Vegan Linzer Cookies
These festive Linzer cookies can be cut into any shape you’d like; snowflakes for winter, flowers for spring, or hearts for Valentine’s Day like we’ve done for this batch. Subtly sweet and buttery, they pair wonderfully with any flavor of jam or fruit preserves sandwiched between them. Whether you dust them with powdered sugar or leave them plain, they make for a delightful treat for you or your valentine to enjoy.
Ingredients:
12 T vegan butter (room temperature)
½ cup granulated sugar
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
¾ cups almond flour
¼ tsp salt (omit if you’re using salted vegan butter)
A jar of jam or fruit preserves for filling
Powdered sugar for decorating
Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 350°. Prepare two large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
Zest about ½ of your lemon into a large mixing bowl. This will come out to about a tablespoon, or a little more depending on the size of your lemon.
Add your vanilla, sugar, and room temperature vegan butter to the large bowl with your lemon zest.
Beat until well combined and the mixture is light and fluffy. Set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl, sift together your flour, almond flour, and salt if you’re using unsalted vegan butter.
Add your dry ingredients to your wet ingredients and mix until they’re just combined. Be careful not to overmix, or your cookies will turn out chewy rather than crunchy.
Divide your dough in half and set it, covered, in the refrigerator for 10 minutes. If you want to move quickly, you can also put it in the freezer, but only for 5 minutes at a time. Either method will help the butter firm so your dough won’t be a greasy mess while you’re trying to roll it.
Prepare a surface to roll your dough and sprinkle flour on it and the rolling pin.
Remove your dough from the refrigerator and roll it into a ⅛ inch thick sheet.
Cut the dough into shapes using a cookie cutter and repeat until you’ve used as much dough as you can.
After you’ve cut all your cookies, cut a hole in the center of half of them. You can do this using another cookie cutter, or if you don’t have one small enough, other circular objects in your kitchen such as a bottlecap. Additionally, if you have an uneven number of cookies, I recommend leaving them uncut in case some of your other cookies don’t turn out.
Assemble your cookies on your prepared baking sheet and bake them for 10-15 minutes, or until the edges begin to turn brown. Every oven is different, but I recommend setting a timer for 12 minutes to see how they’re coming along. The cookies you’ve cut holes into will take less time to bake and I recommend checking on them after 10 minutes to ensure they get too brown.
Once they’re done, set them on a cooling rack and let them cool completely before you fill and decorate them.
When they’ve cooled, use a fine sifter to sprinkle powdered sugar on top of the cookies you’d cut a hole in the center of.
Then, on the underside of each cookie you didn’t cut a hole in the center of, scoop about a tablespoon of jam or preserves and spread it evenly.
Very carefully, place your sugar-dusted cookies on top of your jam-covered ones and gently press them together so they’ll stick.
Enjoy!
Looking to eat healthier in 2019, but don’t want to give up eating all your favorite sweets? I give you a healthier chocolate peanut cookie recipe to help satisfy your sweet tooth! This recipe requires minimal ingredients and is easy to make.
