Linzer Sandwiches Recipes

LINZER SANDWICH COOKIES

Steps:

• Combine butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, almond flavoring and salt in bowl; beat at medium speed until creamy. Add flour; beat at low speed until well mixed.
• Divide dough in half. Shape each half into a ball; flatten slightly. Wrap each in plastic food wrap; refrigerate at least 1 hour until firm.
• Heat oven to 350°F.
• Roll out dough on lightly floured surface, one-half at a time (keeping remaining dough refrigerated), to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut with 2-inch cookie cutters. Cut out center from half of cookies using smaller decorative cookie cutter. Place cookies, 1 inch apart, onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 7-9 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to cooling rack. Cool completely.
• Place cooled cookies with center cut-out onto waxed paper; sprinkle with powdered sugar. Decorate with small candies attached with decorator gel, if desired. Spread bottom-side of cookies without cut-out with 1/4 teaspoon jam. Top with center cut-out cookie, powdered sugar-side up.

LINZER SANDWICHES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place hazelnuts on a baking sheet, and toast in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and immediately transfer nuts to a clean towel. Vigorously rub the nuts in the towel to remove as much of the skins as possible. Set nuts aside until completely cool. Place nuts in a food processor, and process until finely ground. Set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg, and beat until smooth, about 3 minutes. Beat in vanilla.
• Whisk together reserved hazelnuts, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Add to butter mixture; beat on low until combined, about 2 minutes. Form dough into 2 flattened disks, wrap each with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Have ready 2 baking sheets lined with Silpats (French baking mats; see sources) or parchment paper. Also have ready one 2 1/2-inch round fluted cookie cutter and one 3/4-inch cookie cutter. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out half the dough to a scant 1/4-inch thickness. Using the 3-inch fluted cutter, cut out cookies. With a wide spatula, transfer cookies to the prepared baking sheets. Using the smaller cutter, cut the centers out of half of the cookies. Repeat rolling and cutting with the other half of the dough. Combine the scraps from both batches, reroll and cut.
• Bake until the edges are golden, 12 to 16 minutes, rotating halfway through. Remove from oven; place on wire racks until completely cool.
• Lightly sift confectioners' sugar over the decorative tops; set aside. Spread a scant tablespoon of jam on the bottoms of each cookie, and sandwich with the sugar-dusted tops.

LINZER STAR SANDWICH COOKIES

Steps:

• For the cookie batter: In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip the butter until smooth. Add the granulated sugar and continue mixing until the mixture becomes light and fluffy, 5 to 8 minutes.
• In another bowl, combine and mix the flour, almonds, cinnamon and nutmeg.
• Mix and roll the cookies: Because this dough has a good amount of butter, it needs resting time and it needs to be rolled fairly quickly. Lay three large pieces of wax paper in a single layer on a flat surface. Sprinkle each one with a light coating of flour. Remove the bowl from the mixer and, using a rubber spatula, blend the flour mixture in with the butter. When the ingredients are fully integrated, place one third of the batter on each of the pieces of wax paper. Coat with another light layer of flour and top with another piece of wax paper of the same length to make three dough "sandwiches." Press these wax-paper-and-dough-sandwiches down with your hands until the dough is fairly thin. This will save a lot of time on rolling later on. Place two of them in the refrigerator and work with them one at a time. Roll the first batch into as neat a shape as possible. What matters most is avoiding creases or cracks and getting it to about 1/8 inch in thickness. When the first is rolled, refrigerate it and repeat the same process for the other two. Let them chill at least 10 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Make the cookie bottoms: Remove the first rolled sheet from the refrigerator and cut as many 1 1/2-inch stars (or rounds) as you can. Reserve the scraps in the refrigerator. Arrange the stars neatly in a single layer on a greased baking sheet. Repeat with the other two sheets, reserving any scraps.
• Make the cookie tops: Cut a star, with the smaller cutter, out of the center of half of all the cookies. Roll the scraps in between two of the pieces of wax paper and cut additional stars, if desired.
• Bake and assemble the cookie sandwiches: Bake the cookies until they are lightly brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove the trays from the oven and allow them to cool slightly on the trays for a few minutes before gently transferring them to a flat surface. P
• Place the raspberry jam in a small pot and bring it to a light simmer. Remove from the heat to cool slightly. Spoon 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon raspberry jam on each bottom and place a top star squarely on each. Dust with powdered sugar, if desired.

