Linzer cookies are a classic during the holidays! They are delicious and simple to make, with a fruity filling in a nutty, almond flavored cookie. What’s not to love?
Linzer cookies with raspberry preserves, and made with a buttery almond cookie dough.
These are one of my husband’s favorite cookies. And they are a cinch to make. The base of this cookie recipe is similar to my pate sucree dough. The crispness is about the same. However, these cookies have a delightfully nutty almond flavor that is very classic in the linzer cookie.
Ingredients to make linzer cookies
- Unsalted butter
- Egg yolks – add richness to the cookies
- Confectioner’s sugar (powdered sugar) or caster sugar – to easily dissolve in the butter
- Almond flour (ground almond)
- AP flour
- Raspberry jam (or raspberry preserves)
- Spices & flavoring (vanilla, cinnamon, lemon zest)
How to make linzer cookies
Just like my pate sucree dough , linzer cookies are also easy to make and very forgiving.
How to make the dough for linzer cookies
If you’re only making a single batch, you can even do this without a mixer. But use a stand mixer for larger batches.
Make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature.
Cream the butter and sugar together until creamy and smooth. Do this at low speed so that you don’t get any air in your butter. I also like to add salt to the butter, which gives it a better chance of dissolving well.
Add the egg yolks, lemon zest (or extract), and vanilla, and mix them in well until smooth.
Add the almond flour, all purpose flour, and cinnamon, and fold in to mix with the dough. Avoid overworking the dough.
The dough for linzer cookies will be very soft. So lightly dust your hands with flour when handling the dough, so that it doesn’t stick.
Shape the dough into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm. Alternatively, you can roll the dough while it’s at room temperature too.
Rolling out the dough
If you want to roll out the dough while it’s soft and at room temp – Place the dough between two sheets of parchment paper when you roll it out. To prevent any folding and creasing, remove the parchment papers and put them back on both sides from time to time.
If you chill the dough – You can roll it out on a lightly floured surface. Make sure to turn the dough a 1/4 turn after every one or two rolls, to maintain an even shape.
If there are any cracks in the dough, simply pinch together the surrounding dough area to seal the cracks (see pictures below). I like to flip the dough over while rolling it to make sure both sides of the dough are nice and smooth.
If there are cracks in the rolled out dough…
Patch them up easily by pinching the surrounding dough area together…
Roll it out to a 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out circles using a cookie cutter (I use a 3 inch cookie cutter).
Bring the scraps together, and let them rest for about 5 – 10 minutes, and then roll it out again. Since the dough is soft, I roll it out between parchment papers. Cut out more circles for linzer cookies.
Next, punch a smaller hole in the center in half of the cookies, using a smaller cutter. You can make this cut out hole into a circle, a heart shape, a flower, or a star, or whatever shape you like using shaped cutters.
Place the cookie dough circles that you cut out on a parchment paper lined tray and refrigerate for about 30 minutes until firm. This will help the cookies keep their shape as they bake.
Baking and filling the cookies
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line some baking sheets with parchment paper.
Place the chilled cookies on a baking tray (lined with parchment paper), with about 1 inch of space between the cookies.
Bake the linzer cookies in the preheated oven until the edges are JUST starting to turn lightly golden in color. Remove the cookies from the oven and place them on a cooling rack to cool completely – about 15 minutes.
Then take all the cookies that were cut out in the middle, and dust them on the surface with confectioner’s sugar.
Spread some raspberry jam on the bottom cookie, and gently press the sugar dusted top cookie into the jam filling. For presentation, ideally you want the jam to be contained inside the sandwiched cookie, but also slightly bulge out of the hole on the top cookie half.
Tips for making Linzer cookies
These cookies are very easy to make. But here are a few more tips to guarantee success.
- Make sure the butter is very soft, but not melted. This makes it easier to cream the butter and sugar together.
- Don’t forget the lemon zest. The lemon brightens up the flavors, and complements the cinnamon and almond flavors.
- You can also add a little almond extract, although I prefer not to.
- To save time, you can roll out the soft dough between parchment papers, without chilling the dough first. The dough is soft and forgiving.
