Berry Linzer Cookies

It’s berry season and while there aren’t too many cookies that feature fresh berries, there’s one berry-flavored cookie you can make any time of the year—Linzer cookies. These flavorful, buttery almond cookies are filled with berry jam and dusted with confectioner’s sugar, and make a beautiful dessert, or a very special accompaniment to afternoon tea.

Linzer cookies are an adaptation of Linzer torte, named for the town of Linz in Austria. The recipe, which is more than 300 years old, is actually a sort of tart, with a spiced nut pastry crust that’s filled with jam and topped with a lattice pattern of dough. Today Linzer tortes are often made with hazelnuts, but according to the bakery in Linz that claims to make the authentic Linzer torte, the original recipe used almonds. Almonds are certainly easier to use, because they don’t need to be toasted in order to remove their skins, like hazelnuts do. (Hazelnut skins are slightly bitter.) In fact, unblanched almonds (with the skins on) make a nicer looking cookie, in my opinion, although you could also use blanched almonds for a lighter look. Make sure you choose a good quality jam for the filling. For tips on success with rolled cookies, read this.

Here’s my recipe for Linzer cookies.

Place in a food processor and pulse until finely ground:
- 2/3 cup slivered or sliced almonds
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Cream together until light and fluffy:
- 1 cup unsalted butter (softened)
- 1/3 cup sugar
- Almond sugar mixture from above

Beat in:
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon almond extract

Whisk together then add:
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Mix just until all ingredients are well blended. Chill dough for 3-4 hours before rolling. Preheat oven to 350º. Roll dough out on a lightly floured counter to ¼” thickness (If the dough has chilled overnight, it may need to soften slightly before rolling.) Using the large Ann Clark Ltd. Linzer cookie cutter, cut shapes from the dough and place on the prepared baking sheet. Using the small Ann Clark Ltd. Linzer cookie cutter, cut a hole from the middle of half the cookies. Repeat with the remaining dough, incorporating the scraps until all the dough is used—you should have 10 solid cookies and 10 cut-out cookies.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes, until lightly colored. Let cookies cool slightly on cookie sheets and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Sift confectioner’s sugar onto the cut-out cookies. Spread a heaping spoonful of raspberry jam or your favorite berry jam onto the underside of the solid cookies. Carefully place a cut-out cookie on top of each jam-covered cookie.