Linzer cookies – red sweet jam sandwiched between two buttery biscuits. They are the perfect Christmas bake but I think we should eat them all year round.
Linzer cookies remind me of home, despite we don’t call them like that at all. These biscuits have a less sexy name in Italian, we call them ‘occhio di bue’ that translates ‘they eye of the ox’. The traditional Italian biscuit has have a smaller red circle in the middle…similar to an eye full of blood…gloomy ah! Many other countries have similar biscuits (think of the British Dodgers biscuits!), but the Austrian ones became worldwide famous. Nothing can beat a crunchy buttery biscuit filled with sweet jam…or Nutella as you only live once!
My mum used to make them often, especially as we always had some pastry dough left from crostata. It was a great treat for us children while we patiently waited for the tart to be cut.
This is my family recipe and I hope you’ll love it as much as I do. Merry Christmas everyone!
Linzer cookies
Course: Snacks, Something SweetDifficulty: Easy25
biscuits15
minutes16
minutes60
minutesLinzer cookies – red sweet jam sandwiched between two buttery biscuits. They are the perfect Christmas bake but I think we should eat them all year round.
Ingredients
500 g plain flour
200 g unsalted butter (cold from the fridge)
200 g granulated sugar
3 eggs
Zest of one lemon
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
- To finish
50 g of your favourite jam (strawberry, raspberry, apricot and plum go particularly well)
50 g Nutella
150 g icing sugar
Method
- Mix all the ingredients in a food processor.
- Transfer the crumbly dough to a floured surface and quickly knead the dough for 1-2 minutes max (that’s very important as you don’t want to overheat it).
- Cover the dough with beeswax paper and let it chill in the fridge for around 1 hour.
- Roll the dough on a floured surface and cut your biscuits out with the help of a round or squared cookie cutter or simply using a glass or a mug. Use a small cookie cutter to cut the centre of half of the cookies.
- Bake for around 18 minutes at 180 C until the edges turn golden brown. Note: the biscuits at this point might not feel completely baked as they are still soft, but don’t bake them for any longer as they will get crunchier as they cool down. Transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely (around 30 minutes).
- Once cooled, sprinkle icing sugar on top of the biscuits with a hole.
- Now spread jam or Nutella on the biscuit without a hole and finish up placing the complementary biscuit with a hole on top. Two tips (as I have done this wrong so many times!): 1. you do not need a lot of jam/Nutella, just use 1/4 of a teaspoon. If you use a generous amount, the jam/Nutella will spread outside the biscuit. The biscuit will still be delicious but be ready for sticky fingers. 2. Place the jam/Nutella at the centre of the biscuit as it will naturally spread across the biscuit when you sandwich it with another biscuit.
- Serve with tea or gift to a special someone.