- To get Linzer cookies with an even thickness, use rolling pin guides (or wooden dowels / sticks).
- Refrigerate the cookies before baking. Chilling the dough will minimize the spread and help maintain the shape of the cookies.
- For best results, dust the top cookie half with confectioners sugar BEFORE filling. However, this is not a big deal, you can dust the cookie after filling too.
- Use any fruit preserve you like, it doesn’t have to be raspberry jam.
Final recipe notes
These cookies are a classic for a reason! They don’t let you down. They are easy, beautiful and impressive, and delicious! That lightly spiced nutty and fruity flavor combination is irresistible.
I love eating these cookies with a cup of tea or coffee. But even better when shared with friends and family! 🙂
Other holiday cookie recipes you will love
- Classic thumbprint cookies
- Savory thumbprint cookies
- Classic shortbread cookies
- Chocolate shortbread cookies
- Soft ginger cookies
- S’mores cookies
- Funfetti cookies
- Spiced chocolate hazelnut cookies
Recipe
There’s a reason why Classic Thumbprint Cookies are so popular. They are a holiday favorite, easy to make, and even easier to customize with different filling and flavor variations!
I’ve shared all my tips and tricks to help you PERFECT easy thumbprint cookies!
Oh baby, it’s cookie season! It’s one of the main reasons why I love Christmas! 🙂
And with alllll the Christmas cookies out there, it’s hard – nigh impossible, for me to pick a favorite. But Classic Thumbprint Cookies …. oh yeah, they come this close to being my favorite.
Thumbprint cookies are a holiday favorite, a party favorite, and a snack favorite for me. These are one of half a dozen or so that feature in my holiday cookie boxes every year. Shortbread cookies , linzer cookies , meringue cookies , soft ginger cookies etc. are all classics for a reason.
Plus, these cookies are really easy to make and to customize too.
I’ve shared a uniquely delicious savory thumbprint cookie on the blog before, which is really popular on the blog. But I realized I’ve never shared a classic thumbprint cookie recipe with you guys before. So today, I’m going to fix that.
This is the recipe for delightfully buttery and delicious classic thumbprint cookies with a sweet jam filling . I’m sharing all my tips to help you make PERFECT thumbprint cookies and avoid cracks and spreading.
Just follow this easy guide to find out how you can nail those classic thumbprint cookies and entertain your friends and family this holiday season!
What are thumbprint cookies?
A buttery cookie with a shallow well in the middle that’s filled with a sweet filling like jam. You use your thumb to push down on the cookie dough, creating that shallow well in the middle – hence “thumbprint” cookies.
But did you know that thumbprint cookies originated in Sweden? These cookies are called Hallongrotta/hallongrottor in Swedish, meaning “raspberry cave”!
While you can fill the thumbprint in the middle with any type of jam you like, I’ll be using raspberry jam here, because that’s the flavor of classic thumbprint cookies! But I have filled these before with strawberry jam , plum jam , fig jam , and grape jelly too.
Are thumbprint cookies the same as shortbread cookies?
They are not the same, but they do come VERY close. Shortbread cookies use a 1:2:3 ratio of sugar, butter and flour. They are buttery, but crumblier, because they don’t have a binding agent. They rely on butter to hold the dough together.
Thumbprint cookies are made with a dough that’s identical to shortbread cookies, BUT the dough has eggs in addition. Some recipes call for whole eggs, but my recipe uses egg yolks only.
The egg yolk enriches the dough giving you a richer taste than shortbread, but more importantly, binds the dough together for a smoother and more pliable result.
That being said, you still CAN make thumbprint cookies with shortbread cookie dough as well.
How can I prevent my thumbprint cookies from cracking?
To be honest, there’s nothing wrong with thumbprint cookies with a few cracks along the edges. That’s part of the charm!
However, there are ways to minimize cracking. It’s got all to do with HOW you shape the cookies .
