Spiced Hazelnut Linzer Cookies
These spiced hazelnut linzer cookies are mouthwateringly good, and shockingly easy to make. The warmly spiced buttery cookies are filled with a tart jam for the perfect cozy snack! This is one cookie recipe you'll want to have in your arsenal any time of year, and especially in the holidays.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cups 12 tablespoons of unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup of granulated sugar
- Zest from 1/2 lemon
- 1 egg yolk room temp
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1 cup of all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup of hazelnut flour
- 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon of ground cardamom
- 1/8 teaspoon of ground cloves
- Powdered sugar for dusting
- Jam I prefer apricot and morello cherry
Instructions
- Make the dough: In your stand mixer (with paddle attachment), cream the butter, sugar, and lemon zest together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Then add the egg yolk and vanilla extract and beat until combined.
- With your mixer on low speed, slowly add in the flours, spices, and salt, beating as little as possible but until no more white steaks remain. Remove the dough from the bowl and wrap in plastic wrap, flattening it to form a disk.
- Chill the dough: Place the disk in your refrigerator to completely chill the dough completely, at least 2 hours or up to overnight.
- Roll and bake: You can roll out the dough on a well-floured surface or on parchment paper. Roll it out to 1/4-inch thickness. You can use whatever shape you want, but you'll want to make half of them full cookies (e.g. circle, star) and then the other half with a cutout in the middle.
- Transfer the cookies to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. They won't spread significantly, so you can space them close together on the baking sheet. Re-roll the scraps and continue to cut out cookies until the dough has been used up.
- Place the baking sheets in your refrigerator to chill the cookie dough for 30 minutes.
- Pre-heat your oven to 350 F. Transfer the baking sheets directly from your refrigerator to your pre-heated oven and bake the cookies for 9-10 minutes. They should be lightly browned around the edges but still soft.
- Remove from your oven and let the cookies cool for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to continue cooling.
- Fill the cookies: Once the cookies have completely cooled, you can assemble them with the jam. Spread jam on the "full" cookie (the one without the cutout), and make sure not to overdo it or it will all squish out.
- Place the cookies with the cutouts on a baking sheet. Generously dust the tops with powdered sugar. Then place these dusted cookies on top of the cookies with the jam to create a cookie sandwich.
- These can be stored in an airtight container for 2-3 days.