Linzer cookies (Linecké cukroví) – Conventional Czech Recipe

November 5, 2024

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Indulge within the timeless attraction of Linzer Cookies (Linecké cukroví), a tasty deal with crafted from a conventional Czech recipe. These delicate almond-based cookies, sandwiched with candy jam, provide a pleasant mix of textures and flavors. Uncover the proper stability of nostalgia and sweetness in each chew. Attempt our genuine Linzer Cookies recipe for a style of Czech culinary heritage.

In order for you extra cookie recipes, attempt our tremendous simple 5 Elements Butter Vanilla Cookies, or try this glorious compilation of different conventional European Christmas Cookies.

Linzer Cookies on blue plate

Custom of baking Linzer Cookies (Linecké cukroví)

Baking Christmas cookies is a vital a part of the Creation interval (the 4 Sundays main as much as Christmas) within the Czech Republic, the place I initially come from. In my household and tradition, despite the fact that they’re fairly non-religious, we nonetheless respect the Creation interval and its traditions, and we take this time to start out preparing for Christmas.

Christmas cookies are a vacation important not solely within the space of Central Europe, which Czech Republic is part of, however their well-deserved reputation has unfold in every single place on the planet the place Czechs, beforehand often called Bohemians within the US (since Bohemia is without doubt one of the nation’s areas), have emigrated or simply even traveled to.

I actually have baked them in Europe, Africa, and North America up to now, and so they’ve all the time been probably the most sought-after treats I might provide to pals right now of 12 months.

Historically, the Christmas Eve dinner is once we can lastly begin having fun with them after weeks of prepping. Many households, together with my very own, make over 10 sorts of variously formed and flavored Christmas cookies to decorate the vacation desk, the place they find yourself being exchanged inside their social circles and shared with vacation guests.

There are a number of sorts that seem on virtually everybody’s menu; amongst them, the Linecké cukroví (Linzer Cookies, Linzer Rounds, or Linzer Tarts) are by no means lacking. These sandwich cookies, consisting of two layers of crumbly, buttery dough related by tart jam, are beloved by youngsters and adults alike and may by no means be absent from the vacation feast unfold.

Making ready Linzer cookies from scratch is just not solely a rewarding expertise for the entire household to take part in and create magical recollections, but in addition a simple factor to do collectively to make your house scent like the vacations. Children love to chop shapes out of the rolled-out dough after which impatiently wait by the oven to get the primary style of the freshly baked cookies.

It’s a beloved custom amongst many to plan baking dates (particularly on Creation weekends) with members of the family and/or pals, drink fragrant mulled wine, and give you numerous sorts of Czech Christmas cookies to later share by the Christmas Eve desk and in the course of the days that comply with.

Baking these cookies will make your house scent of lemon rind, vanilla, and jam ,and as if Ježíšek (Little Child Jesus), the beloved character who historically brings Czech youngsters presents at Christmas, has already arrived.

Liner tars on serving dishes

A little bit of historical past about Linzer Tarts

These usually Central European Linzer Tarts are considered one of many Christmas cookie sorts baked within the Creation interval, a convention that may be traced all the way in which to the thirteenth century within the Czech lands.

Linzer cookies are a twist off the Linzer torte, which got here from Linz, Austria, the place it has been baked ever because the seventeenth century, beloved by many, together with the well-known Empress Elisabeth, often known as Sissy. The fashionable-day Czech Republic was part of the Habsburg Empire, and plenty of Czech cooks went to work in Austria, the seat of the Austrian-Hungarian monarchy.

The cultures and cuisines intermingled inside the entire area a lot it’s troublesome to inform these days the place most of the most well-known recipes originated – assume guláš (goulash), buchty (buchteln), roasted pork or duck accompanied with sauerkraut and knedlík (knoedel) and so many sorts of Christmas cookies that seem in quite a lot of variants all through the area and are an inseparable a part of the vacation season in every single place.

Picture of Linzer Cookies on a blue plate with empty jam bowl

Find out how to make Linzer Cookies:

These sandwich cookies are enjoyable and straightforward to make, but extraordinarily pleasing. For actual measurements and steps, please scroll right down to the printable recipe card.

Picture of ingredients needed to make Linzer Cookies

Elements Wanted to Make Scrumptious Linzer Cookies

All-purpose flour

All-purpose flour works finest for Christmas cookies basically. On this recipe, I wouldn’t advocate in search of replacements to maintain the dough construction as wanted.

Fantastic Almond Flour

Fantastic almond flour is a conventional addition however these days, many recipes skip it altogether and you are able to do the identical, particularly for those who’re in search of a nut-free model. It really works rather well simply to interchange it with the identical quantity of all-purpose flour.

Butter

Butter, used chilly right here, makes the dough construction crumbly, particularly when added chilly. For this reason a meals processor is so useful to mix the elements – it received’t heat the dough as a lot as utilizing your palms would, so I extremely advocate using one. The butter ought to all the time be unsalted for a fragile cookie recipe.

