These began as “Strawberry and Apricot Linzertorte Hearts,” adapted from a 1996 Gourmet magazine recipe. They make an ideal Valentine’s or Christmas cookie, though I first encountered them in a different context. I found the recipe on Epicurious.com in the early 2000s during a summer when I trained for a half-marathon to raise funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. My fundraising included asking friends and family for donations and running a few bake sales outside local supermarkets. From those bake-sale days I developed firm opinions about what belongs on a bake-sale table and what doesn’t. In my view, these linzertorte cookies—especially in their heart-shaped form—are the perfect bake-sale offering.
What makes a great bake-sale cookie? Look matters. Taste is essential, but appearances sell. An eight-year-old leaving the supermarket is far more likely to persuade a parent to buy a neatly packaged, jewel-like heart cookie than a bag of lumpy oatmeal cookies. By contrast, my least favorite bake-sale contribution is the clingfilm-wrapped frosted brownie: plain brown, often squashed, and prone to melting into grease in warm weather. These linzertorte cookies are not only attractive, they genuinely taste wonderful.
I make a few adjustments to the original recipe. The original calls for pulsing the ingredients in a food processor to make the dough; I don’t own a full-size processor, so I use the creaming method, which works very well. The original recommends rolling the dough to 1/4 inch; I prefer a thinner cookie, so I roll to about 1/8 inch so the sandwich isn’t too bulky. The recipe suggests a 3 1/2-inch heart cutter; I often use a mix of sizes, including smaller cutters for bite-sized cookies.
These cookies aren’t the quickest to make. Chilling the dough as you roll and cut is important to keep the shapes clean. The cycle of rolling, chilling, cutting, re-rolling, and freezing takes longer than you’ll expect, but the results are worth the time.
Linzertorte Cookies
Adapted from Epicurious.
Ingredients
-
1 1/2
c (150 g)
blanched almonds
toasted and cooled -
3
tbsp
granulated sugar -
2 1/4
c (315 g)
all-purpose flour -
1/2
c (60 g)
cornstarch -
1/2
tsp
cinnamon -
3/4
tsp
salt -
3/4
tsp
finely grated lemon zest -
2 1/4
sticks (254 g)
unsalted butter
(not fridge cold) -
1
c (120 g)
confectioner’s sugar -
1
large egg -
1
large egg yolk -
2/3
c
apricot jam
heated, strained, and cooled -
2/3
c
strawberry jam
heated, strained, and cooled
Instructions
-
Grind the toasted almonds with the granulated sugar in a food processor or mini chopper until very fine; set aside.
-
Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and cinnamon; set aside.
-
In a large bowl, cream the butter with the confectioner’s sugar and lemon zest until light. Add the egg and egg yolk and mix until combined. Stir in the ground almonds and the flour mixture just until incorporated.
-
Divide the dough into two disks, wrap each tightly in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or up to 3 days.
-
Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C).
-
Remove one disk and roll it between sheets of parchment or plastic to about 1/8 inch thickness. Transfer the rolled dough to a baking sheet and freeze for 10–12 minutes to firm it slightly.
-
Use a 2-inch to 3 1/2-inch heart or round cutter to cut cookies. For half the cookies, cut a smaller shape from the center to create the tops. Re-roll scraps as needed, chilling between rolls. Arrange bottoms and tops on parchment-lined sheets, spacing about 1/2 inch apart; keep sheets chilled while you work.
-
Bake full sheets for 12–15 minutes, until edges begin to take on a light golden color. Let cookies cool on the sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to finish cooling. Repeat with remaining cookies.
-
When cookies are completely cool, spread about 1 teaspoon of jam on each bottom and top with the cut-out pieces. Add a touch more jam if a cookie looks under-filled.
-
Serve the same day, or store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days in a covered container with wax paper between layers.
Recipe Notes
- For longer storage, freeze the wrapped dough in a freezer bag for up to one month. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before rolling and baking.
- The classic pairing is apricot and strawberry jam. Seedless raspberry jam can work, but if you prefer a firmer filling, heat and strain seeded varieties first.
- Traditional linzer cookies are often dusted with powdered sugar. It’s optional; the cookies are attractive without dusting and I often leave them plain.
- If you don’t have a food processor or mini chopper, substitute 150 g of almond flour or almond meal for the ground almonds.
