LINZER SANDWICH COOKIES – LINZER SZENDVICS KEKSZ

Linzer is Hungary’s quintessential Christmas cookie.  It is a great and versatile little cookie and not nearly as complicated to make as it looks. Linzer can be divided or multiplied as needed, because linzer is based on weight rather than volume. The formula is one part sugar, two parts butter and 3 parts flour, but these proportions are in weight and not in volume. Real vanilla sugar and freshly grated lemon rind gives the linzer its heavenly aroma. As long as you measure accurately, you cannot go wrong with linzer. I use U.S. cup measurements, and the half a cup scoop and sweep method. 

Some people sprinkle the top cookies with icing sugar, these are very pretty, but I rather like them without it. Even for the sweet palate, it will be best with tangy fruit spreads. With strawberry, apricot jam or Nutella filling these cookies would be too sweet dusted with icing sugar.  

LINZER SANDWICH COOKIES

2 cups flour

1 cup butter, room temperature

2/3 cup sugar

1 pkg real vanilla sugar [do not use vanilla extract]

finely grated rind of half a lemon

2 egg yolks

spreadable jams or Nutella

icing sugar [optional]

• Rub the butter and flour together.
• Add the sugar, vanilla sugar and lemon rind and toss.
• Add the egg yolks and quickly combine.
• Divide the dough in two parts and chill for an hour.
• Before shaping, preheat the oven to 375F.
• The dough will still be sticky.
• With a little flour, roll the dough into 1-1/2 inch balls.
• Place one ball on the floured parchment paper and sprinkle a little flour on top.
• Rub the roller with flour and roll out the cookie.
• Cut the round with a 2-1/2 inch round cutter.
• Immediately lift the round with a chef’s knife or metal pie server and slide it onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
• Space the cookies fairly close, but not touching. They will puff up from the egg yolk, but will not grow significantly.
• Cut out the middle of every second cookie.
• Reroll the scraps into balls and repeat.
• Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 12 minutes. Be careful, linzer burns easily.
• Let the cookies solidify before gently transferring to a wire rack to cool.
• Store the unfinished linzers in a cookie tin and assemble only what you need at the time. 
• To assemble the linzers, spread the fully cooled bottom cookies with fruit spread or Nutella and place the cookies with the holes on the top.
• For a sugared top, sprinkle the tops with icing sugar before assembly.