Linzer Cookies

Every family has their own holiday cookie. Sugar cookies. Gingerbread. Spiced shortbread. There’s something so nostalgic about smelling them bake in the oven, or seeing them sit on the countertop. Around here, the cookies that get us in the holiday spirit are these linzer tarts. They’re so pretty, so sweet and so fun to make with the whole family. Here’s how we do it at the Chef Shop:

You’ll need:

2 ¼ c. cake flour

1 ½ c. finely ground almonds

¾ c. butter (that’s a stick and a half)

½ c. sugar

1 egg

½ tsp. lemon zest

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. vanilla

6ish oz. raspberry jam

+ powdered sugar for garnish

1. Cream the butter with the paddle attachment of your mixer. Creaming is important because it makes sure your ingredients are smooth and all the same texture which is key in baking.

2. Add sugar and continue creaming.

3. Add egg, lemon and vanilla and mix.

4. Add grated nuts and mix.

5.     Sift dry ingredients and add to the mix.

6. Pull dough from mixer and form into two disks. Wrap and refrigerate for 30+ minutes. This is super important, cooling the dough makes it so much easier to roll out and cut. Otherwise, your dough will be sticky and more likely to fall apart.

7. Preheat oven to 350.

8. Flour your surface and rolling pin, and roll out dough to as close to 1/8 inch as you can and cut into circles. Here’s the fun part, you can use whatever cookie cutter shape you’d like. We stuck with classic circles. Cut a hole out of the center of half of the cookies, so you can see that delicious jam! (Word of warning: this dough is very soft, you may find it easier to use a very thin spatula to scoop the cut cookies up.)

9. Bake for 12 minutes or until edges are golden, and allow to cool on a wire rack

10. While cookies cool, heat jam in a saucepan. You want it to bubble a little, but not out of control.

11. Sift powdered sugar over the top cookie. Spread jam on bottom cookie and place the top cookie. The jam is like glue at this point, holding those tops on.

12. Let the tarts set slightly before digging in – if you can!

13. Send us pictures of YOUR linzer tarts (info@baltimorechefshop.com). We can’t wait to see them!