You can’t help but feel festive when you look at these Christmas Linzer Cookies – soft, buttery sandwich cookies filled with jam or chocolate spread.
They are perfect for a Christmas bake sale or a festive weekend baking project!
You know it’s almost Christmas when I break out my festive star cookie cutters. I think I bake more cookies in the month of December than any other time of year. I’m probably not alone in this, am I right?
Linzer cookies hail from Austria and are traditionally made with a hefty dose of ground almonds.
They have a sweet jam filling (traditionally raspberry) but you can fill them with any type of jam or spread you like.
I’ve gone with strawberry and apricot jam, Nutella and Biscoff spread simply because it’s what I had in my cupboard!
I particularly love the look of the star cookies – you can go with any cutters that take your fancy but I think the stars are perfect for this time of year.
A thick dusting of icing sugar makes them look so pretty and festive. And if you’re thinking of making home Christmas gifts, you couldn’t go far wrong with a package or box of these cookies, maybe along with a nice bottle of mulled wine!
no chill cookie dough
Do you know what else I really love about these cookies? You don’t need to chill the dough before baking. You can just roll it out straight away.
It’s Christmas, we’re all really pushed for time and sometimes I just don’t want to wait to chill my cookie dough! And if you’ve ever baked with a child, you’ll be well aware that they don’t want to wait either.
how to make christmas linzer cookies
(You’ll find detailed instructions and ingredient amounts in the recipe card at the bottom of the post)
- Cream soft butter and icing sugar together until light and creamy.
- Beat in one egg and 1 Teaspoon of Vanilla or Almond Extract.
- Add plain flour, cornflour and ground almonds to the mixture and mix until you have a soft dough. Don’t over-mix.
- Gently roll the dough out on a floured work surface. Sprinkle a little flour on your rolling pin too.
- This cookie dough is very forgiving – you can roll it out 3-4 times and it won’t change the texture of the cookies.
- Cut out shapes of your choice and using a smaller cutter, cut out shapes in half of the cookies. This will make the “window” of your cookies for the filling to peek though.
- Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes until very pale golden and slightly firmer to touch. They will firm up on cooling.
- When the cookies are cold, take the whole cookies and place one teaspoon of jam or spread of your choice in the middle. Dust the cookies with a shape cut out of them liberally with icing sugar and place on top of the jam filled cookies.
want to see more christmas recipes?
Peanut butter rice krispie truffles (no bake!)
Chocolate Fudge Crinkle Cookies
Last minute chocolate cherry mincemeat
Easy iced gingerbread biscuits
Did you make these Christmas Linzer cookies? Let me know what you thought of the recipe by leaving a comment below and rate the recipe out of 5 by clicking on the stars below. Thank you!
Christmas Linzer Cookies
These sweet jam filled Christmas Linzer cookies look so pretty and taste delicious - ring the changes by filling them with dulce de leche, lemon curd or Nutella instead of jam.
Ingredients
- 120 g soft butter - not margarine or baking spread
- 120 g icing sugar
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1 tsp vanilla or almond extract
- 225 g plain flour, plus extra for sprinkling
- 50g Cornflour
- 25g Ground Almonds
- Your choice of jam or spread for the filling
- 2 Tablespoons Icing Sugar for dusting the cookies
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/160Fan/350F/gas mark 4. Grease and Line a couple of large baking trays.
- Cream the butter and icing sugar together until well combined, then beat in the egg, vanilla or almond extract, flour, corn flour, ground almonds and salt if using. Continue mixing until it all comes together to form a soft dough. Don't over mix
- Sprinkle your work surface and a rolling pin with flour and roll the dough out to a large rectangle, neither too thick or too thin.
- Cut into shapes of your choice - I used a 7cm round cutter and a 3cm star for the cut outs.
- Place the shapes on a lined baking tray and bake for 8-10 minutes or until slightly firm and very pale golden around the edges. Remove from the oven and leave to cool on the tray for 5 minutes, then carefully remove and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
- When the cookies have completely cooled, spread a little jam or spread over each one of the whole cookies, then liberally dust icing sugar over the "window" part of the cookies. Place the sugar dusted cookie on top of the jam filled ones.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 12 cookiesAmount Per Serving: Calories: 229Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 37mgSodium: 90mgCarbohydrates: 29gNet Carbohydrates: 0gFiber: 1gSugar: 13gSugar Alcohols: 0gProtein: 3g
I’m so making these this week! Thanks for the recipe Nicola xx
No problem Melanie, hope you enjoy them! xx
These cookies look beautiful.
Thank you!
These are a beauty! And you’re definitely right about the star and powered sugar looking festive!
These look way to yummy not to try! I will be trying to make these tomorrow! I’m such a sucker for jam filled cookies…lol. Thanks for the recipe!
No problem at all, hope you enjoy them! ☺