Pumpkin Linzer Cookies with spiced pumpkin filling and a rich and buttery shortbread base, some delicious Fall treats for your Halloween or Thanksgiving celebrations. Quick and easy to make, and so soft they melt in your mouth.
Linzer Cookies might sound like a weird term, but they are basically shortbread cookies filled with jam and sandwiched together. The top pattern can be anything depending on the season: hearts, flowers, circles, Christmas shapes, or, why not, pumpkin shapes.
In the UK, the closest to these cookies would be the jammie dodgers, usually filled with strawberry jam and a heart centre. But again, nothing stops us from tweaking the recipe to our liking and customizing them according to any celebration.
And with Fall upon us, and an abundance of pumpkin dessert recipes, it would be a shame not to put that pumpkin puree to good use to create some melt-in-your-mouth pumpkin cookies.
I used the recipe before for my Christmas Linzer Cookies and it really is a fantastic one. So easy to make, relatively mess-free, and always a big hit with everyone. Let's see how to make them!
How to make pumpkin linzer cookies
Any good shortbread cookie is rich and buttery, and these linzer cookies are just as good and easy to make. You can add any flavouring you like: vanilla, lemon, rum, orange, whatever takes your fancy.
THE DOUGH
- in a large bowl, sift the flour, add the icing sugar and baking powder
- add the cold butter cut into cubes, and use your fingertips to rub the flour and butter together until it resembles breadcrumbs
- add the egg and egg yolks, vanilla extract, and mix well to form a dough
- cover the bowl with clingfilm and refrigerate for 30 minutes
And that's the dough done. It's a nice dough really easy to work with, and it doesn't stick to the hands at all. For the pumpkin filling, we mix together the pureed pumpkin, brown sugar, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice mix. To make the cookies, use 2 sizes of pumpkin cookie cutter.
THE ASSEMBLY
- once the dough has chilled, use a rolling pin to roll it to about a quarter of a cm thickness, then use the large pumpkin cutter to cut out pumpkin shapes.
- use half of a teaspoon of filling on half of the pumpkin shapes, the smaller pumpkin cutter will cut the other half of the shape - see pictures 6 and 7
- sandwich the two sides together - see picture 8, pressing gently to seal
- bake in the preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit) for 10 minutes or until the edges are slightly light brown
The cookies are really delicious, and they can last for at least 3-4 days in an air-tight container. They are really flavourful, and a great treat for Halloween or Thanksgiving. They might not be as spooky as the Jack-O-Lantern Pumpkin Hand Pies, but are as yummy.
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Pumpkin Linzer Cookies
Ingredients
For the filling
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 3 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice mix
For the dough
- 350 g plain flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 160 g butter
- 1 egg
- 2 egg yolks
- 100 g icing sugar (confectioner's sugar)
Instructions
- To make the filling, combine the pumpkin pie, sugar and spices.
- For the dough, sift the flour and icing sugar.
- Add them to a large bowl together with the baking powder and a pinch of salt.
- Cut the butter into cubes, and use your fingertips to rub it with the flour mixture until it resembles breadcrumbs.
- Add the vanilla extract, egg and egg yolks, and knead gently into a dough.
- Cover the dough with clingfilm, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Use a rolling pin to roll the dough into half a cm thickness.
- Use 2 sizes of pumpkin cookie cutters - the large one will cut pumpkin shapes for the base, which will be topped with half a teaspoon of filling, the smaller cutter with cut pumpkin shapes into the larger shapes, which will top the cookies.
- Press gently to seal the edges.
- Repeat with the remaining dough until it's used up.
- Bake in the preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit) for 10 minutes until the edges are slightly light brown.
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.
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