Linzer Torte Cookies Martha Stewart Recipes

LINZER HEART COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Toast hazelnuts until skins darken and begin to split, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a clean dish towel, and rub vigorously to remove skins; discard skins. Place nuts in a food processor; pulse until medium fine.
• Line two baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and granulated sugar at medium-high speed until light and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs; beat until smooth, about 3 minutes. Beat in vanilla.
• In a large bowl, combine flour, hazelnuts, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and zest. Add to butter mixture; beat to combine, about 1 minute. Place in freezer until very firm, about 30 minutes.
• Liberally dust a clean surface with flour, and roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Using a 3-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut out seventy-two hearts. To make top halves of cookies, use a 1-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out centers from thirty-six of the hearts.
• Transfer cookies to prepared baking sheets, and bake until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack until completely cooled.
• Lightly sift confectioners' sugar over cookie tops. Spread about 1 teaspoon jam on each of the bottom halves, and sandwich both halves together. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

LINZER TORTE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease an 11x7 inch baking pan.
• In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the egg and lemon peel. In another bowl, stir together the flour, almonds, cinnamon and cloves. Gradually stir the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture. The dough will be stiff, so you may need to knead it by hand to get it to come together. Press half of the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan.
• Press half of the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan. Spread the preserves over the crust. On a lightly floured surface, roll the remaining dough into long rope about 1/2 inch in diameter. Place lengths of the rope across the top of the jam in a lattice pattern over the preserves.
• Bake 40 minutes or until top is golden. Cool in pan on wire rack. Cut into 2 inch by 1inch bars.

LINZERTORTE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread hazelnuts in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet; toast, stirring occasionally, until skins begin to split, about 15 minutes. Immediately rub hazelnuts vigorously in a clean kitchen towel to remove skins (as much as will come off easily). Let cool.
• In a food processor, pulse hazelnuts and almonds until finely ground. (Be careful not to overprocess; you don't want the mixture to become a paste.) In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and nut mixture; set aside.
• In bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg yolk and beat 1 minute to combine. With mixer on low speed, add ground nuts and flour mixture all at once.
• Divide dough in half. Set a 10-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Using your fingers, press 1 dough half into tart pan. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, roll remaining dough half between 2 sheets of parchment paper lightly dusted with flour to a 12-inch round; place on a baking sheet and chill until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Using an offset spatula, spread jam evenly over chilled dough in tart pan; set aside. Using a fluted pastry wheel, cut 3/4-inch-wide strips from chilled round of dough. Arrange strips on top of jam in a lattice pattern. Freeze until firm, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until torte is golden brown all over, about 40 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool 20 minutes. Remove ring and cool torte completely. Torte can be kept at room temperature, loosely covered in plastic wrap, for up to 3 days. When ready to serve, dust with confectioners' sugar, if using.

MINI LINZER COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together the butter and sugar until they are just combined. Add the vanilla. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt, then add them to the butter-and-sugar mixture. Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a surface dusted with flour and shape into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.
• Roll the dough 1/4-inch thick and cut 2 3/4-inch rounds with a plain or fluted cutter. With 1/2 of the rounds, cut a hole from the middle of each round with a heart or spade shaped cutter. Place all the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet and chill for 15 minutes.
• Bake the cookies for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool to room temperature. Spread raspberry preserves on the flat side of each solid cookie. Dust the top of the cut-out cookies with confectioners' sugar and press the flat sides together, with the raspberry preserves in the middle and the confectioners' sugar on the top.

LINZER COOKIES

Steps:

• Pulse together flour and almonds in a food processor until the almonds are very finely ground. Add cinnamon, baking powder and salt, and pulse to blend. (Alternatively, whisk together flour, ground almonds or almond flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.)
• Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar together on medium-high until the mixture is light, fluffy and pale, 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add in eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla extract, and beat until everything is well combined, again stopping to scrape down bowl as necessary.
• Add in dry ingredients all at once and mix on low speed, just until incorporated.
• Divide dough in 2 equal pieces, and wrap each piece in cling film, patting into a 1-inch-thick disk. Chill at least 2 hours, up to 5 days ahead.
• Heat oven to 325 degrees. Working with 1 disk at a time, roll out the dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper so it's about 1/8 inch thick. (Because of the almonds, the dough may crack in places while you're rolling it out. This is O.K., just patch it up with scraps.)
• Using a round cookie cutter 2 1/2 inches in diameter, cut out as many circles as possible. Take half of these circles and cut out a 1-inch circle from the interior of the larger circles, creating a doughnut shape that will become the top of the cookie. If at any point the dough becomes too soft to cut and cleanly remove from parchment paper, slide it onto a cookie sheet and chill for a few minutes in the freezer or refrigerator. Gather any scraps of dough, combine them and roll them out, chilling as necessary. Transfer dough circles to a parchment-lined baking sheet spaced 1 inch apart and bake until the edges are golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes.
• To assemble the linzer cookies, spread about a teaspoon of raspberry jam onto the flat sides of the larger circles. Dust the tops of the cutout circles with powdered sugar and place on top of raspberry jam.

