Raspberry Linzer Cookies

Before you start

Linzer cookies borrow their dough from the Austrian linzer torte: butter, sugar and ground nuts with a little cinnamon, rolled thin and baked until just colored. Half the rounds get a small window cut from the center, are dusted with powdered sugar, and sit on top of a jam-spread base so the fruit shows through.

The dough is soft and short because of the ground almonds, which makes it tender to eat and fussy to roll. Roll it between sheets of parchment, chill it flat before cutting, and keep re-chilling scraps. Bake the tops and bottoms on separate sheets, since the windowed rounds finish a minute or two sooner. Dust the tops before you assemble so the sugar does not land in the jam.

Ingredients

• Dough225 g (1 cup) unsalted butter — softened
• 100 g (½ cup) granulated sugar
• 1 large (about 18 g) egg yolk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ tsp finely grated lemon zest
• 100 g (1 cup) finely ground almonds or almond flour
• 250 g (2 cups, spooned and leveled) all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp fine salt
• Filling200 g (⅔ cup) seedless raspberry jam
• 30 g (¼ cup) powdered sugar — for dusting

Method

1. Beat the butter and sugar on medium speed for 2 minutes, until creamy but not whipped. Add the egg yolk, vanilla and lemon zest and beat until smooth.
2. Whisk the ground almonds, flour, cinnamon and salt together. Add them to the butter mixture on low speed and mix just until a soft dough forms.
3. Divide the dough in half. Roll each half between two sheets of parchment to 3 to 4 mm (⅛ in) thick. Stack the sheets on a tray and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, until firm.
4. Heat the oven to 175°C (350°F) and line the baking sheets with parchment. Peel the top parchment off one dough sheet and cut out fluted rounds. Cut a small window from the center of half of them. Re-roll and chill scraps as needed.
5. Place whole rounds on one sheet and windowed rounds on the other, 2.5 cm (1 in) apart. If the dough has softened, chill the trays for 10 minutes so the edges stay sharp.
6. Bake one sheet at a time for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are just turning golden. The windowed tops usually need a minute less. Cool on the sheet for 5 minutes, then move to a rack to cool completely.
7. Dust the windowed tops heavily with powdered sugar through a sieve. Stir the jam until smooth and spread about 1 teaspoon over the flat side of each solid base, leaving a small border.
8. Set a sugared top on each base and press lightly. Add a little extra jam to the window with a small spoon if it looks sparse.

Tips for success

• Assemble only what you plan to serve within a day or two. Filled cookies slowly soften as the jam soaks in.
• Toast the ground almonds lightly in a dry skillet and cool them before mixing for a deeper, nuttier flavor.
• Bake the small window cutouts too. They make good little cookies for snacking or decorating.

Substitutions

Ground almonds

Ground hazelnuts are traditional in many Austrian recipes and give a darker, toastier cookie. Use the same weight.

Raspberry jam

Apricot jam, blackcurrant jam or lemon curd all work. Curd is softer, so assemble those cookies shortly before serving.

Egg yolk

Leave it out and add 1 tablespoon of milk. The dough is a little more crumbly and the cookies slightly paler.

Variations

Chocolate hazelnut

Use ground hazelnuts in the dough and fill the cookies with chocolate hazelnut spread instead of jam.

Spiced holiday

Add ¼ teaspoon ground cloves and ½ teaspoon ground ginger to the dough and fill with blackcurrant or cranberry jam.

Troubleshooting

Dough sticks and tears while rolling

It is too warm. Roll between parchment instead of on a floured counter, and chill the rolled sheet until firm before cutting.

Cookies spread and lose their fluted edges

The cut shapes were soft when they went in. Chill them on the tray for 10 minutes before baking and use a fully heated oven.

Tops crack when assembled

The cookies were rolled too thin or pressed too hard. Keep them 3 to 4 mm thick and set the tops on gently.

Powdered sugar disappears

Moisture from the jam dissolved it. Dust the tops before assembly and serve within a day, or use non-melting snow sugar.

Storage

Keep unfilled baked cookies airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or freeze them for up to 2 months. Once filled, store them in a single layer at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Safety notes

Contains tree nuts, wheat, egg and milk. Do not taste the unbaked dough because it contains raw flour and egg yolk.