What a great way to fill the house with the festive scent of sweet baking and celebrate Christmas with these delicate Linzer cookies.
⏳ 75 minutes
👪 24 pcs
🍎 69 kcal/cookie
Bookmarks
- 🍰 What is This Jam Sandwich Biscuit Like?
- 📃 Recipe Ingredient Overview and Easy Substitutions
- ⏳ Time Overview and Recipe Difficulty
- 📐 Equipment and Other Useful Measurements
- 📷 How to Make Jam Sandwich Biscuits - Instructions
- ⚡ Troubleshooting and Handy Tips
- 👪 Yield/Portions and Serving
- How to Store My Jam Sandwich Biscuits
- Recipe Card
I can’t imagine the festive season without the lovely smell of sweet cookies. There are certain scents that I automatically associate with Christmas, like fresh Christmas tree, potpourri, cinnamon and, of course, freshly baked biscuits.
These cute jam sandwich biscuits, aka Linzer cookies, are on my to-do Christmas list every year. Making these biscuits always brings fond memories as I used to bake these when I was little with my mum.
Even though these cookies are one of the most popular Christmas sweets in Czechia for generations, the recipe originated in a neighbouring country.
Linzer cookies, also known as Linzer Augen, are an Austrian biscuit-size version of the Linzertorte - the oldest known tart from the town of Linzer.
Due to their round shape and small cut-out at the top with jam protruding throughout, they were sometimes called Linzer Augen (Linzer's eyes). Nowadays, they are made in many shapes, using whatever nice cookie cutter people have.
Generally, linzer cookies are made around Christmas time as a seasonal biscuit in central Europe.
In other European countries, they are made as cookies all year round resembling jam sandwiched biscuits like Italian Occhio di bue or British Jammie Dodgers, just to name two.
No, Linzer cookies originated in Austria. However, Italians have a similar-jam sandwiched biscuit called Occhio di bue (Ox's eye). The two not only look alike, but they also use pretty much identical ingredients - flour, butter, sugar, egg (yolk), vanilla sugar and jam.
Linzer cookies and Jammie Dodgers are visually very similar - two biscuits sandwiched together with jam with a little cut-out window at the top.
However, ikonic British Jammie Dodgers are made from shortbread dough (flour, butter and sugar - no egg), while Linzer Cookies contain an egg and often more butter, similar to American sugar cookies.
Interesting fact: Because these biscuits are very closely connected to a mystical number seven, people use to believe that making and eating Linzer cookies brings them luck. That is because the dough contains seven parts of sugar (70g), 2 x 7 parts of butter (140g), and 3 x 7 parts of flour (210g).
Which is the same as 1 part of sugar, two parts of butter and three parts of flour.
🍰 What is This Jam Sandwich Biscuit Like?
When freshly baked, the cookie is dry, crumbly and can be quite brittle. Its texture is almost a little bit grainy (resembling fine sand at first) before it literally melts in the mouth.
Linzer cookies are assembled by glueing two biscuits together with jam. The jam adds a lovely sweet and tangy zing to the dry biscuit, in addition, I like to dust mine with icing sugar for a final decorative touch.
📃 Recipe Ingredient Overview and Easy Substitutions
Most Linzer cookie recipes contain plain flour, butter, sugar and egg or egg yolk. Some ask for almond flour in addition to plain flour, and all use jam to sandwich two biscuits together.
The ingredients for my jam sandwiched biscuits contain:
- plain flour
- butter
- icing sugar
- lemon zest (optional)
- small pinch of baking powder (optional)
- jam
Butter
I always recommend butter instead of margarine, but if you are stuck with no other option, I can confirm that it is possible to make Linzer cookies using margarine (I tested unsalted Lurpak spreadable). However, be warned that the dough is going to be stickier, requiring super quick hands.
That's because the margarine is softer and melts faster, making the dough very sticky. It might be necessary to add more flour and dust the countertop well before rolling.
