Valentine’s treats: Linzer cookies
Valentine’s Day is but four short days away. In our home, we’ve put up our paper decorations and purchased our little boxes of conversation hearts (one of the finest emblems of the Valentine’s season). Sometime in the next few days we’ll set aside some peaceful hours to spend crafting this year’s batch of valentines—we’ll raid our excellent stash of colored paper and glitter and ribbon and concoct some cards meant not only to offer our love to those we treasure in our life, but also meant to serve as an act of love towards ourselves, a moment we give ourselves to settle, create, and make something fun.
February has been especially chilly this year in Baltimore—we’re only recently freed from the snow-in and subsequent ice brought on by that blizzard—and Valentine’s, as ever, serves as a much-needed spot of warmth in this cold month. It’s good to take a moment to look upon our worlds with gratitude for the love they offer us, the security that love brings. Love is varied, and always beautiful. And now is the time to celebrate it!
One of our go-to Valentine’s traditions—and a holiday tradition at large—is whipping up a special baked good in honor of the season. Today, I thought I’d share with you all our favorite Valentine’s Day cookie recipe: Linzer cookies. They’re charming, tasty, and a whole lot of fun to make!
So: rustle up your best heart-shaped cookie cutters, and enjoy!
Ingredients:
2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 cup of finely-ground almonds
½ tsp of salt
1 cup of unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup of powdered sugar (plus some extra for dusting)
½ cup of packed light brown sugar
2 large egg yolks
1 tsp of vanilla extract
¼ tsp of almond extract
⅔ cup of thick fruit jam or preserves (in a flavor of your choice
Instructions:
Whisk together the flour, finely-ground almonds, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer (or using a hand mixer, or just some elbow grease!) cream together the butter, powdered sugar, and brown sugar until fluffy and well-blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Mix in one egg yolk—then, when that’s fully incorporated, mix in the second, along with the vanilla and the almond extract. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again.
Add in the flour mixture and mix until combined.
Divide the dough into two equal portions, flatten gently, and wrap with plastic. Chill these 45 to 60 minutes, just enough to make the dough more firm for rolling.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees around the end of the dough’s chill time.
Dust a clean work surface with a fair amount of flour. Roll your dough out fairly thin—close to ⅙ of an inch is good.
Cut your dough into your preferred shape (we do hearts for Valentine’s Day, but stars or regular old circles work well too!
Transfer your cut shapes to baking sheets.
Using a smaller cookie cutter (we use a smaller heart!) cut the centers out of half of your cut cookies. These will be the tops of your Linzer cookie sandwiches—the rest will be the base!
Chill your cut cookies 10 to 15 minutes to help them hold their shape.
Bake about 9 to 11 minutes. The bottom edges should be barely golden brown.
Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer them to wire racks to cool fully.
Once your cookies are completely cool, spread a little jam over the solid cookies (about a teaspoon usually works, but this can vary depending on the size of your cutters).
Dust the cookies with the cut-out centers with powdered sugar, then layer these over the jam-covered cookies.
Enjoy! These are best stored in the refrigerator, in an airtight container.
May your Valentine’s Day cup runneth over with love—we’ll be enjoying some of these tasty treats and watching our favorite rom-com. Stay warm out there!
(And whenever you’re ready to give your home some extra love and care, drop us a line!)