into thirds. Place each piece of dough between two sheets of wax paper and roll out until quite thin–about 1/8 of an inch. Refrigerate until firm, about an hour.

You can freeze the baked cookies ahead of time and fill them right before your event.

Preheat your oven to 350 F and place a rolled portion of dough on your work surface. Peel away the top layer of wax paper. Use a round cookie cutter (about 2 inches in diamter) to cut out your rounds, and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. For half of the rounds, to create the tops of the cookies, use a small cutter to cut out the middle.

(Little shapes look quite pretty, but if you don’t have small cutters like that, you can use a straw to cut out three small holes in the middle of the round.)

Bake for about 10 minutes, or until just slightly golden. Remove from oven and let cool on the sheet for a few minutes; then transfer to a cooling rack. When the tops are cool, sprinkle with icing sugar.

Dust your linzers with sugar before sandwiching them together, so the red jam stays bright.

When you are ready to fill your cookies, flip over each bottom piece and place about 1/4 tsp of raspberry jam in the middle. Top with the top part of the cookie to create the sandwich.

All your work was worth it!

Nutritional facts
per one of 40 cookies: 129 cals; 6. g fat; 16.3 carbs; 1.3 g protein

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