Eggs
Using only yolk makes the biscuits richer and more delicate.
Know-how: Adding a bit of egg white makes the biscuits less brittle if you want to make them less fragile.
Jam
I prefer using smooth jam rather than fruit preserves (chunks of fruit) to fill the biscuits. My favourite flavour is red current because it's tangier, but the most popular options are strawberry or raspberry jam.
⏳ Time Overview and Recipe Difficulty
This recipe consists of 3 main parts:
- preparing the dough
- making the biscuits
- filling and decorating the biscuits
📐 Equipment and Other Useful Measurements
- mixing bowl
- sieve
- rolling pin - I prefer a rolling pin with a revolving centre like this example from Amazon:
- baking paper
- sheet tray - The ideal tray for making cookies is without edges like these two from Amazon:
- cookie cutter - I like individual cutters in different sizes rather than the one where the small centre is attached to the larger one, but you can use either:
📷 How to Make Jam Sandwich Biscuits - Instructions
Sift the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder) into a mixing bowl.
Add the butter (grated or cut into small pieces) and rub it into the flour with your hands like when making crumble.
Add the yolk and lemon zest (optional) to the crumbly mix and bring all ingredients together, forming a dough. Don't knead the dough too long.
Don't worry if the dough is sticky. Wrap it in cling film and let it cool in the fridge for at least 1 - 2 hours.
Line the tray with baking paper. Preheat the oven to 180 C/ fan 160 C.
Divide the dough in half and leave the other half in the fridge.
Generously dust the kitchen worktop with plain flour. Take the first half of the dough, let it soften for 5 minutes at room temperature, and roll it into a 3 mm thick sheet.
Tip: If the dough is still too hard to roll, make it more pliable by squashing it in your hands for a short while (like play dough) - to remove the stiffness.
Cut out the first batch of biscuits (make the one with the cut-out little window first) that will form the top of the sandwich biscuit.
With a cookie cutter, cut the shapes from the dough and transfer them onto the tray. Once they are all on the tray, cut the little openings from the middle of each biscuit.
Tip: Remove the small piece of dough using a toothpick or the tip of a knife.
Bake biscuits for around 9 - 10 minutes or until the edges start to brown.
Remove cooked biscuits from the tray and let it cool before baking the second batch (or use another tray).
Roll the other half of the dough into a 3 mm thick sheet. Cut out the shapes (these are for the bottom of the biscuit and don't have a small cut-out) and transfer them onto the sheet.
Bake the second batch of biscuits for 9 - 10 minutes.
Note: Don't waste the leftovers. Pat the off-cuts together and re-roll the dough once again, repeating the rolling, cutting, and baking process.
Wait for all the baked cookies to cool down and sandwich two pieces together with a small amount of jam (don't forget, one of them has a little cut-out).
Tip: Sandwich together the sides that were touching the tray (they are flatter than the top side of the biscuit).
Sprinkle the sandwiched biscuits with icing sugar.
⚡ Troubleshooting and Handy Tips
The dough is sticky
The traditional Linzer dough can be challenging to work with as it’s sticky when not cold.
The trick is to let the dough rest in the fridge for at least 2 hours and generously dust the countertop before rolling the dough.
I recommend working in smaller batches, leaving the rest of the dough in the fridge.
Cutting and Transfering the Shapes to the Tray
Make sure the kitchen worktop is well dusted; it will make it much easier to lift the cut-out shapes and move them onto the tray.
Don't roll the dough extremely thin - not thinner than 3 mm (the thickness of a pound coin).
Lift the cut-out shapes carefully using a tip of a small knife if they are a little bit stuck to the surface.
Cut the small opening in the middle after the shapes are already on the tray. It will make transferring the dough easier and reduce the chance of spoiling the biscuits' shape.
