If you are looking for the best Linzer cookie recipe, you`re at the right place. This is the authentic recipe traditionally used in Hungary and Austria. They consist of two cookies combined with jam and dusted with powdered sugar.
You can serve Linzer cookies on any occasion, as a part of the Christmas cookie assortment, or on Valentine`s day. Cookies can also make a great gift in a decorative box. Read on to find out how to make the best Linzer cookies.
I like to make Hungarian Linzer cookies for Christmas using my large collection of holiday-themed cookie cutters. You can also make them heart-shaped for Valentine`s day.
Linzer dough also works well with cookie-cutter stampers, as they hold their shape well, that`s how I made these maple leaf-shaped cookies.
Linzer cookies are nice looking and also delicious, they melt in your mouth. Just follow my step-by-step instructions for making them. It’s fun to make various shapes and this is a great cookie to make with kids.
- A baking tray lined with baking paper
- A rolling pin
- Cookie cutters of your choice in two sizes or special Linzer cookie cutters equipped with smaller cutouts.
- You can also use cookie stamps or cookie-cutter stampers.
Linzer dough used for these cookies is a simple 1-2-3 dough. That means it consists of
- 1 part powdered sugar,
- 2 parts cold butter and
- 3 parts flour, with
- one egg yolk added per 200 g / 7 oz of flour.
This dough is made without any leavening agents so the cookies will hold their shape well during baking.
The white Linzer dough I used for these cookies is flavored with lemon zest and vanilla extract.
Brown Linzer dough is also very tasty and can be also used for cookies. Substitute 20% of the flour with ground walnuts or almonds and season the dough with a pinch of cinnamon to make brown Linzer dough.
You can also make chocolate Linzer dough by substituting up to 2% of the flour with cocoa powder.
Combine two cookies with thick raspberry or apricot jam and decorate with powdered sugar. I always use my homemade apricot jam for this recipe.
Assemble the dough:
- Prepare and measure the ingredients, the butter needs to be cold.
- Sift the flour and the powdered sugar, then add the grated lemon zest and the vanilla extract.
- Add the egg yolk and the butter cut into small cubes into the previous mixture.
- Work the dough as quickly as possible, just until combined. This is important because your warm hands can easily melt the butter and that would ruin the dough.
- You can also use a food processor or a stand mixer with a paddle attachment to make Linzer dough. This way you can prevent the butter from melting and it`s also easier to make large batches of dough.
- Wrap the dough into cling foil and let it sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, but you can leave it there for up to 3 days.
- Roll out the dough 3 mm / 1/8 inch thick on a floured surface.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C / 360°F in the meantime.
- Cut out various shapes with cookie cutters in pairs,
one cookie for the bottom and one to place on top. Cut out smaller shapes from the center of the top cookies. - Place the cookies onto a baking tray lined with baking
paper and place them into the preheated oven and bake for about 10 minutes, or until the rim of the cookies starts to turn light brown.
It`s important to preheat the oven because the butter would melt at lower temperatures and run out of dough.
- Let the cookies cool down on the baking tray. Dust the top cookies with the cut-out in the center with powdered sugar.
- Flip the bottom cookies and add a teaspoon of jam onto the center, then cover with the top cookie.
- You can make Linzer dough in advance, and keep it in the fridge for two to three days wrapped in a cling foil. You can also keep this dough in the freezer for up to three months.
- The baked and filled cookies will stay fresh for weeks in an airtight container. You can also freeze the cookies and keep them in the freezer for up to three months.
- The best way to store the filled cookies is at room temperature. Place them into an airtight container, cookie jar, or plastic box with parchment paper between the layers.
How To Make The Best Linzer Cookies?
These jam filled sandwich cookies
are a part of the holiday cookie assortment in various European countries.
Ingredients
- 210 g / 7.5 oz flour
- 140 g / 5 oz butter
- 70 g / 2.5 oz powdered sugar
- 1 large egg yolk
- 5 g / 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 5 g / 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 100 g / 3.5 oz jam of your choice
Instructions
- Prepare a baking tray lined with baking paper.
- Sift the flour and the powdered sugar, then add the vanilla and lemon zest.
- Add the cold butter cut into small cubes and the egg yolk into the previous mixture.
- Add the cold butter cut into small cubes and the egg yolk into the previous mixture.
- Wrap the dough into cling foil and let it sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, then roll it out 3mm / 1/8 inch thick on a floured surface.
- In the meantime preheat the oven to 180°C / 360°F.
- Cut out the dough with cookie cutters in pairs, one for the bottom and one for the top, then cut smaller shapes out from the center of the top cookies.
- Place the cookies onto the prepared baking tray lined with baking paper and bake them in a preheated oven for about 10 minutes or until the rim of the cookies turn light brown.
- Let the cookies cool down a bit, then dust the top cookies with powdered sugar.
- Flip the bottom cookies. And add a tablespoon of jam onto the center of each bottom cookie, then cover with the top cookie.
Nutrition Information:
Serving Size: 15Amount Per Serving: Calories: 144Total Fat: 8.1gTrans Fat: 0.3gCholesterol: 32mgSodium: 61mgCarbohydrates: 16gFiber: 1gSugar: 5gProtein: 2g
Linzer cookies are a traditional holiday treat in Austria, Hungary, Switzerland, and Germany. In Austria, they are called Linzer Augen. Spitzbub is a regional name for these jam-filled cookies in southern Germany, Austria, and South Tyrol.
Hungarian tradition has it that the first Linzer sandwich cookies were made in a famous pastry shop in Budapest and named after Rudolf Linzer, a lieutenant in the War of Independence of 1848–1849.
Final thoughts
Linzer cookies are delicious and beautiful, they are also pretty easy to make. I hope you`ll like this recipe as much as I do. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them in the section below, and don’t forget to share.