Linzer Heart Sandwich Cookies
A variation of Austria's classic Linzer torte, featuring a hazelnut shortcrust pastry filled with raspberry jam and shaped into elegant heart-shaped sandwiches.
Ingredients
Hazelnuts (skinned and toasted)
½ cup
Granulated sugar (divided use)
½ cup
Unsalted butter (softened)
1 cup (2 sticks)
Egg yolk
1
All-purpose flour
2 cups
Lemon zest (finely grated)
1 tsp
Vanilla extract
1 tsp
Salt
⅛ tsp
Seedless raspberry jam
½ cup
Powdered sugar (sifted, for dusting)
⅓ cup
Instructions
1
Grind the Hazelnuts
Place the hazelnuts and ¼ cup of the sugar in a food processor and pulse until finely ground, about 45 seconds. Set aside.
2
Make the Dough
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and the remaining ¼ cup of sugar at medium speed until fluffy, about 1 minute. Add the egg yolk and beat until fully combined. Add the ground hazelnut mixture, flour, lemon zest, vanilla extract, and salt, and beat on low speed until just combined. Scrape the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap, press into a disk, and wrap. Refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours, until firm enough to handle.
3
Preheat the Oven
Position two racks near the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
4
Roll and Cut
Place half of the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Dust with flour. Using a floured rolling pin, roll the dough out to 1/8-inch thick, dusting with flour as needed to prevent sticking. Using a 2-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut out as many hearts as possible from the dough. Arrange some of the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet, spaced 1 inch apart. Use a ¾-inch heart-shaped cutter to cut out the centers from each cookie. Place the remaining whole cookies on a separate baking sheet.
5
Bake
Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until the edges are lightly golden. Cool on a cooling rack set on the baking sheet for 15 minutes. Gently transfer them with a metal spatula to the cooling rack to cool completely.
6
Repeat Cutting and Baking
Continue rolling out the remaining dough scraps until all the dough is used (no need to rechill the dough). Repeat the cutting and baking process.
7
Assemble the Sandwich Cookies
Spoon about ½ teaspoon of raspberry jam onto each whole cookie and spread it with a small metal spatula to within ¼ inch of the edge. Place the powdered sugar in a fine sieve and generously dust the cutout cookies. Sandwich the cutout cookies with the whole cookies.
