Every Christmas my mom would fill the kitchen (and sitting room!) with freshly baked cookies. These vegan Linzer cookies are my take on her Linzer Plaetzchen (German name) which were my favorite Christmas cookie growing up.
Linzer cookies are the biscuit form of the Linzer tart or "Linzer torte" which is an Austrian lattice pie filled with raspberries. They consist of raspberry or strawberry jam sandwiched between 2 buttery almond shortbread cookies and are very popular around the Christmas holidays.
What to expect from this recipe
- Easy to make
- Soft, tender, and buttery texture
- Eggless and dairy-free
- Perfect for Christmas
- Make a great homemade gift of festive cookie jars
These biscuits would be amazing in a Christmas cookie box alongside some vegan mince pies and gingerbread cookies!
Ingredients overview
Notes about the ingredients
- Ground almonds: Adds flavor and moisture to the recipe.
- Caster sugar: As we want the flavor of these Linzer cookies to mainly come from almonds, butter, and vanilla I don't recommend using brown sugar which can overpower those flavors.
- Vegan butter: You’ll need vegan block butter, not margarine or spread. I use flora unsalted plant butter.
- Jam of choice: I love using raspberry or strawberry jam for these cookies. But you can also fill them with marmalade or pretty much any flavor that tickles your fancy.
- Vanilla extract: This adds a delicious flavor to the shortbread cookies.
- Sea salt: A must for these cookies, the salt enhances the flavors as well as helps to balance the sweetness,
How to make vegan linzer cookies cookies
(Full ingredient quantities and instructions are in the recipe card at the end of this post)
The vegan butter and sugar are first creamed together in order to incorporate air into the dough. Then rub the flour into the creamed sugar and butter.
Next, sift in your dry ingredients (flour, ground almonds, and salt), and rub the flour into the fats using your fingertips. As you rub the ingredients together, lift your hands to help incorporate air into the mixture.
This video demonstrates the rubbing-in method if you aren't familiar with how it's done. Traditionally butter is cut into chunks before rubbing in the dry ingredients, but I find creaming the butter and sugar together first adds a light airiness to the cookies which makes them even more delicious.
Once you have a rough “crumb” consistency, get your hands in there and knead the ingredients to form a dough. Flatten the dough into a disc, wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Once the dough is chilled, roll it out on a floured surface to approximately 1 centimeter in height. I used a 2.5″ cookie cutter for these vegan Linzer cookies. Use a smaller cookie cutter to cut out the centers of half the cookies (these will be the ones that sit on top of the jam layer).
Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes. The whole cookies will take 10 minutes and the cutout cookies slightly less at around 8 minutes. Once baked, allow them to rest on the baking tray for 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Add jam on top of the cookies and top with the cutout cookie to create a sandwich. Generally, about a teaspoon of jam is usually plenty for each cookie but you can add up to a tablespoon if you don't mind them being messy!
Variations
- Lemon curd Linzer cookies: These cookies are also incredible when filled with vegan lemon curd.
- Chocolate ganache Linzer cookies: Try this chocolate ganache recipe for a chocolate twist on your vegan Linzer cookies.
Storage instructions
Keep these vegan Linzer cookies in an airtight container and store them at room temperature. They will easily keep for a couple of weeks but are tastiest when enjoyed fresh within the first 3-4 days.
More vegan Christmas cookie recipes
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Description
Equipment
Ingredients
- 150 g (5.3 oz) vegan butter
- 100 g (0.5 cups) cater sugar (superfine)
- 2 teaspoons (2 teaspoons) vanilla extract
- 180 g (1.5 cups) plain flour, sifted
- 125 g (1 ⅛ cups) ground almonds
- ½ teaspoon (½ teaspoon) sea salt
- 300 g (15 tablespoons) raspberry jam, strawberry jam, or other variety of jam
- 25 g (¼ cup) icing sugar (powdered sugar)
Instructions
- Cut the vegan butter into small chunks and place it in a large bowl. Use an electric whisk or stand mixer to whisk the butter for 2 minutes. It will become light and airy. Add the caster sugar and vanilla extract and whisk for another minute to cream everything together.
- To the bowl, add the flour, ground almonds, and sea salt. Use your fingertips to rub the flour into the butter mixture. Once the mixture resembles a crumb consistency, use your hands to knead the ingredients until they form a dough. Once you have a uniform dough ball, flatten it down into a disc shape and wrap it with cling film. Place in the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 180°C (356°F). Lightly dust your work surface and rolling pin with flour and carefully roll out the dough to approximately 1cm in height. Use a 2.5" cookie cutter to cut out cookies and place them on the lined baking tray, leaving at least 2 inches between each cookie. Use a smaller 1" cookie cutter to cut out the centers of half of the cookies. Make sure the cutout cookies are on a separate tray from the whole cookies as they will take less time to bake.
- Bake the cutout cookies for 8 minutes and the full cookies for 10 minutes, then remove them from the oven and allow the cookies to sit on the baking tray to cool for about 5 minutes. Carefully slide the sheet of parchment paper with the cookies off of the tray and onto a cooling rack. Cool for another 15-20 minutes.
- Dust the cutout cookies (which will be on top) with icing sugar. Add 1-2 teaspoons of jam to the center of each whole cookie and sandwich a cutout cookie on top of them.
Storage
- Keep them in an airtight container and store them at room temperature. They will easily keep for a couple of weeks but are tastiest when enjoyed fresh within the first 3-4 days.
Notes
- Lemon curd Linzer cookies: These cookies are also incredible when filled with vegan lemon curd.
Nutrition
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