How to minimize thumbprint cookie cracking
- Keep the dough soft – once the cookie dough is made, cover and let it rest for at least 15 minutes at room temperature, so that the dough will be easier to handle, and be less sticky. It’s important to keep the dough at room temp. when you roll it into balls, because then it’s easier to shape the soft dough, with minimal cracking.
- Make the indentation as soon as the cookies are formed – rather than rolling ALL of the cookie dough into balls first and THEN making wells, you should roll each cookie dough ball, place it on the cookie tray and immediately make the indentation BEFORE preparing the next one.
- Roll the cookie dough balls until the surface is smooth – since the dough is soft, it’s easy to get a nice, smooth surface. Make sure there are no cracks to begin with, so that they don’t widen and show up when you press down on the cookie balls to create the wells.
To elaborate on the second point above, the reason why I like to prepare each thumbprint cookie as I go is that once you have rolled the cookie into a smooth ball, the cookie will form a “crust” – much like any dough will do, if it’s left exposed to air for any amount of time. So if you wait until the end to create the wells in the middle, the crust will most definitely cause the cookies to crack. To avoid that, I do the following.
How to make thumbprint cookies
- First, portion the cookie dough with a cookie scoop.
- Roll the cookie dough into a smooth ball.
- Roll the smooth ball in sugar (optional).
- Place the cookie ball on the parchment paper-lined baking tray.
- Use my thumb or another kitchen utensil to form an indentation in the middle of the cookie.
- Repeat steps 1-5 with the rest of the cookie dough.
- Once the baking tray is filled with cookies, fill the wells with jam.
- You can either fill a second tray with more cookies and keep those in the fridge or freezer, OR wrap any remaining dough tightly with plastic wrap and keep it at room temperature until you’re ready to use.
I also like to coat these easy thumbprint cookies in sugar before placing them on the baking tray. You can use regular granulated sugar or raw sugar for this. I prefer d emerara sugar because that gives these thumbprint cookies a nice sweet crunchy texture as well.
And rather than rolling the cookie balls in sugar, I put the sugar in a small ziploc bag and then place a cookie inside the bag, and then shake it a little bit to evenly coat the cookie with sugar. Works like a charm.
How to minimize thumbprint cookie spreading
It’s pretty much impossible to make a good cookie with NO spreading at all. I mean, in theory you can add more flour to the dough until it’s pretty stiff and won’t spread at all, but then you end up with very dry, crumbly cookies.
Not good.
The simple reason why a cookie spreads as it bakes is that the butter and sugar melt inside the cookie, causing it to spread. If you bake at too low a temperature, the cookie will spread too much before it bakes and sets properly, and if you bake at too high a temp., then the cookie bakes and sets outside quickly, but the middle will still be raw.
Tips to minimize cookie spreading
- Chill the cookies in the fridge BEFORE baking – cooling the butter in the cookies before baking means that it won’t melt as readily, making it spread too fast.
- Use a chilled or room temperature baking sheet – NEVER use a hot or warm baking sheet to place your UNBAKED cookies on. I like to chill the cookies AND the baking tray together in the fridge, but at least make sure the baking tray is at room temp. before you place the unbaked cookies on it.
- Make the indentation in the middle narrow rather than wide – use just the tip of your finger and go straight down, to create a narrow indentation in the middle of the cookie, rather than a wide indentation that would make the thumbprint cookie spread.
So there you go! That’s how you can make PERFECT and EASY thumbprint cookies that are sure to impress your friends and family! 🙂
Then you can fill these classic thumbprint cookies with any type of jam you like. Personally, I love raspberry, or apricot jam.
These easy thumbprint cookies are so so good! The cookies are buttery, with a hint of vanilla, and a deliciously fruity jam filling.
And since these classic thumbprint cookies are so easy to make, you can make multiple batches and gift them to your friends and family this holiday season too. You can fill them with different jam fillings, and even flavor the thumbprint cookies with different extracts for some creative variations.
Flavor variations
- Add some orange zest to the cookie dough, and fill the middle with cranberry sauce.
- Add some lemon zest to the cookie dough, and fill the cookies with blueberry jam.
- Or instead of jam, place a reese’s peanut butter cup or a hershey’s kiss candy in the middle.
