Martha Stewart Linzer Cookie Recipes

LINZER FLOWER COOKIES

Steps:

• Pulse hazelnuts in a food processor until finely ground.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and granulated sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg and beat until smooth. Beat in vanilla.
• Whisk together ground hazelnuts, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg. Add to butter mixture; beat on low speed until just combined. Divide dough in half; shape each half into a flat disk and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or up to overnight.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment. On a lightly floured surface, roll out one disk of dough 1/4 inch thick. Using a 3 1/2-inch flower-shaped cutter, cut out cookies. (If dough becomes too soft, freeze 10 minutes.) Using a large spatula, transfer to prepared baking sheets. Using a 3/4-inch petal-shaped cutter, cut out centers of petals from half the cookies. Repeat process with remaining disk of dough. Gather scraps from both disks, reroll, and cut.
• Bake, rotating halfway through, until edges are slightly golden, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer sheets to wire racks and let cool completely.
• Lightly sift confectioners' sugar over cookies with cutout petals. Spread a heaping teaspoon of jam on each solid cookie; carefully sandwich with sugared cookies.

PECAN LINZER COOKIES WITH CHERRY FILLING

Steps:

• Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl; set aside. Pulse pecans, confectioners' sugar, salt, and cinnamon in a food processor until finely ground (but not wet); transfer to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
• Add butter and granulated sugar; mix on medium speed until fluffy. Mix in vanilla and egg. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture; mix until combined. Halve dough; shape into disks. Wrap in plastic; refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Working with 1 disk at a time, roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/8 inch thick. Refrigerate 20 minutes. Cut out squares with a 2-inch fluted cutter. Cut out centers of half the squares with a 1/2-inch heart cutter; reroll scraps. Space 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake squares and hearts until pale golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to racks to cool.
• Meanwhile, heat jam in a small saucepan over medium heat until reduced and thickened, about 7 minutes; let cool.
• Sprinkle cutout cookies with confectioners' sugar. Spread jam onto uncut squares; top with cutout ones.

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.

RASPBERRY LINZER HEART COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.
• Dust a clean work surface lightly with flour, and roll out one piece of dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Using a 3-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut out 8 hearts. To make top halves of cookies, use a 1-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut centers from half of the cookies.
• Transfer both the large and small hearts to a prepared baking sheet, and bake until golden brown, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack until completely cooled. Repeat process with remaining dough rounds.
• Lightly sift confectioners' sugar over the large cookie tops. Spread about 1 tablespoon jam on each of the bottom halves, and sandwich halves together. Small hearts may be dusted with confectioners' sugar, if desired.

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.

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.

LINZER SANDWICHES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place hazelnuts on a baking sheet, and toast in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and immediately transfer nuts to a clean towel. Vigorously rub the nuts in the towel to remove as much of the skins as possible. Set nuts aside until completely cool. Place nuts in a food processor, and process until finely ground. Set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg, and beat until smooth, about 3 minutes. Beat in vanilla.
• Whisk together reserved hazelnuts, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Add to butter mixture; beat on low until combined, about 2 minutes. Form dough into 2 flattened disks, wrap each with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Have ready 2 baking sheets lined with Silpats (French baking mats; see sources) or parchment paper. Also have ready one 2 1/2-inch round fluted cookie cutter and one 3/4-inch cookie cutter. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out half the dough to a scant 1/4-inch thickness. Using the 3-inch fluted cutter, cut out cookies. With a wide spatula, transfer cookies to the prepared baking sheets. Using the smaller cutter, cut the centers out of half of the cookies. Repeat rolling and cutting with the other half of the dough. Combine the scraps from both batches, reroll and cut.
• Bake until the edges are golden, 12 to 16 minutes, rotating halfway through. Remove from oven; place on wire racks until completely cool.
• Lightly sift confectioners' sugar over the decorative tops; set aside. Spread a scant tablespoon of jam on the bottoms of each cookie, and sandwich with the sugar-dusted tops.

LINZER COOKIES

Steps:

• Mix flour, almonds and baking powder in small bowl; set aside.
• Beat butter and granulated sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; mix well. Add flour mixture; beat until well blended.
• Divide dough into four equal portions; wrap individually with plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 350°F Spray baking sheet with cooking spray. Place one portion of dough between two sheets of waxed paper; roll to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut into round shapes with 2-1/2-inch cookie cutter. Place, 1 inch apart, on prepared baking sheet. Cut three (1/4-inch) circles from half of the cookies using a sharp knife. Repeat with remaining dough.
• Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or just until edges are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.
• Assemble cookies by spreading 2 teaspoons preserves onto each solid cookie; top with 1 cut-out cookie. Sift confectioners' sugar over assembled cookies. Store in airtight container at room temperature.
• Tip: To prevent dough from sticking to your cookie cutter, spray it with Pam Baking.
• Additional recipe ideas and more information about Pam Baking can be found online at www.pam.ca.

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.