These Vegan Cranberry Linzer Cookies are a modern take on a festive favourite that originates from Austria. Find out how to make these delicious cookies below.
Christmas Cookies
Biscuits and cookies play an important role in Christmas around the world. From children leaving out a cookie and milk for Santa Clause, to intricate advent cookies being offered to guests who visit in the run up to the big day, they are everywhere.
When I went to my first German Christmas market in Heidelberg I was blown away with the sheer number of different cookies on offer and the wide range of shapes, sizes and flavours that they came in. From pfeffernusser to lebkuchen, and kipfel! These small cookies are one of my favourite things about Christmas!
But it's not just Germany, much of Northern Europe makes intricate, spiced cookies around the holiday season.
What are Linzer Cookies?
Linzer cookies are popular across Europe and all the way to America. But, they actually originate in Linz, Austria. You might have already heard of the Linzer Torte. The torte came first and inspired the cookies which were invented in the 19th century.
One of the main things that the Linzer Torte and Linzer Cookies have in common is that they are both made with an almond dough.
Linzer cookies have a really distinct shape. They are two biscuits, sandwiched together with jam. The top of the cookie is often dusted with icing sugar and there is a shape cut out of the top biscuit so that you can see the jam poking through.
Both the Linzer Torte and the Linzer Cookies are made with a fruity centre. It's traditional to use blackcurrant jam in the torte and raspberry jam in the cookies. But, to make these a little more festive I've used a cranberry preserve instead!
How to make Linzer Cookies
To make my Vegan Cranberry Linzer Cookies you first need to start with the cookie dough.
The cookie dough is incredibly short; by this I mean it's made with a high amount of fat to flour. It makes for a really tender, buttery cookie. But, one of the reasons its so short is because some of the flour is replaced with ground almonds. It gives them a wonderful nutty taste as well as a fantastic texture.
Making the dough is easy and quick. You cream together the butter and sugar until light, fluffy and creamy. You then stir in the ground almonds, citrus zest and spices, followed by the flour. A little bit of milk can be added to help bring it all together but the important thing is not to overwork it. You only want to mix it until all the ingredients are combined.
You then split the dough into two, cover it and place it into the fridge to chill for at least 1 hour. Chilling is a really important step. If the dough isn't firm enough it will be really difficult to roll and cut out.
Specialist Linzer Cookie cutters are the easiest way to get the traditional scalloped edges and small window through to the jam in the middle. If you don't have Linzer cookie cutters then you can use normal pastry cutters and then a small knife to cut a design from the centre.
It's important to chill the dough again once you've cut out the tops and bottoms of the cookies. This prevents tem from spreading out in the oven once baked.
Once baked the tops of the cookies are dusted with icing sugar and then they are sandwiched together with cranberry jam.
The recipe
Vegan Cranberry Linzer Cookies
Ingredients
- 225 grams non-dairy butter
- 100 grams light brown sugar
- 100 grams ground almonds
- 0.25 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon orange peel grated
- 0.5 teaspoon vanilla paste
- 225 grams plain flour
- 0.5 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoon plant milk
- 24 teaspoon cranberry jam
- 3 tablespoons icing sugar
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until soft and creamy.
- Add the ground almonds, cinnamon, orange peel and vanilla.
- Mix on low until well combined then add in the flour and baking powder.
- Bring the dough together with your hands, adding the milk if necessary.
- Shape dough into 2 balls then refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Heat oven to 180 C / 356 F / gas mark 4.
- Lightly dust your work surface with flour.
- Roll out the first piece of dough to roughly 0.25 of an inch thick. Cut out 24 circular cookies with a 3-inch, round, scalloped edge cookie cutter.
- Place them onto a baking tray lined with baking paper.
- Roll out the second piece of dough and cut out 24 circular cookies with a small heart, star or similar shape cut out of the middle.
- Again, place these on to a baking tray lined with baking paper.
- Chill them for another half an hour in the fridge.
- Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes until just golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and transfer to cooling racks.
- Once cooled completely, dust just the Linzer cookie tops with icing sugar.
- Spread 1 teaspoon of the cranberry jam on to the Linzer cookie bottoms.
- Sandwich the tops and the bottoms together and enjoy!
Nutrition
Variations
Why not try swapping the cranberry jam for whisky marmalade? Or perhaps black cherry jam?
You could also swap the ground almonds for another nut like walnut or pecan! Just pop them into a food processor and pulse until fine.
More Christmas Cookies
If you like these Vegan Cranberry Linzer Cookies then you'll love some of these other festive treats.
The Full Christmas Recipe Archive
For the full range of Christmas recipes from cocktails to canapes, side dishes and show stopping mains, check out the Christmas recipe archive.
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