- Add some almond extract to the cookie dough, and fill the middle with salted caramel sauce .
There are so many ways you can dress up these easy thumbprint cookies! Once you realize how easy it is to make classic thumbprint cookies, you can make them your own.
Recipe
A savory twist on your classic jam-filled sweet thumbprint cookie. These Savory Thumbprint Cookies with an incredible Bourbon Tomato Jam are the PERFECT party appetizer.
These savory cookies are insanely flavorful, easy to make and vegetarian!
If you thought we spent all of December eating homemade Twix candy bars , or buttery melting moments cookies , or chocolate beer truffles , ginger cookies , or drinking white hot chocolate , that would only be partially true. 🙂
After all we made thumbprint cookies too! Except, these aren’t the kind you’d expect. These babies are savory cookies (just like my thyme and cheddar cheese savory cookies !). Savory Thumbprint Cookies with Bourbon Tomato Jam to be precise. I’m going to be quite frank, there’s no way I can do these cookies any justice with words here.
These are some of the best cookies (savory or otherwise) that I’ve had, and I don’t say that lightly. And that bourbon tomato jam is a guaranteed crowd favorite!
Mr. K is very easy to please when it comes to the food I make. He’s one of the least picky eaters out there and he will literally eat anything I put in front of him (bless him) with gusto.
If he’s fairly quiet, then I can expect a standard “good food, thank you” response. But the more vocal he gets, the more he enjoyed it, I can tell. And these savory cookies, he couldn’t stop talking about!
Why we love these savory thumbprint cookies
- Crisp on the edges, soft in the middle, with a kicked up sweet and spicy tomato jam in the center, these cheesy savory cookies are just so flavorful and unique!
- And these make the best starter recipes for your Christmas party or New Year’s Eve party. Or any other occasion for that matter.
- And these are vegetarian cookies to boot.
Imagine how your guests would be bowled over when they realize that these aren’t actually sweet cookies. Plus, this might be your only chance to get the better of your friend’s annoying kid, when he/she bites into one of these thinking they are regular sweet thumbprint cookies.
That expression alone would be worth the effort, would it not? Not that I would know. I mean, I’d never do such a thing. Noooo, never.
before baking
Aaaand they are so easy to make, even my hubs could make them. Seriously. The dough comes together quickly and you just make an imprint with your thumb to fill up with some delicious jam/jelly. So really, you got no excuse not to make them.
They’d do really well as a party appetizer or even as tea time snacks . I made these because I needed a break from sweet cookies and bar recipes .
As a huge fan of classic thumbprint cookies , I decided to give them a spicy, savory, flavorful twist. The result is truly glorious.
after baking
About the cookies
These cookies are crazy delicious with a fantastic jelly center. Here I made a cheese and rosemary cookie dough base and gave it a little bit of a spicy kick, using deseeded jalapeno. So the cookie on its own tastes insanely good, if you choose not to have a jelly/jam center.
Bourbon tomato jam
This just might be my favorite part about these cheesy thumbprint appetizers.
I filled these up with an amazingly flavorful tomato jam that incorporates garlic and a few spices and then kicked it up with bourbon! Bourbon folks. Does it not scream PARTY APPETIZER??
Besides, slow roasted tomatoes , this tomato jam is my favorite way to preserve juicy tomatoes all summer long.
bourbon tomato jam
Honestly, these came out even better than I expected, and we have now frozen the remaining cookies for later.
Storage instructions
You can easily refrigerate or freeze the formed cookies (before baking) without filling the center with jam, no issues there.
Or even freeze the baked cookies in a single layer (if you stack them, the jam can stick to the bottom of the cookies).
These cheesy savory thumbprint cookies will go really well with all kinds of fun cocktails , so all in all, these were meant to take center-stage at a party.
Oh, and I made an even more amazing, flavorful dip for these cookies, and you can find the recipe for that super easy, sweet and spicy dip in my spicy mango relish post.