👪 Yield/Portions and Serving
Considering the amount of the dough rolled out into the 3 mm thickens, you should be able to make enough shapes to create around 20 - 24 sandwiched biscuits. You can make even more if you use the offcuts, press them together and roll them again.
The final number of biscuits you can make also depends on the size of your cookie cutter, I use a small approx. 4 centimetres cutter.
How to Store My Jam Sandwich Biscuits
In Czech, we make Linzer cookies approximately 3 - 4 weeks before Christmas and store them in a cardboard box or metal tin in dark, cool and dry conditions. That is preferably a sheltered balcony, unheated porch or a cool loft.
That is because we like when they get softer and 'mature', and it usually doesn't happen in an airtight container in the fridge.
The storage solution and how long the biscuits last will depend on how you like them. If you prefer freshly baked, still crunchy biscuits, then you need to eat them fairly quickly, within 2 - 3 days.
It's fine to leave filled biscuits at room temperature for a couple of days, but if you have an excessive amount that you can't eat, freeze them. Just make sure to choose an airtight box or sealed bag to prevent them from absorbing unwanted smells.
Bare in mind that the smell problem applies to the fridge too.
Note: They would last even longer in the freezer, but they usually start absorbing other smells, which make them taste unpleasant.
Recipe Card
Jam Sandwich Biscuit / Czech Linzer Cookies
Ingredients
- 210 g plain flour + extra for dusting
- 140 g unsalted butter cold
- 70 g icing sugar + little bit more for decorating
- 1 yolk
- 1 lemon zest optional
- pinch baking powder optional
- jam seedless, smooth jam
Equipment
- mixing bowl
- sieve
- Rolling Pin
- baking paper
- baking tray/sheet tray
Instructions
- Sift the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder) into a mixing bowl.
- Add the butter (grated or cut into small pieces) and rub it into the flour with your hands like when making crumble.
- Add the yolk and lemon zest (optional) to the crumbly mix and bring all together, forming a dough. Don't knead the dough too long.
- Wrap the sticky dough in cling film and let it cool in the fridge for at least 1 - 2 hours.
- Line the baking tray with baking paper. Preheat the oven to 180 C/ fan 160 C.
- Divide the dough in half and leave the other half in the fridge.
- Generously dust the kitchen worktop with plain flour. Take the first half of the dough, let it soften for 5 minutes at room temperature, and roll it into a 3 mm thick sheet. Tip: If the dough is still too hard to roll, make it more playable by squashing it in your hands for a short while (like play dough) - to remove the stiffness.
- Cut out the first batch of biscuits. Start with the one with a little cut-out window. Those will form the top of the sandwich biscuit.
- With a cookie cutter, cut the shapes from the dough and transfer them onto the tray. Once they are all on the tray, cut the little openings from the middle of each biscuit. Tip: Remove the small piece of dough using a toothpick or the tip of the knife.
- Bake biscuits for around 9 - 10 minutes or until the edges start to brown.
- Remove cooked biscuits from the tray and let it cool before baking the second batch (or use another tray).
- Roll the other half of the dough into a 3 mm thick sheet. Cut out the shapes (these are for the bottom of the biscuit and don't have a small cut-out) and transfer them onto the sheet.
- Bake the second batch of biscuits for 9 - 10 minutes.
- Note: Don't waste the leftovers. Pat the off-cuts together and re-roll the dough once again, repeating the rolling, cutting, and baking process.
- Wait for all the baked cookies to cool down and sandwich two pieces together with a small amount of jam (don't forget, one of them has a little cut-out).
- Tip: Sandwich together the sides that were touching the tray (they are usually flat
- Sprinkle sandwiched biscuits with icing sugar.
The Novice says
I totally agree with you about Christmas and the smell of sweet cookies - how can you not love baking cookies during the festive season! I've never made Linzer cookies before but these are absolutely beautiful.
Lea says
Thank you, they smell lovely, they look gorgeous and they taste even better, you should try them. The only problem is we eat them too quickly 😀