LINZER HEART SANDWICH COOKIES

Steps:

• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, whip the butter until smooth. Add the sugar and continue mixing until the mixture becomes light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. In another bowl, combine and mix the flour, almonds, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
• Remove the bowl from the mixer and, using a rubber spatula, blend the flour mixture in with the butter. When the ingredients are fully integrated, place 1/3 of the batter on each piece of waxed paper. Coat dough with a light layer of flour, and top with another piece of waxed paper of the same length to make 3 batter "sandwiches". Place 2 of them in the refrigerator and work with 1 at a time.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Roll the first batch into as neat a shape as possible. What matters most is avoiding creases or cracks and getting it to about 1/8-inch in thickness. When the first is rolled, refrigerate it and repeat the same process for the other 2 pieces of dough.
• Make the cookie bottoms: Remove the first rolled sheet from the refrigerator and cut as many 1 1/2-inch hearts (or rounds). Reserve the scraps in the refrigerator. Arrange them neatly in a single layer on a greased baking sheet. Repeat with the other two sheets, reserving any scraps.
• Make the cookie tops: Cut a heart, with the smaller cutter, out of the center of half of all the cookies to create a heart outline. Roll the scraps in between 2 pieces of waxed paper and cut additional hearts, if desired.
• Bake the cookies until they are lightly brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove the trays from the oven and allow them to cool slightly for a few minutes before gently transferring them to a flat surface. In a small pot, pour in the raspberry jam and bring it to a light simmer. Remove from the heat to cool slightly as well.
• Spoon about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon raspberry jam on each bottom and place a "top" heart on each. Dust with powdered sugar, if desired.

LINZER MACAROON SANDWICHES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Finely grind 1 2/3 cups slivered almonds and 1 1/3 cups sugar in processor. Add egg whites and almond extract; process until well blended (dough will be sticky).
• Using slightly rounded teaspoonful for each cookie, roll dough between damp palms of hands into balls. Place on prepared baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Flatten each ball slightly to 1 1/4-inch-diameter round. Gently press a few sliced almonds into each cookie.
• Bake cookies until light golden, about 18 minutes. Slide parchment with cookies onto racks; cool completely.
• Stir preserves and 2 tablespoons water in heavy small saucepan over medium-high heat until mixture boils. Reduce heat and simmer until mixture thickens slightly, about 4 minutes.
• Spoon 1/2 teaspoon raspberry preserves onto flat side of 1 cookie. Top with second cookie, flat side down. Press to adhere. Repeat with remaining cookies and preserves. (Can be prepared ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week or freeze up to 1 month. Cookies may soften slightly.) Sift powdered sugar over cookies.

LINZER SANDWICH COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Spread hazelnuts in ungreased shallow baking pan. Bake uncovered about 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Rub nuts in a kitchen towel to remove loose skins (some skins may not come off); cool 5 to 10 minutes. Turn off oven.
• In food processor bowl with metal blade, place nuts and 1/4 cup of the brown sugar . Cover; process with about 10 on-and-off pulses, 2 to 3 seconds each, until nuts are finely ground but not oily.
• In small bowl, mix flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; set aside.
• In large bowl, beat butter and remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar with electric mixer on medium speed about 3 minutes or until smooth. Add nut mixture; beat about 1 minute or until mixed. Beat in egg and vanilla. With spoon, stir in flour mixture about 1 minute or just until blended. Shape dough into 2 balls; flatten each ball into a disk. Wrap separately in plastic wrap; refrigerate at least 2 hours until firm.
• Heat oven to 425°F. Remove 1 dough disk from refrigerator. On well floured surface, roll dough with floured rolling pin until about 1/8 inch thick. Cut with 2 1/2-inch cookie cutter in desired shape. On ungreased cookie sheets, place cutouts about 1 inch apart.
• Roll and cut other half of dough. Using a 1-inch square or round cutter, cut out the center of half of the cookies. Reroll dough centers and cut out more cookies.
• Bake 4 to 5 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack. Cool about 10 minutes.
• Lightly sprinkle powdered sugar over cookies with center cutouts. Or drizzle with powdered sugar icing, and sprinkle with colored sugars or decors. Spread about 1 teaspoon raspberry jam over bottom side of each whole cookie. Top with a cutout cookie. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

LINZER HEART SANDWICH COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, sugar, baking powder, salt and lemon zest. Mix on low to combine, then raise to medium speed and cream until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and mix on medium speed until combined, about 30 seconds.
• Scrape the bowl and mix another few seconds. Add the all-purpose flour and almond flour and blend on low until combined. The dough will be very stiff. Once mixed, use your hand to incorporate any remaining flour by pressing and turning the dough around in the bowl.
• Take about half of the dough and roll out between two pieces of parchment to about 1/8 inch thick. Use a light sprinkling of all-purpose flour if the dough sticks to the parchment.
• For the cookie tops, cut out 16 to 18 cookies with a floured 2 3/4-inch heart-shaped cutter and arrange on one of the prepared baking sheets. Cut out the center of each solid heart with a smaller (such as 1 3/4-inch) heart-shaped cutter.
• For the cookie bottoms, gather the scraps and the other half of the dough and reroll. Cut out 16 to 18 more 2 3/4-inch hearts. Leave them solid and arrange on the second prepared baking sheet (see Cook's Note).
• Bake the cookie tops, rotating the baking sheet halfway through baking, until golden, 7 to 8 minutes. Bake the solid heart cookie bottoms, rotating the baking sheet halfway through baking, until golden, 12 to 14 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool completely on the trays before filling.
• Lightly dust the cookie tops with confectioners' sugar and set aside.
• Use a butter knife or small offset spatula to spread 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of jam over each cookie bottom. Carefully add the cookie tops. Place the remaining jam into a resealable plastic bag, snip off the end and pipe a bit into the center of each heart to fill in the space. The sandwich cookies can be store in a single layer in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.