Description
Delight in these classic Raspberry Linzer Cookies, featuring a buttery shortbread base sandwiching a sweet tart raspberry jam filling. Lightly dusted with icing sugar, these cookies offer a perfect balance of crumbly texture and fruity sweetness, ideal for festive occasions or afternoon treats.
Ingredients
Scale
Cookies
- 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 to roll out the dough
Filling and Decoration
- ½ cup Italian raspberry jam
- Extra icing sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat Oven: Set the oven to 325°F (165°C) to prepare for baking the cookies.
- Mix Butter and Sugar: In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together the room temperature butter, sifted icing sugar, salt, and vanilla extract until the mixture is light and fluffy, which should take about 3 minutes.
- Add Flour: Gradually add the sifted all-purpose flour into the butter mixture, mixing just until combined. The dough will start to form a ball.
- Knead Dough: Remove the dough from the mixer and knead gently with your hands for about 1 minute until it forms a smooth ball.
- Chill Dough: Wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to firm up, making it easier to roll out.
- Roll Out Dough: On a floured surface, roll out the chilled dough to about ¼ inch thickness, using extra flour on rolling pin and surface if the dough becomes sticky.
- Cut Cookies: Use a 3-inch circle cookie cutter to cut out cookies. On half of these, cut smaller shapes (1½ inch Christmas tree or desired shapes) in the centers.
- Arrange on Baking Sheets: Place whole and cutout cookies on parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing them evenly.
- Bake Cookies: Bake on the top and bottom racks of the oven, rotating and swapping pans halfway through to ensure even baking, for 15 to 20 minutes or until the edges turn light golden.
- Cool Cookies: Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool completely on the baking sheets.
- Assemble Cookies: Spread raspberry jam on the bottom side of each whole cookie. Dust the cutout cookies with icing sugar and place them sugar side up over the jam-coated cookies, pressing gently to sandwich them.
Notes
- Ensure the butter is at room temperature to achieve a smooth, creamy mixture that blends well with the sugar.
- Sift the flour before mixing to avoid lumps and help the dough come together properly.
- Feel free to personalize the center cutout shapes with any cookie cutter you prefer, such as stars or candy canes.
- Work quickly when rolling out and cutting dough to prevent the butter from melting, and dust flour as needed to avoid sticking.
- You can substitute raspberry jam with other flavors like strawberry, orange, fig, cherry, or apricot according to your taste preferences.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 210
- Sugar: 12g
- Sodium: 70mg
- Fat: 12g
- Saturated Fat: 7g
- Unsaturated Fat: 4g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 25g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 2g
- Cholesterol: 35mg
