Description
Raspberry Linzer Cookies are delicate, buttery sandwich cookies filled with sweet and tangy raspberry jam. These classic cookies feature a tender dough lightly dusted with icing sugar, perfect for festive occasions or tea time treats. The dough is chilled for easy rolling and cut into charming shapes, then baked to a light golden finish before being assembled with luscious raspberry jam.
Ingredients
Scale
Cookie Dough
- 1 cup butter, at room temperature
- ¾ cup icing sugar, sifted
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
- Extra flour for rolling out dough
Filling & Topping
- ½ cup Italian raspberry jam
- Extra icing sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat Oven: Set your oven to 325°F (163°C) and prepare two baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
- Mix Dough: In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the room temperature butter, sifted icing sugar, salt, and vanilla extract until the mixture is light and fluffy, which takes about 3 minutes.
- Add Flour: Gradually add the sifted all-purpose flour to the butter mixture while continuing to mix until just combined and a dough ball begins to form.
- Knead Dough: Remove the dough from the mixer and knead gently by hand about 1 minute to fully incorporate and create a smooth ball.
- Chill Dough: Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to firm up and make rolling easier.
- Roll Out Dough: On a lightly floured surface, roll the chilled dough to about ¼ inch thickness. Use extra flour on your rolling pin and surface as needed to prevent sticking.
- Cut Cookies: Using a 3-inch round cookie cutter, cut out circles from the dough. For half of the cookies, use a 1½-inch Christmas-themed cutter (such as a tree) to cut out a shape from the center to create a window.
- Arrange on Baking Sheets: Place the whole cookies and the cutout cookies separately on prepared baking sheets, spacing them evenly.
- Bake: Bake the cookies on the top and bottom racks of the oven, switching and rotating the pans halfway through baking, until the edges turn light golden, about 15 to 20 minutes.
- Cool Cookies: Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool completely on wire racks.
- Assemble Cookies: Spread a generous layer of raspberry jam on the flat side of each whole cookie. Dust the cutout cookies generously with sifted icing sugar and place them jam-side up on top of the jam-coated whole cookies, forming sandwiches.
Notes
- Ensure butter is at room temperature for proper mixing and a smooth dough.
- Sift the flour before adding to help the dough bind properly and achieve a tender texture.
- Feel free to use any cookie cutter shapes you like for the center cutouts; festive shapes add a nice visual touch.
- Work swiftly when rolling and cutting since the butter-rich dough can soften quickly; dust more flour as needed.
- Jam flavors can be varied—raspberry is traditional, but strawberry, apricot, fig, or cherry jams all work beautifully.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 160
- Sugar: 10g
- Sodium: 50mg
- Fat: 9g
- Saturated Fat: 5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 20g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 2g
- Cholesterol: 25mg