Recipe
Classic Linzer Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 150 g unsalted butter 5.3 oz / 10.5 tbsp (softened, but not melted)
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- 115 g confectioner’s sugar 1 cup (you can also use caster sugar)
- 2 egg yolks from large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ½ tsp lemon zest
- ¾ tsp ground cinnamon
- 100 g almond flour ground almonds
- 200 g AP flour 1 ⅔ cup, measured by spoon and level method
- ¾ cup raspberry jam approximately (exact amount can vary)
- Confectioner’s sugar to dust
Instructions
- You can use a stand mixer, electric hand mixer, or a spatula to make these cookies. If you’re using a mixer, mix on low-medium / medium speed.
- In a bowl, cream the butter, salt, and confectioner’s sugar together until creamy and smooth. Do not incorporate too much air (butter should be creamy, but not fluffy). 150 g unsalted butter, ¼ tsp sea salt, 115 g confectioner’s sugar
- Add the egg yolks, vanilla extract, and lemon zest. Mix them in until well incorporated. Again, avoid incorporating too much air into the mix. 2 egg yolks, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1 ½ tsp lemon zest
- Add the cinnamon, almond flour, and AP flour. Fold them in until the dry ingredients are well mixed. Make sure not to overwork the dough after adding flour, as it can cause the cookie to be too hard due to excess gluten. ¾ tsp ground cinnamon, 100 g almond flour, 200 g AP flour
- The dough will be soft and a little sticky. Lightly dust your hands with flour and gently fold the dough a few times to knead it together and form a smooth ball.
- Flatten the dough into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Allow the dough to chill in the fridge for about one hour.
- Alternatively, you can roll out the dough while it’s soft at room temperature as well. Please see recipe notes.
- Lightly dust your work surface with a little flour and place the dough on the surface. The dough should be pliable enough to roll out (knock the dough with a rolling pin to make it pliable, or leave it at room temp for a few minutes to slightly soften).
- Roll out the dough to about a ¼ inch thickness. Keep moving the dough and lightly dusting it to make sure it doesn’t stick to your work surface or rolling pin.
- Using a 3 inch cookie cutter, cut out as many cookies as possible. Then using a smaller cookie cutter, make a hole in the middle, in half of the cookies. You can make this cut out hole in to a circle, a heart shape, a flower, a star, or whatever shape you like using shaped cutters.
- Gather the leftover dough scraps and form another dough disc. Let it rest for a few minutes. Roll out the dough and repeat the above step to cut out more cookies.
- Place all the cookies on a parchment paper lined tray and refrigerate until chilled - about 30 minutes (or even overnight).
- Preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C.
- Place the chilled cookies on a parchment paper lined baking sheet / cookie sheet with about 1 - 1.5 inch of space between each.
- Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for about 10 - 15 minutes, or until the edges are just starting to turn light golden brown in color.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool for a few minutes. Then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Dust the surface of all the cookies that were cut out in the middle with confectioner’s sugar. Confectioner’s sugar
- Spread a dollop of raspberry jam on the flat side of the bottom cookies, and sandwich it with a sugar dusted top cookie. They are now ready to be served. Enjoy! ¾ cup raspberry jam
Notes
Tips to roll out the dough while still soft
Tips for the recipe
- Make sure the butter is very soft, but not melted. This makes it easier to cream the butter and sugar together.
- Don’t forget the lemon zest. The lemon brightens up the flavors, and complements the cinnamon and almond flavors.
- You can also add a little almond extract, although I prefer not to.
- To save time, you can roll out the soft dough between parchment papers, without chilling the dough first. The dough is soft and forgiving.
- To get Linzer cookies with an even thickness, use rolling pin guides (or wooden dowels / sticks).
- Refrigerate the cookies before baking. Chilling the dough will minimize the spread and help maintain the shape of the cookies.
- For best results, dust the top cookie half with confectioners sugar BEFORE filling. However, this is not a big deal, you can dust the cookie after filling too.
- Use any fruit preserve you like, it doesn’t have to be raspberry jam.
Nutrition
Recipe from The Flavor Bender by Dini Kodippili
Classic Linzer Cookies Recipe https://www.theflavorbender.com/classic-linzer-cookies-recipe/
