Christmas Linzer Cookies with a hint of vanilla, the best ever jam-filled cookies. Soft, nearly melting in your mouth, buttery, and so flavourful, these Christmas cookies are a great way of getting the kids to bake with you. They are quick and easy to make without almond flour, and they only need 10 minutes in the oven.
Having been brought up in a family that values homemade food and hard work, l simply cannot imagine a big holiday or celebration without lots of preparation in advance.
Everybody gets to help a bit, and l think everything tastes amazing on the big day more so because you know how much you worked for it. And the reward always exceeds everyone's expectations.
It's all that excitement and rush that gets you into the holiday spirit. Yes, buying ready-made stuff is fuss free and effortless, but a kitchen filled with the lovely aroma of the freshly-baked goodies is priceless. I become a child again every time l get to bake family-favourite cookies. And what's better than some soft linzer cookies that simply melt in your mouth?
They are quick and easy to make, and each batch is out of the oven in 10 minutes - the amount listed below can make 2-3 batches depending on the size of the baking tray, but if you need more cookies, simply double up the ingredients, you won't regret, they are just fab!
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What are linzer cookies
These linzer cookies are the closest to what the British people call jammie dodgers, or sandwiched cookies filled with (usually red) jam. The linzer cookies originate in Austria, in Linz city, thus their name. The bakers would cut out different shapes, and sandwich together a cutout cookie, and a whole cookie.
The cookies are rich and buttery, their texture being very similar to the shortbread cookies, as they both use a fair amount of butter to get that gorgeous buttery taste. My linzer cookies are made without almond flour, and they are as good.
The filling is usually jam, but you can go for any other filing of your choice. My Pumpkin Linzer Cookies are a great way of celebrating Harvest, and are as delicious as the jam ones.
For my Christmas linzer cookies I used christmassy cookie cutters. If you don't have such cutters, not to worry, just use a glass to cut the bottom cookie, and a plastic water lid to cut the top one, no one will ever know what happened 🙂
Other popular shapes are hearts, and that would make these cookies very popular for Valentine's Day, so just they can be very seasonal too.
Ingredients needed
- plain flour - there is no need for self-raising flour for these cookies, the regular one works the best
- butter - unsalted, chilled from the fridge
- icing sugar - well sifted, to avoid lumps in the dough
- baking powder
- a pinch of salt - it balances out the sweetness of the cookies
- egg
- egg yolks - it makes the dough less spreadable in the oven
- jam - any jam of your choice, I used homemade blackberry jam
- vanilla extract - or any other extract
Step-by-step photos and instructions
- sift the flour, add the cold cubed butter, and use your fingertips to rub them together until they resemble breadcrumbs
- add the baking powder, icing sugar, vanilla extract and eggs, and knead well to get a smooth dough that does not stick to the hands
NOTE! If the dough is still a little tough, add a tablespoon of cold water and knead again.
- cover the dough in clingfilm, and chill for at least 15 minutes
- roll the dough using a rolling pin, and use a round cookie cutter to cut out circles - half of the circles will be used for the bottom, the other half can be used for the top, so any shape can be cut into the circle
- bake in the preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit) for 10 minutes, working in batches not to overcrowd the tray
- leave to cool, then spread jam over the bottom cookies, and sandwich with the cutout cookie
- dust with icing sugar on top
Expert tips
These cookies are the simplest you can make, the longest time they spend is chilling in the fridge, so that the cookies don't spread in the oven if the dough is warm.
Chilling them beforehand is crucial - warm dough will spread way too much, resulting in flat, irregular cookies.
The cookies can safely be stored in an air-tight container or a glass jar, they will keep nice and soft for many days, although I find it hard to believe they can last for too long. There is no need to refrigerate the cookies, they last well at room temperature.
Other Christmas cookies
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Christmas Linzer Cookies
Ingredients
- 350 g plain flour
- 160 g butter, unsalted
- 100 g icing sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- a pinch of salt
- 1 egg
- 2 egg yolks
- 300 g jam
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a large bowl, sift the flour, add the icing sugar, baking powder and salt.
- Cut the butter into cubes and add it to the bowl, rubbing it with your fingertips until the flour mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
- Add the egg, egg yolks, and vanilla extract and gently knead the dough.
- Shape it into a ball, cover with clingfilm and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. (360 F)
- Cut the dough in half, roll the first half with a rolling pin and use the cookie cutters of your choice.
- Arrange them on a baking tray lined with non-stick paper and bake for approximately 10 minutes until the edges are slightly golden.
- Allow to cool for 5 minutes, then remove from the tray.
- Repeat the process with the remaining dough.
- Once the cookies have cooled down, spread a teaspoon of jam on the round side and sandwich it together with the other side that has the hole in the middle.
- Arrange on a plate and dust the cookies with powdered vanilla sugar.
Notes
- If you'd like to see the ingredients listed in cups and ounces, please check the US Customary Link.
- Also, the amount of ingredients changes depending on the servings, so click on the number listed to change it to the number you prefer.
- These cookies are the simplest you can make, the longest time they spend is chilling in the fridge, so that the cookies don't spread in the oven if the dough is warm.
- Chilling them beforehand is crucial - warm dough will spread way too much, resulting in flat, irregular cookies.
- The cookies can safely be stored in an air-tight container or a glass jar, they will keep nice and soft for many days, although I find it hard to believe they can last for too long.
- There is no need to refrigerate the cookies, they last well at room temperature.
Nutrition
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