Linzer Cookies

Christmas - the most beautiful and tasty time of the year!

The Linzer Cookie or Linzer Eyes are a traditional Christmas Cookie dating back to the 1800’s that has its origin in Linz, Austria, also home to the infamous PEZ candy and its beloved dispenser, two great inventions by our Austrian brothers

I tried making this cookie about 7 years ago and found myself VERY frustrated, so I employed the help this time of my good friend, Leah Gore.  Now two people share the same frustration.  The cookie recipe itself is not difficult to make, but a few years ago when I attempted to make the cookie I bought a Linzer cookie mold that supposedly made it easier to form the cookies.  The cookies are primarily butter, sugar, ground almonds and flour, but mostly butter.  As this is a cookie rich in butter, I chose Plugra Butter because it is higher in butterfat content – about 3% more then your average butter, making it perfect for baking.  Plugra is a European butter you can find in most markets, I found mine at the local Food Lion in Myrtle Beach, its about $2.50 for 2 sticks but the outcome is far worth the price!

Back to the cookies; our frustration rested in the cutting of the cookie, everything stuck to the mold and we had to put it in the refrigerator quite a few times so that it would harden again so we could cut it.  If you have the patience, the taste is phenomenal  NEW NOTE:  Now that I had an entire night to think about it and some of the morning after 5:30 a.m. to think some more...you COULD just use one standard cookie cutter, cut out twice the amount and make sandwich cookies without holes, but you would not see the raspberry jam, however it would be slightly less frustrating then trying to use the Linzer contraption that we used, sometimes the old fashioned way is just best!    However if you are feeling incredibly patient, then the link to the original cutter I bought 7 years ago is amazingly still working for someone because they are still selling it, I have posted he link as well as the link to the Plugra butter

One thing Leah and I both agree on after tasting them, these cookies are well worth the frustration as they melt in your mouth and are hands down one of the most delectable cookies I have EVER tasted!

Enjoy!

Linzer Cookie Recipe

1 ¼ cups of whole almonds

1 cup of Plugra butter

2/3 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups sifted flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp salt – omit if using salted butter

Two different sized cookie cutters, one for base, one for inset

Confectioners Sugar for dusting

1 cup seedless raspberry jam

Toast almonds in a 375 degree oven for 10 minutes, set aside and let cool.

After they are cooled, place the nuts in a food processor or chop by hand (a blender would work well but watch to make sure it does not liquefy)

Line baking sheets with parchment or waxed paper (put butter on the corners on the pan to make sure it adheres to the waxed paper.

Beat butter and sugar together until pale in color and creamy.  Add eggs and vanilla, beat until smooth.

In a separate bowl add sifted flour, baking powder and cinnamon.  Mix together and then incorporate into the butter mixture and mix well.  Separate dough into two balls, put each one between two sheets of wax paper, smash down with your hand and refrigerate for an hour.

After an hour take the cookie dough out of the refrigerator and roll while still in the waxed paper until thin, about a quarter inch. Now that you have worked the dough, the butter will have softened so put it back in the refrigerator for a few minutes before attempting to use the cutters for the top row.

Use the larger cookie cutter and cut out as many as you can, stopping in-between if they start to stick, to put them in the refrigerator.  Bake these cookies for about 8 or 9 minutes, I use my “nose method”,  as soon as I start to SMELL the cookies I take them out, touch them and they should be a little doughy, not much, because they will continue to cook while cooling on the pan.

While the cookies are cooling roll out the other portion of cookie dough that is in the refrigerator; again, it will have softened so put it back in the refrigerator before attempting to cut again.  Using the smaller cookie cutter, with a hole in it, cut the top layer for the cookie out.  Remove the other cooled cookies from the pan; they should easily peel off the waxed paper, set aside on a plate.

Put your top layer cookie with the cutout on them into the oven, cook 8 or 9 minutes once again.  Take out and cool, after they are cool dust generously with powdered sugar.  If you do not wait until they have cooled to add the powdered sugar, the sugar will melt right into the cookie

Assembly time:

Put one tsp of raspberry jam on the bottom layer, put the cutout cookie lid on top and press together.  You must taste the first one, sorry, I know you don’t want to eat it after baking all this time but it is your duty to taste your food before it leaves the kitchen.  Leah and I had to taste several to make sure they were good enough for others!

Your cookies are done! I hope this was helpful and not confusing in any way, but if it was feel free to comment and contact me and I will make necessary revisions so that this cookie is not as frustrating for you as it was for us.  Your final result should look something like this.

Happy Eating from the Kitchen Gypsy!

http://plugra.com/product-information#productInfo8oz
http://www.surlatable.com/product/linzer+cookie+cutter+set.do?keyword=kaiser&sortby=ourPicks