Powdered Sugar

Powdered sugar incorporates simply into the dough and received’t keep crunchy with out the necessity for prolonged kneading, which might change the dough construction.

Eggs

Eggs – I desire to make use of natural, pasture-raised eggs. This recipe makes use of entire eggs.

Natural Lemon Rind

Natural lemon rind offers these cookies their signature tangy aroma.

Vanilla Extract

Vanilla extract is one other fragrant ingredient wanted to attain an actual Linzer cookie.

Make the Cookies

Step 1: Make the dough

First, you must bake the cookies. Utilizing a meals processor is the way in which to go. Add the dry elements first with the butter and blend till you attain a sandy texture. Then simply add eggs and the aromatics (lemon rind and vanilla), wrap the dough in plastic, and let it relaxation within the fridge in a single day (or for as much as 3 days).

Picture of ingredients for Linzer cookies in a food processor

Step 2: Roll the dough

On the day of baking, take the dough out of the fridge and let it heat up just a bit bit. Put together your cookie cutters and your floor, a marble slab is ideal however any clear kitchen floor will do. Sprinkle some flour, lower the large chunk of dough into 4 items, and begin rolling the dough out evenly, till it’s no thinner than ¼ inch.

Picture of the dough rolled for Linzer Cookies

Step 3: Reduce the cookies

Line your baking sheet with some parchment paper and preheat your oven to 350F. Begin slicing your cookies out. First do a tray of “the bottoms” by simply slicing out full circles. The subsequent sheet might be “the tops” which have a gap within the middle to point out the scrumptious jammy filling. I wish to bake 4×6 cookies per sheet since there is no such thing as a want to depart a lot area between particular person cookies, they hardly unfold out in any respect throughout baking so no want to fret about them merging within the oven.

Cut up dough for Linzer cookies

Step 4: Bake the cookies

Bake for about 10-Quarter-hour, this can rely in your explicit oven, the altitude, and the thickness of your cookies. They need to get pink by the tip of baking, maybe a tiny bit brown on the underside and round however not on high.

Linzer Tarts cookie dough on the baking sheet

It’s finest to allow them to calm down on a cooling rack upon eradicating them from the oven. Then, retailer them in an hermetic container or a cookie tin till you’re able to fill them.

Baked Cookies for Linzer tarts

Step 5: Add the jam

Sprinkle powdered sugar on the tops. Use a knife or spoon to unfold a skinny, even layer of your most popular jam (historically crimson currants or raspberry, however I feel lemon curd would additionally work rather well – so long as the filling is just not solely candy but in addition tangy, they are going to be excellent). Cowl with the highest, and also you’re finished!

Picture of making linzer cookies

They’re finest after a number of days to permit the flavors of the cookie and the jam layers to bind in a scrumptious, crumbly, zesty union.

Retailer in an hermetic container in a chilly and dry area (chilly attic or basement works one of the best, in contrast to the fridge which is simply too humid for them) till you’re able to take pleasure in or reward them.

Writer’s recommendation for one of the best outcomes of baking Linzer Cookies:

Grams vs. Cups

For finest outcomes, measure the elements out in grams. A easy digital kitchen scale gives you essentially the most exact outcomes so you may make positive the recipe works because it ought to for you. Nonetheless, the recipe card permits you to swap to US Metrics, however it may not be as exact.

Baking in two levels

Rely on baking these in two levels – make the dough and let it relaxation within the fridge at the very least in a single day or for as much as 3 days earlier than baking. The dough will actually be a lot simpler to work with after some relaxation. You can too make the dough forward of time and freeze it for as much as 3 months earlier than baking.

Make them forward of time.

You possibly can bake them as much as two weeks earlier than Christmas, and retailer them in an hermetic container, after which fill them with both crimson currant or raspberry jam a number of days earlier than the vacations in order that the flavors have time to intertwine.

Storage

They’ll then be saved in chilly (ideally in a chilly attic or basement, not within the fridge the place the surroundings is simply too humid to maintain the cookies intact) and loved all through the Christmas interval and for a number of weeks after.

Vacation Reward

In addition they make excellent, considerate vacation items to your family members. Within the unlikely occasion that you find yourself with leftover cookies, they are often frozen for as much as 6 months, and pulled out and defrosted shortly at room temperature to make your afternoon tea higher any day.

How To not Burn the Cookies

Ensure that to not roll the dough too skinny in order that it’s simple to get the cut-out cookies off the floor after rolling, and guarantee they don’t burn when being baked.

The Cookie Cutters

The cookie cutters used for this recipe are historically spherical; for comfort, you should purchase considered one of these units. However you too can make the cookies coronary heart or flower-shaped, as long as you bear in mind to chop a gap in half of them, which might be used because the tops to disclose the gorgeous crimson jammy goodness inside. I’ve tasted Linzer Tarts full of apricot jam as effectively, so give {that a} attempt if that’s what your coronary heart wishes.

