Linzer cookies are beautiful holiday cookies made of two shortbread cookies or sugar cookies that are traditionally sandwiched together with jam, with a window or cutout in the top cookie to reveal the delicious filling inside. I’ve filled these chocolate hazelnut linzer cookies with creamy chocolate hazelnut spread for a delicious twist on this classic Christmas cookie.
You might also love these toasted hazelnut Christmas cookies, hazelnut shortbread cookies, and chocolate hazelnut cupcakes.
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What are Linzer Cookies?
Linzer cookies actually date back to 1653, to the Austrian linzertorte. The linzertorte was a tart baked like a pie, with a buttery almond crust filled with blackcurrant preserves, and topped with a lattice crust.
In Linz, Austria, bakers turned the linzertorte into a cookie. When cutting out the linzertorte dough, they’d cut shapes in the center of the dough, such as hearts, stars and circles, which were called linzer “eyes”. They assembled the cookies with jam or preserves sandwiched between two cookies, with the peekaboo cutout cookie on top, so the jam would be visible.
The top cookies are often dusted with powdered sugar before assembling the sandwich cookies, but I love the look and texture of crunchy granulated sugar sprinkled over the cookies before baking them.
Since the cookies are thin, they are very delicate, so handle them gently before and after baking. Match up your top and bottom cookies, and turn the bottom cookie over, so it’s sitting bottom-side up. Spread with chocolate hazelnut spread (Nutella), then place a cookie with a peekaboo center on top. The filling will look so beautiful and tempting peeking through the cutout.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
- All-Purpose Flour. The flour provides structure to the cookie dough.
- Powdered Sugar. Adds sweetness. I like to use powdered sugar, rather than granulated sugar in my shortbread and sugar cookie dough recipes, as it makes a beautifully smooth, supple dough.
- Salt. Balances the sweetness.
- Unsalted Butter. Richness, flavor and moisture.
- Vanilla. Use a good-quality vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste for the best flavor.
- Milk or Cream. Binds the dough together.
- Egg White + Granulated Sugar. The top cookies are brushed with egg white (to help the sugar stick) and then sprinkled with sugar. This adds a sweet, crunchy finish that’s just gorgeous.
- Chocolate Hazelnut Spread. Nutella is a perfect filling for linzer cookies. It’s creamy, slightly sweet, and so delicious.
Instructions
Make the Cookie Dough
- In a food processor, pulse the flour, hazelnuts, powdered sugar and salt, until the hazelnuts are finely ground.
- With the food processor running, drop the cold butter pieces in one at a time, pulsing until evenly dispersed.
- Add the vanilla extract, hazelnut extract and milk, then pulse until the mixture comes together into a soft, supple dough.
- Dump the dough out and knead a few times just to bring together any stray floury bits. Shape into a flat disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Roll and Cut the Dough
- Get your cookie cutters ready. You can use a linzer cookie cutter set, or just match up small cutters with larger ones to cut the “window”. My cookie cutters ranged from 2 1/2 – 3 inches for the large ones, and 1 – 1 1/2 inches for the smaller window cutter. Line several large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Flour a clean work surface, and flour the dough lightly as well. Roll the dough out evenly to about 1/8 inch thick, using more flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking to the counter or your rolling pin. The dough will be delicate when rolled thin, so handle it gently.
- Cut as many cookies as you can, and set the cut cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet, spacing them 2 inches apart. Make sure to cut an even number of each shape, since you’ll need to match up the top and bottom cookies of your sandwich.
- With the cut cookies on the baking sheet, cut and remove the center window from the top cookies, and add that piece to your dough scraps.
- Gather up the scraps of dough, re-roll the dough, and continue cutting cookies. Depending on the thickness of your dough and the size of your cookie cutters, you may be able to cut around 40 cookies for 20 sandwich cookies.
- Refrigerate the cut cookies on the baking sheets for 30 minutes. Chilling the cut cookies helps to keep the cookies from spreading while they bake, so they maintain their shape.
Bake the Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. and position a rack in the center of the oven.
- Use a pastry brush to lightly brush the top cookies (the ones with the window) with the egg white, then sprinkle with the granulated sugar.
- Bake one pan of chilled cookies at a time, keeping the other pans refrigerated until needed. Depending on their size and thickness, they should take about 9-10 minutes. The baked cookies will still be very pale on top, with light golden edges. If you gently turn a cookie over, there should be no appearance of raw or wet dough on the bottom. Since there’s no leavening in the dough, the cookies will not rise, spread, or lose their shape. However, it’s normal to see little bubbles, since as the butter cooks, the water in the butter evaporates, and the pockets of steam create flaky layers and bubbles.
- Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for several minutes, and then carefully transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. You might want to sprinkle the top cookies with a little more granulated sugar after cooling. Remember, these are delicate, and they break easily, so handle with care.
Filling and Assembling Linzer Cookies
- Once the cookies are cooled, turn over the bottom cookies, so the bottom side faces up.
