Raspberry Linzer cookies are Austrian-style almond butter cookies sandwiched with raspberry jam, with a small star or heart cut from the top so the jam shows through. This recipe makes about 20 sandwich cookies from 1 cup of butter, 2 cups of flour and 1 cup of almond flour. Plan on 25 minutes of hands-on work, 1 hour of chilling, and 10 to 12 minutes in a 350°F (175°C) oven.
Two things decide how they turn out. Roll the dough ⅛ inch thin, and wait until the cookies are completely cool before any jam goes on. My grandmother made these every December, and that powdered sugar snowing over the little stars is still my favorite part of the whole bake.
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- Unsalted butter, 1 cup (225g), softened: it carries most of the flavor, so use a good one. Soft enough to dent with a finger, not shiny or greasy.
- Granulated sugar, ½ cup (100g): a modest amount, which keeps the cookie tender and lets the jam be the sweet part.
- 1 large egg yolk and 1 teaspoon vanilla: only the yolk. It binds the dough and adds richness without the white, which would make the cookies puff and turn hard.
- All-purpose flour, 2 cups (250g): gives structure so the cut-out windows hold their shape.
- Almond flour, 1 cup (120g): the Linzer flavor and the short, sandy crumb.
- Salt, ¼ teaspoon, and cinnamon, ½ teaspoon (optional): the cinnamon is a small warm note that tastes like Christmas without taking over.
- Raspberry jam, ½ cup (150g), seedless if you can: store-bought or homemade raspberry jam.
- Powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon: for dusting the tops.
Baking for the whole month? My 24 Days of Christmas Desserts eBook has one holiday recipe for each day.
Almond Flour, Almond Meal, or Ground Hazelnuts?
Fine blanched almond flour gives the palest, smoothest Linzer cookies with a delicate, sandy bite. Almond meal, which is ground with the skins on, works cup for cup. The dough comes out speckled and a little darker, and the cookies taste toastier. Both are right for this recipe.
No almond flour at all? Pulse whole or blanched almonds in a food processor in short bursts with a spoonful of the measured flour, which soaks up the oil and stops them turning into almond butter. Ground hazelnuts, common in Austrian Linzer baking, can replace the almond flour by weight, 120g. Expect a deeper, nuttier cookie that browns a little faster, so check it a minute early.
Mixing and Chilling the Linzer Dough
Beat the butter and sugar on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes, until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolk and vanilla. Whisk the flour, almond flour, salt and cinnamon in a second bowl, then add them on low speed and stop as soon as a soft dough forms. Extra mixing develops the gluten and makes the cookies tough instead of short.
Split the dough in two, flatten each half into a disc about an inch thick, wrap it well and chill it for 1 hour. No longer than 90 minutes. Almond dough firms up hard in the fridge, and if it is too cold it cracks at the edges as soon as you roll it. When you take a disc out, give it 5 to 10 minutes on the counter. It should bend a little before it breaks.
Rolling ⅛ Inch Thin and Cutting the Jam Windows
Roll one disc on a lightly floured surface, or between two sheets of parchment if it sticks, to ⅛ inch. Thin matters here, because two thick cookies stacked with jam between them eat like a biscuit rather than a delicate sandwich. Cut 2 inch rounds, then cut a small star or heart from the center of half of them. Those are the tops.
Lay the cookies 1 inch apart on parchment-lined sheets. Gather the scraps, press them together gently and reroll. Once is best. If a star stretches or loses its points when you lift it, slide the whole sheet into the fridge for 10 minutes before baking. Cold shapes keep sharp edges in the oven.
Baking Until the Edges Just Turn Golden
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 10 to 12 minutes. They are done when the edges are only just turning golden and the centers still look pale. The tops have less dough than the bottoms and brown first, so I put them on their own sheet and check them a minute or two early. Leave the cookies on the sheet for 2 minutes, then move them to a rack. They feel soft when hot. That is fine.
Which Raspberry Jam to Use for Linzer Cookies
Pick a thick, seedless raspberry jam. Seeds catch in the small window and look messy, and a runny jam slides out the moment you press the top on. If your jam has seeds, warm it slightly and push it through a fine sieve. If it is loose, simmer it in a small pan for 2 to 3 minutes and let it cool completely. It sets up thicker.
Raspberry is the classic, but the same cookies work with apricot jam, cherry jam or a spiced Christmas jam. More jars to choose from are in my Christmas jam recipes.
Filling and Dusting the Sandwiches
Once every cookie is fully cool, spread about ½ teaspoon of jam on each bottom, keeping it a little away from the edge so it does not squeeze out. Press a top on gently and line up the edges. Then sift the powdered sugar over the sandwiches through a fine sieve.
For a bright red window with no sugar on the jam, dust the tops on the rack first and then set them on the jam. It is a little fiddly, since a sugared top smudges as soon as your fingers touch it, but the contrast between the white sugar and the clean red jam is worth the extra minute.
Making Linzer Cookies Ahead for Christmas
Filled cookies change overnight. Day one, they snap. After a day the jam softens the cookie into a tender, almost cakey bite, which many people prefer. Fill them on the day you serve if you want crisp, or the day before if you want soft.
Keep filled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, with parchment between the layers. For longer, refrigerate them and let them come back to room temperature before serving. To work further ahead, freeze the baked, unfilled cookies flat in a container for up to a month, thaw them in the box, then fill and dust.