This recipe relies on my grandmother’s and adjusted over time in my very own kitchen.

Nut-Free Model

Make a nut-free model by simply changing the almond flour with the identical quantity of all-purpose flour.

Baking at Altitude

In case you’re baking at altitude, add roughly 10 levels F and three minutes per sheet. Watch the cookies carefully in the direction of the tip, as they will go from unbaked to burnt fairly quick. All the time regulate the temperature and time to your oven and your explicit settings.

Linzer rounds on a rack and plate

FAQ about baking Linzer Cookies:

Is it higher to make use of butter or shortening?

I all the time go for recent, unsalted butter when making Christmas cookies. The buttery taste is what I search for.

2. Can I take advantage of store-bought jam, and does it want decreasing additional or do you have to make your personal from scratch to get the proper consistency?

You possibly can completely maintain issues easy and use store-bought jam, however in fact, when you’ve got home made jam, they are going to be even higher. There isn’t a want to cut back the jam however for those who’re utilizing raspberry jam, some individuals desire to pressure the seeds out.

3. How a lot area must be left between the cutout and the skin as a way to bake and switch correctly?

Since these cookies don’t are inclined to unfold out hardly in any respect whereas baking, you don’t want to fret about leaving an excessive amount of area between them on the baking sheet. Simply be certain they don’t contact, and also you’ll be good.

4. What are one of the best jam flavors to fill these cookies with?

Historically, Linzer cookies are full of crimson currant jam. Since that may be a troublesome one to search out within the US market, it may be very effectively changed by raspberry jam. Some individuals even like apricot jam inside. So long as the jam is just not solely candy but in addition a bit tangy, there may be a whole lot of area for experimenting.

Extra European Christmas Recipes

The Dough

500 grams All-purpose flour
100 grams Fantastic almond flour
160 grams Powdered sugar
400 grams Butter chilly, cubed, unsalted
2 entire eggs
1 tbsp Natural lemon rind
1 tsp Vanilla extract
Further powdered sugar for sprinkling

Filling

1.5 cup Pink currant or raspberry jam for filling; make it seedless for a smoother mouth really feel)

Make the Dough.

In a meals processor, mix all-purpose flour, almond flour, powdered sugar and butter. Pulse till you obtain a sandy texture.
Add eggs, lemon rind, vanilla extract, and blend till the dough comes collectively.
Wrap dough in plastic wrap and relaxation within the fridge in a single day.

Roll the dough and lower the cookies.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.
On the day of baking, take the dough out of the fridge and let it heat up just a bit bit.
Put together your cookie cutters and your floor, a marble slab is ideal, however any clear kitchen floor will do
Sprinkle your floor with a small quantity of flour, lower the large chunk of dough into 4 items, and roll out the dough not too skinny (about ¼ inch at the very least).
Reduce out your required shapes: half might be a strong disc (backside cookies), the opposite half could have a small gap (high cookies).
Use numerous small cutters (star and coronary heart are essentially the most conventional) for extra selection. Attempt to not introduce an excessive amount of flour for the following spherical of rolling out.

Bake the cookies

Fastidiously switch the cut-out cookies onto a lined baking tray and bake till rose golden, for roughly 10-Quarter-hour (relying in your oven, altitude and on the thickness of your cookies) at 350F.
The tops (with the cut-out) will bake sooner than the bottoms so do not combine them on one sheet.

Assemble the cookies

Let cool utterly, sprinkle some powdered sugar on the highest cookies (gap).
Then unfold crimson currant jam (most conventional and scrumptious with its mildly bitter/tart taste) on the underside cookie and shut the sandwich with a high cookie (the one with a gap). You could possibly additionally use raspberry jam if you cannot discover the crimson currant one or every other one you favor.

Retailer the cookies

Retailer in an hermetic container in dry chilly. The flavour and aroma of the jam will bond with the cookie and they’ll soften up and style even higher after a while.
They are often made a number of weeks earlier than Christmas.

Grams vs Cups

For finest outcomes, measure the elements out in grams. A easy digital kitchen scale gives you essentially the most exact outcomes so you may make positive the recipe works because it ought to for you. Nonetheless, for those who want US Metric, simply click on the swap for metric conversion.

Roll the dough skinny.

Ensure that to not roll the dough too skinny in order that it is simple to get the cut-out cookies off the floor after rolling, and guarantee they do not burn when being baked.

How Many Cookies

It’s best to have about 60 cookies from this recipe.

Make them in two levels.

Rely on baking these in two levels – make the dough and let it relaxation within the fridge at the very least in a single day or for as much as 3 days earlier than baking. The dough will actually be a lot simpler to work with after some relaxation. You can too make the dough forward of time and freeze it for as much as 3 months earlier than baking.