- Spread with several teaspoons of chocolate hazelnut spread, stopping 1/8 inch from the edge. Place the top cookie with the window on top, and press down lightly.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
Leftover cookies should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week, or frozen for 3-6 months.
You can freeze both the dough, and the assembled linzer cookies for up to 3-6 months. I often make batches of sugar cookie dough in bulk, wrap the dough disks in plastic wrap, label them, and then freeze until I’m ready to bake. Let the dough thaw in the refrigerator overnight, and then let warm up for about an hour at room temperature until the dough is pliable enough to roll out.
If you don’t have a food processor, you can make the dough in a bowl, using a pastry cutter. I’ve done this many times, and it just takes a bit longer to work the butter evenly into the flour with a pastry cutter. Then work the liquid into the mixture with your hands until it forms a soft dough.
I have a bottle of Amoretti Praline Hazelnut Extract that I’ve almost used up, which was given to me as a gift. There are other brands of hazelnut extract available on Amazon, or possibly on the baking aisle at Hobby Lobby, Michaels and Joannes. But even without this special (and sometimes pricey) extract, your cookies will be wonderful with just the ground hazelnuts in the dough.
I’ve collected so many cookie cutters over the years, both from online and local stores, that it’s difficult to name every source, but I’ll do my best. The star cutters came from this set of star cookie cutters on Amazon. The tree and ornament cutters came with a set of Christmas cookie cutters I’ve had forever. The square fluted cutter is something I may have bought at Michaels years ago. The round fluted cutter came with a mini tartlet pan I received as a gift. The center cutter for the ornament is a “quatrefoil” cutter, that I may have purchased on Etsy. The little house cutter is one that I may have purchased from an online store that doesn’t seem to be in business anymore. I’m guessing that most of these, or something similar, can be found on Amazon!
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Chocolate Hazelnut Linzer Cookies
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Food Processor or Pastry Cutter
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, plus extra for rolling
- â…“ cup hazelnuts
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ¾ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp praline hazelnut extract, optional
- 3 tbsp milk
- 1 egg white
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup chocolate hazelnut spread
Instructions
Make the Cookie Dough
- In a food processor, pulse the flour, hazelnuts, powdered sugar and salt, until the hazelnuts are finely ground.
- With the food processor running, drop the cold butter pieces in one at a time, pulsing until evenly dispersed.
- Add the vanilla extract, hazelnut extract and milk, then pulse until the mixture comes together into a soft, supple dough.Note that if you don't have a food processor, you can make the dough in a bowl, using a pastry cutter. I've done this many times, and it just takes a bit longer to work the butter evenly into the flour, and then work the liquid into the mixture until it forms a soft dough.
- Dump the dough out and knead a few times just to bring together any stray floury bits. Shape into a flat disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Roll and Cut the Dough
- Get your cookie cutters ready. You can use a linzer cookie cutter set, or just match up small cutters with larger ones to cut the "window". My cookie cutters ranged from 2 1/2 – 3 inches for the large ones, and 1 – 1 1/2 inches for the smaller window cutter. Line several large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Flour a clean work surface, and flour the dough lightly as well. Roll the dough out evenly to about 1/8 inch thick, using more flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking to the counter or your rolling pin. The dough will be delicate when rolled thin, so handle it gently.
- Cut as many cookies as you can, and set the cut cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet, spacing them 2 inches apart. Make sure to cut an even number of each shape, since you'll need to match up the top and bottom cookies of your sandwich.
- With the cut cookies on the baking sheet, cut and remove the center window from the top cookies, and add that piece to your dough scraps.
- Gather up the scraps of dough, re-roll the dough, and continue cutting cookies. Depending on the thickness of your dough and the size of your cookie cutters, you may be able to cut around 40 cookies for 20 sandwich cookies.
- Refrigerate the cut cookies on the baking sheets for 30 minutes. Chilling the cut cookies helps to keep the cookies from spreading while they bake, so they maintain their shape.
Bake the Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. and position a rack in the center of the oven.
- Use a pastry brush to lightly brush the top cookies (the ones with the window) with the egg white, then sprinkle with the granulated sugar.
- Bake one pan of chilled cookies at a time, keeping the other pans refrigerated until needed. Depending on their size and thickness, they should take about 9-10 minutes. The baked cookies will still be very pale on top, with light golden edges. If you gently turn a cookie over, there should be no appearance of raw or wet dough on the bottom. Since there's no leavening in the dough, the cookies will not rise, spread, or lose their shape, but it's normal to see little bubbles, since as the butter cooks, the water in the butter evaporates, and the pockets of steam create flaky layers and bubbles.
- Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for several minutes, and then carefully transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. You might want to sprinkle the top cookies with a little more granulated sugar after cooling. Remember, these are delicate, and they break easily, so handle with care.
Filling and Assembling Linzer Cookies
- Once the cookies are cooled, turn over the bottom cookies, so the bottom side faces up.
- Spread with several teaspoons of chocolate hazelnut spread, stopping 1/8 inch from the edge. Place the top cookie with the window on top, and press down lightly.
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