These beautiful Linzer cookies are buttery, slightly nutty, soft, with an amazing aroma of cardamom with strawberry cardamom jam sandwiched in between. Christmas is not complete without these Austrian Linzer cookies.
140grstrawberry jamI use store-bought high-quality jam
½tspground cardamom
For dusting:
Powdered sugar
Instructions
Toast the almond flour (optional):
Toasting the almond flour bring an extra depth of flavor to the cookie and we love that, but this is optional. Place the almond flour on a dry pan and toast over medium-low heat until aromatic, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and let it cools down completely
Prepare the dough:
Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Whisk the eggs and set aside
Put the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl. If you use a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment. Beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes over medium speed. Scrape the side of the bowl as needed
Lower the speed by one notch and gradually add the eggs, in 4-6 addition, making sure it's well-combined each time before adding more. Add vanilla extract and beat for another minute. Scrape the side of the bowl as needed
Lower the speed to the lowest and add the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Use a spatula to scrape the side of the bowl and gently mix everything to incorporate. You will get a dough ball
Chill the dough:
Flatten the dough into a disc, wrap it up and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight
Meanwhile, while the dough is chilling, you can scoop out the amount of strawberry jam you need and mix it with the ground cardamom. Keep them chill when waiting for the dough
Roll and cut the dough:
Preheat oven at 350F (180 C). Position the oven racks, 3rd from the top and 3rd from the bottom. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper and set them aside. Take the first dough out from the fridge.
Dust your work surface with some flour and roll the dough out into about 1/8-inch (6mm) in thickness. Let's do the base cookies first, the ones without cut-out design. Use Linzer cookie cutter, mine is about 2 inches in diameter and cut as many doughs as closely as possible. Place them on a prepared baking sheet, about 1/2 inch apart. They don't spread much
Gather the scraps and round into a dough ball again and roll it out again. If it starts to get sticky, chill them for a few minutes in the freezer and then reroll on a floured surface.
Try to have an equal amount of base cookies and top cookies (the one with cut-out design) so you can make sandwich cookies later. Now attach the cut-out design to the cookie cutter and cut the cookies like you usually would and push down on the cut-out press
Bake the cookies:
Put the baking sheets on the positioned racks for 11-12 minutes until lightly brown on the edge. You need to rotate halfway through baking, front to back, top to bottom so they bake evenly
Let them cool on the baking sheet for about 2 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack to let them cool down completely
What to do with the cut-out dough:
You can place them on a baking sheet and bake them for about 5 minutes, or until lightly golden brown on the edge. Let them cool down on the baking sheet for about 1 minute and then transfer to a cooling rack. Dust them with some powdered sugar when they have cooled down
Assembling:
Dust the top cookies (with cut-out holes) generously with icing sugar
Invert the bottom of the base cookies to face up and spread about 1 teaspoon of the jam onto the middle of the cookies. You can spread the jam out a bit, but don't spread all the way to the edge. Then take the top cookie you have dusted with icing sugar earlier and gently press it down on the jam to make a sandwich cookie. Repeat with the rest