Cracked Dough, Lost Shapes, and Runny Jam
- Dough cracks as you roll: it is too cold. Let it sit for another 5 minutes, or knead the edge gently with warm hands.
- Dough sticks and tears: it is too warm. Roll it between parchment and chill the rolled sheet for 10 minutes before cutting.
- Windows close up in the oven: the dough was too thick or too soft. Roll to ⅛ inch and chill cut tops before baking.
- Cookies are hard rather than short: overmixed after the flour went in, rerolled scraps too often, or baked until brown all over.
- Jam runs out of the window: the cookies were still warm or the jam was thin. Cool fully and thicken the jam first.
A Christmas Cookie Tray Around Raspberry Linzer Cookies
They look best on a plate with something round and sugary next to them, like raspberry-filled almond snowball cookies, or almond cookies and thumbprint cookies with icing. I like them with hot cocoa or mulled wine. For gifting, pack them in a tin in single layers with parchment between, and fill them the day before you hand them over.
Linzer Cookie Questions
What are Linzer tart cookies?
Same cookie. Linzer cookies are the cookie version of the Linzer torte from Linz in Austria: a nut butter dough with jam showing through a cut-out top.
Can I make Linzer cookies without almond flour?
Yes. Grind 120g of whole almonds or hazelnuts finely with a spoonful of the flour, and use it in place of the almond flour.
Do Linzer cookies need to be refrigerated?
No. They keep 3 days in an airtight container at room temperature. Refrigerate them only to keep them longer, and serve at room temperature.
Why did my Linzer cookies spread?
The butter was too soft or the dough was not chilled long enough. Chill the dough for the full hour and the cut shapes for 10 minutes if they feel soft.
Raspberry Linzer Cookies Recipe
These raspberry Linzer cookies are almond butter sandwich cookies made with butter, sugar, an egg yolk, all-purpose flour, almond flour and seedless raspberry jam, with a star or heart cut from each top so the jam shows through. The recipe makes about 20 sandwich cookies with 25 minutes of hands-on work, 1 hour of chilling and 10 to 12 minutes at 350°F. Rolling the chilled dough ⅛ inch thin gives a crisp, sandy cookie, and filling only fully cooled cookies keeps the jam inside the window. Bake them for Christmas cookie trays, cookie exchanges and holiday gift tins, or swap in apricot or cherry jam for Linzer tart cookies. Keep them 3 days airtight at room temperature, or freeze the unfilled cookies for up to a month.
Ingredients
- FOR THE COOKIES:
- 1 cup (225g) unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (120g) almond flour (or finely ground almonds)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
- FOR THE FILLING:
- ½ cup (150g) raspberry jam (preferably seedless)
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar (for dusting)
Instructions
- CREAM THE BUTTER AND SUGAR: In a large mixing bowl, beat the softened butter and granulated sugar with a stand or hand mixer on medium speed for 2–3 minutes, until light and fluffy.
- ADD WET INGREDIENTS: Mix in the egg yolk and vanilla extract, beating until smooth and fully incorporated.
- COMBINE DRY INGREDIENTS: In a separate bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, almond flour, salt, and cinnamon (if using).
- MIX TO FORM DOUGH: Gradually add the dry mixture to the butter mixture, mixing on low speed just until a soft dough forms. Do not overmix.
- CHILL THE DOUGH: Divide the dough into two equal portions. Flatten each into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour (no more than 90 minutes) to allow the dough to firm up slightly while staying workable.
- PREPARE BAKING SHEETS: Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- ROLL OUT THE DOUGH: Remove one dough disc from the fridge and let it rest at room temperature for 5–10 minutes. Roll it out on a lightly floured surface to about ⅛-inch thickness.
- CUT THE COOKIES: Use a 2-inch round cookie cutter to cut out circles. For half of the circles, cut out a small shape (such as a star or heart) from the center using a smaller cutter. These will be the tops.
- PLACE ON SHEETS: Arrange the cookies about 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Gather and reroll scraps as needed. Repeat with the second disc of dough.
- BAKE THE COOKIES: Bake for 10–12 minutes or until the edges are just lightly golden. Do not overbake. Let them cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- ASSEMBLE THE COOKIES: Once fully cooled, spread about ½ teaspoon of raspberry jam onto the bottom halves of the cookies (the ones without cut-outs).
- ADD THE TOPS: Gently press the cut-out cookies on top to form sandwiches, aligning the edges carefully.
- DUST WITH SUGAR: Using a fine mesh sieve, dust the tops of the cookies with powdered sugar to finish.
Notes
Chill the dough for 1 hour but no more than 90 minutes, then let it rest 5 to 10 minutes before rolling so it does not crack. Bake the tops on a separate sheet and check them a minute or two early, since they brown first. Use a thick, seedless jam; if your jam is runny, simmer it for 2 to 3 minutes and cool it before filling. Assemble only when the cookies are completely cool. Filled cookies are crisp on day one and soften as the jam sets into them. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or refrigerate for longer and bring back to room temperature before serving. Baked, unfilled cookies freeze for up to 1 month.
Nutrition Information
Yield
20Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 304Total Fat 17gSaturated Fat 7gUnsaturated Fat 10gCholesterol 36mgSodium 35mgCarbohydrates 33gFiber 2gSugar 11gProtein 6g
