Christmas Baking
Classic Linzer Cookies: The Easy 3:2:1 Butter Dough Rolls Thin and Makes About 60 Jam Sandwiches
Traditional Linzer cookie dough in a 3:2:1 ratio with egg yolks and lemon zest, sandwiched with jam.
NutritionApproximate, per serving
Instructions
Wash the lemon thoroughly and grate only the yellow part of the peel.
Sift the flour and powdered sugar into a large bowl. Add the softened butter, the 3 egg yolks and the grated lemon zest.
Work all the ingredients together quickly with your hands, only until they form a compact dough.
Divide the dough into 4 pieces, wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Lightly flour the work surface. Take one piece of dough out of the refrigerator.
Roll it out to a thickness of about 1/8 inch (2–3 mm). The dough must be thin for the cookies to be tender.
Cut out shapes with cookie cutters: half of them solid, half with a hole in the center.
Place the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Gather the scraps after cutting and always knead them into a new piece of fresh dough from the refrigerator (so they do not dry out).
Heat the oven to 350°F (180°C) (conventional, top and bottom heat).
Bake for 8–10 minutes. Watch them closely. They should stay pale, with only the edges turning slightly pink.
Spread jam on the cooled solid cookies. Dust the tops with the hole with powdered sugar and press them onto the jam.
- Ratio 3:2:1 means 3 parts flour, 2 parts butter and 1 part powdered sugar by weight.
- Always knead scraps into fresh chilled dough rather than re-rolling them alone.
- Bake pale: take the cookies out when only the edges are slightly pink. Cookies are best after 1–2 days in a tin with the jam.
- Variations: replace 100 g flour with ground nuts, or 3 tablespoons flour with cocoa.