Traditional Linzer Cookies & NewsTraditional Linzer Cookies & News

Step 1

In a big mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, almond meal, salt (and cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, if using) with a spoon.

Step 2

Using a knife, a pastry cutter or your fingers, work in the butter into the mixture until it resembles coarse meal. Work in the egg yolks until the dough comes together. If the dough doesn’t come together after 1 minute, add 1 tablespoon of milk. You could also make the dough with a food processor; just make sure not to overwork the dough.

Step 3

Shape the dough into a disc, wrap it with cling wrap and refrigerate 1/2 hour. You can leave the dough in the fridge longer (e.g. overnight) and take it out at least 1/2 hour before rolling it out – otherwise it is too cold and almost impossible to roll out.

Step 4

On a floured surface, roll out the dough just shy of 1/8-inch (2-3 mm) thickness. Flour your rolling pin and the dough regularly while rolling it out.

Step 5

Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C).

Step 6

Cut out the cookies. You’ll need a hole (or 3 small holes, called “eyes”, if you make it the traditional way) in half of your cookies. There are special cookie cutters for cutting out the cookie including the holes, but not even I have those. I simply use a thick straw, an apple corer, or a shot glass (for a big hole in the center) for cutting out the inner circle. The shape of your cookie cutter doesn’t really matter. Rounds are traditional but I also do hearts pretty often. Take the cookie scraps and form a ball, then repeat until all the dough is used up. Make sure that all the cookies on one baking sheet have a similar thickness, otherwise they’ll brown unevenly.

Step 7

Place the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake in a 350°F (180°C) preheated oven for 8-11 minutes or until the edges turn golden. Depending on the oven, turn the sheet once half way through the baking for even baking.

Step 8

Remove the baking sheet from the oven and using a pancake turner or spatula, transfer the cookies to a cooling rack or the counter. If you have somebody to help you, you can grab the entire parchment paper and place it on the counter to cool. Don’t leave the cookies on the baking sheet since the residual heat will brown them.

Step 9

Once the cookies are cool, spread the cookies without holes with jam (mix with rum, if you like). Leave 1/8-inch (3 mm) space towards the edges. Dust all cookies with holes with powdered sugar using a fine strainer.

Step 10

Put the sugar-dusted cookies on top of the jam-spread ones and press them together so that the jam will be pressed through the holes a bit. Do not touch the tops of the sugar-dusted cookies or you will get some fingerprints. If you dust them when already assembled, the jam hole will be covered in sugar (nope, it doesn’t melt).

Step 11

Leave the assembled cookies out on the counter for a few hours to let the jam dry a bit. Place them in an airtight container/cookie jar/cookie tin. After about 2 days, they will soften and are ready to eat. Of course, you can eat them before the 2 days are up, but they might be kind of crunchy.

Step 12

If you like, you can dust them carefully again before serving, but make sure not to cover the “jam eyes” with sugar.