Buttery Christmas cookies belong to the best of the holiday season, and these tender 7-minute Linzer-style cookies are an instant favorite. Thanks to a well-balanced ratio of ingredients, the dough holds its shape beautifully, doesn’t stick, and stays wonderfully tender after baking.
The key is to work quickly: mix softened butter with egg yolks and fine lemon zest. Bake the cut-out stars or hearts only until pale, and once they are cool, sandwich them with fragrant jam, which adds a fresh fruity note.
Ingredients
For the dough
- 2 1/3 cups (300 g) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon (100 g) powdered sugar
- 14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks / 200 g) butter, softened
- 2 egg yolks
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or about 8 g vanilla sugar)
For filling and dusting
- strawberry jam (to taste)
- powdered sugar (to taste)
Instructions
- Put the flour, powdered sugar, softened butter, egg yolks, lemon zest, baking powder, and vanilla into the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Mix until the ingredients come together into a soft, smooth dough.
- Lightly flour your work surface, turn the dough out onto it, and briefly shape it by hand into a smooth ball.
- Roll out the dough on the floured surface to an even thickness of about 1/8 inch (3–4 mm).
- Cut out shapes with cookie cutters. From half of them, cut a small hole in the center with a smaller cutter.
- Carefully transfer the cut-out shapes to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 340°F (170°C) for about 7 minutes, until the cookies are still pale.
- Let the cookies cool completely on the baking sheet, about 15 minutes.
- Spread strawberry jam on the solid bottom cookies and top them with the cookies that have the cut-out center.
- Dust the finished sandwich cookies lightly with powdered sugar and serve.
Apple bundt cake or poppy seed strudel also go well with coffee.
Video Recipe
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How should I store these Christmas cookies?
Store the baked and filled Linzer cookies in an airtight container in a cool, dry place, where they stay tender and delicious for 1 to 2 weeks.
Why do the cookies bake for only 7 minutes?
The dough is rolled thin and contains a high proportion of butter and egg yolks, so at 340°F (170°C) it bakes through very quickly. The cookies should come out of the oven still pale, otherwise they turn hard and crumbly.
The recipe is based on a version by Einfache Rezepte, adapted by the We Cook With Love team.
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