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Recipes Nugget Markets Signature Recipes

Raspberry Linzer Cookies

Prep time
45 minutes PT45M
Cook time
12 minutes PT12M
Yield
16 cookies
Difficulty
3 out of 5 on the difficulty scale
raspberry-linzer-cookies-square Nugget Markets signature recipes

These classic Linzer cookies are made with almonds and raspberry preserves, but you can use any fruit jam you prefer!

Ingredients

  • 1 cup whole, unsalted almonds (blanched or natural)
  • ¾ cup granulated sugar, divided
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 egg yolks
  • ½ cup powdered sugar
  • ½ cup raspberry preserves

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°F with baking rack in the center position.

To make almond meal, place almonds in the center of a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 8–10 minutes, until lightly browned and fragrant. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Add ¼ cup granulated sugar and pulse in food processor until finely ground. In a work bowl, blend together flour, cinnamon, salt and lemon zest.

In a separate large mixing bowl, use a hand mixer or stand mixer to beat the butter and remaining granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Lower mixer speed, then add vanilla extract and egg yolks. Incrementally add almond meal and flour mixture until fully combined.

Divide dough in half, wrap both with plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, or until firm.

Remove 1 ball of dough from refrigerator. On a lightly floured work surface, roll dough out to about ¼ inch thick. Cut out cookies with a 3-inch diameter cookie cutter and place them on parchment-lined baking sheets. Cut out the center of half the cookies with a ½–1-inch diameter cookie cutter. Repeat with second ball of dough, rolling in any scraps from the first ball.

Chill cookies for at least 10 minutes before baking so they maintain their shape and don’t spread. Bake for 12 minutes, or until they’re lightly browned around the edges. Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool.

Once cooled, flip whole cookies bottom-side up and spread with a thin layer of preserves, leaving ¼ inch around the edge. Dust cut-out cookies with powdered sugar, then sandwich the 2 halves together. If desired, pipe more preserves into the center. Cookies will naturally soften when stored.

Raspberry Linzer Cookie Lore:

The story of this confection is one of magical transformation, from torte to cookie. The original recipe, thought to be one of the oldest for a torte in the world, was preserved in the cookery manuscript of an Austrian countess. The shell was made mainly from nuts (which were easier to find than wheat for flour at that time) and featured a filling of black currant preserves. Adorned with a lattice crust, it was baked like a pie.

In Linz, a city in Austria, smack-dab in the middle of the 17th century, the torte was adapted into smaller, more accessible versions, retaining their essence, if not form. Instead of a lattice, the jam-sandwiched cookies got a small cutout in the center, or “Linzer eyes.” Eventually, they made their way into the U.S.—and our hearts—around the 1850s.