LINZER TARTS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg. Combine flour and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Divide dough in thirds. Shape each into a ball, then flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes., Preheat oven to 350°. On a lightly floured surface, roll one portion of dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut with floured 2-1/2-in. holiday cookie cutters. Using floured 1-in. shaped cookie cutters, cut out the centers of half of the cookies., Place solid and window cookies 1 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Repeat with remaining portions of dough. Bake 8-10 minutes or until set. Remove to wire racks to cool completely., Sprinkle window cookies with additional confectioners' sugar. Spread 1 teaspoon Nutella on the bottom of each solid cookie; place window cookies over filling.

LINZER COOKIE TART

Steps:

• In large bowl, stir Cookie ingredients until well blended. Divide dough in half. Shape each piece into flattened round; wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 2 hours until dough is firm and cold.
• Heat oven to 375°F. Line two large cookie sheets with cooking parchment paper; spray with cooking spray.
• For top of cookie tart: Remove one piece of dough from refrigerator; place on center of cookie sheet. Using floured rolling pin, roll dough to 9-inch circle, 1/4 inch thick. Place 8-inch cake pan or bowl, top-side down, over dough, and lightly press into dough to mark an outline. Using small knife, cut around outline. Remove cake pan and any dough scraps from cookie sheet; set scraps aside. Bake 13 to 15 minutes or until cookie is light golden brown and edge is set. Immediately cut out star from center using 4-inch star cutter. Gently lift out cutout using small knife to help if needed; discard or save for another use. Cool on cookie sheet 10 minutes. Remove to cooling rack, leaving cookie on cooking parchment paper.
• For bottom of cookie tart: Remove remaining piece of dough from refrigerator, and repeat rolling and cutting steps on second cookie sheet. Combine leftover pieces of dough into ball; wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate (see tip for using up). Repeat baking and cooling for cookie-except do not cut out star from bottom cookie. Cool both cookies completely, about 30 minutes.
• When ready to serve, in small bowl, mix 4 oz cream cheese, 1/4 cup powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon lemon zest until blended. Remove cooking parchment paper from bottom cookie, and place on serving platter bottom side up for base. Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over cookie, leaving 1/2-inch border. In small bowl, place jam. Stir with whisk until smooth. Spread jam over cream cheese layer. Remove cooking parchment paper from top of cookie, and place on top of filled cookie base. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon powdered sugar over top cookie. Cut into wedges. Store loosely covered in refrigerator.

LINZERTORTE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the first seven ingredients. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add eggs and lemon zest; stir until mixture forms a ball. Divide into fourths. Cover and refrigerate for 3-4 hours or until chilled. , Remove two portions of dough from refrigerator; press each into an ungreased 9-in. fluted tart pan with removable bottom. Spread 2/3 cup jam over each., Between two sheets of lightly floured waxed paper, roll one portion of remaining dough into a 10x6-in. rectangle. Cut six 1-in.-wide strips; arrange in a lattice design over jam. Repeat with remaining dough (return dough to the refrigerator if needed). , Bake at 350° for 40-45 minutes or until bubbly and crust is browned. Cool completely. Dust with confectioners' sugar if desired.

LINZER TARTS

Steps:

• Beat butter and sugar together until the mixture is light and fluffy. Stir in 1/2 cup flour, the ground almonds, and cinnamon. Mix in remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time until the mixture becomes a slightly stiff dough.
• Shape the dough into a ball; divide it in half. Wrap both halves in wax paper or plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about one hour.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll half of the dough into a sheet 1/8 inch thick. With a 2 1/2-inch cookie cutter, cut as many circles from the sheet as you can. Knead the leftover scraps of dough into a ball and roll it out again into a 1/8 inch sheet. Cut out more circles. You should now have about 12 circles.
• Arrange cookies on prepared baking sheet, leaving about 1 inch of space between them. Refrigerate while working with remaining dough.
• Repeat the rolling and cutting process with the other half of the dough, but after placing the second batch on the baking sheet, cut out the center of each circle with a 1/2 inch cookie cutter.
• Bake cookies in preheated oven until light brown, 10 to 15 minutes. Cool on wire rack for 20 minutes.
• Spread a thin coating of jam on each of the cookie rounds. Set a cutout cookie on top of each, pressing the two together so they make a sandwich. Spoon a dab of jam into the opening of each tart and sprinkle the tops with confectioners' sugar before serving.

MARTHA STEWART'S LINZER TART WITH LINGONBERRY (OR RASPBERRY) JAM

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Break chocolate into small pieces. In the bowl of a food procesor, combine chocolate, sugar and almonds and pulse until finely ground, about 45 seconds.
• Add flour, cinnamon, and salt, pulsing 3 or 4 times to combine. Add butter, pulsing until mixture resembles coarse meal. Transfer to a bowl.
• In a small bowl, combine egg and lemon juice. Add to flour mixture, stirring with a fork until mixture comes together.
• Place an 8-inch springform pan or bottomless tart ring on a parchment lined baking sheet. Press about two-thirds of the dough into the ring, forming a 1/2 inch thick crust. Crust should be thicker on the edges, coming to a height of 1 inch on the ring.
• Using a rubber spatula, spread jam evenly over bottom of crust.
• Divide remaining dough into quarters. Flour work surface and hands well, and roll dough into long thin ropes about 1/3 inch in diameter. Arrange decoratively along top of tart, pressing gently to slightly flatten ropes.
• Bake tart until golden brown around the edges, about 50 minutes. Let cool to room temperature. Chill and dust lightly with confectioner's sugar before serving.