These Christmas Linzer Cookies are made with light and tender almond shortbread sandwiched with your choice of jams, jellies, curds, or ganache. They’re a perfect holiday cookie—beautiful, festive, and oh-so-delicious.
You can use any shapes of cookie butters that you want, and feel free to get creative with your linzer cookie fillings. And if you are looking for more Christmas Cookies, you can try our Crushed Peppermint Cookies, Chocolate Kiss Cookies, or these Classic Snickerdoodle Cookies.
Christmas Linzer Cookies
Linzer cookies are originally from Austria but have become a permanent fixture on Christmas cookie plates in the United States, too. Not only are they buttery, tender, and beautiful to look at, they are also super fun to make.
Email This Recipe
Get a link to this recipe emailed so you can save it for later + get all the latest Carefree Kitchen recipes!
By submitting this form you consent to receive emails from The Carefree Kitchen
Before you get started, pull out all of your favorite cookie cutters and choose some that are larger and some that are smaller. Next, you’ll need to figure out what filling you want to go with. Since the cookies themselves are not very sweet, it’s nice to go with a sweeter filling such as raspberry jam, apricot preserves or lemon curd.
From there, just follow the directions below and enjoy. These are great cookies to get the little ones involved with too. They will love using the cookie cutters, spreading the fillings and dusting the tops with powdered sugar.
Key Ingredients
- Butter – you want the butter to be softened so either pull out at room temperature for a couple of hours beforehand or slowly warm in the microwave for about 10 seconds at a time just until soft.
- Sugar – this recipe calls for white granulated sugar.
- Egg Yolk – you only need the yolk so you can either reserve the egg white for another use or toss.
- Flour – we use all-purpose flour for this recipe.
- Cinnamon – cinnamon is a key flavor in linzer cookies. Don’t be afraid to add a lot!
- Almond Flour – you can typically find this in the baking aisle at the grocery store.
How to Make Linzer Cookies
- Cream the butter and sugar. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar and cream together using the paddle attachment until light and fluffy.
- Mix the dough. Add the egg yolk then mix on low speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the vanilla and salt and mix until combined, then add the flour, cinnamon and almond flour. Mix on low speed just until combined. Do not overmix!
- Divide and chill. Separate the dough into 2 flat disks, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes, or until chilled.
- Roll dough. When you are ready to roll out the dough, flour your counter and rolling pin well. Roll one disk at a time to 1/8″, flouring more as needed so that it doesn’t stick (the dough should be sticky).
- Cut cookies. Using a 2-2 1/2″ cookie cutter, stamp out shapes and then place onto parchment lined baking sheets. Take half of the cookies and use a smaller cookie cutter to cut out a shape in the center.
- Bake. Bake in a preheated oven for 7-9 minutes, or until lightly golden on the edges. Remove cookies from the oven and let them cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Finish cookies. Place the cookies with the hole in the center onto a tray and dust with powdered sugar. Take the remaining cookies and add 2 teaspoons of jelly, Nutella, or lemon curd, spreading it slightly. Cover with the cookie top.
- Serve. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Enjoy!
Recipe Variations
- Add lemon zest. Before creaming together the butter and sugar, add the zest of 1 lemon to the sugar and mix using your fingers. From there, you can make the recipe as directed.
- Use different nuts. Even though Linzer Cookies are traditionally made with almond flour, no one is going to stop you from using hazelnut or pistachio flour instead.
- Make them gluten free. If you substitute the all-purpose flour for a gluten free flour mix these will be gluten free.
Frequently Asked Questions
That depends on what you decide to fill them with. If you go with Nutella, raspberry jam, or another preserve, you can store them at room temperature. However, if you fill them with something that is not shelf-stable like lemon curd you’ll want to refrigerate them.
Absolutely! It’s best to either freeze the dough before baking, or the baked cookies before they have been filled. Either way, wrap them in plastic, or put them into an airtight container or freezer bag, and store frozen for up to 2 months.
If you can’t find almond flour, you can make your own with regular unsalted almonds. Put about 1 cup at a time into a food processor and pulse until most of the larger pieces are ground down. Sift and return the large pieces back to the food processor along with another handful of almonds. Repeat until you have what you need.
Storing and Freezing Instructions
- Room Temperature: you can store Linzer Cookies sandwiched with shelf stable fillings (such as jam) in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- Refrigerator: store Linzer Cookies sandwiched with all other fillings (such as curds) in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- Freezer: store baked and unfilled Linzer Cookies in airtight containers or freezer bags for up to 2 months in the freezer.
- Dough: unbaked dough can be stored in the fridge for up to 1 week or the freezer for up to 2 months.
Best Linzer Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1? cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3/4 cup almond flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar and cream together using the paddle attachment until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg yolk then mix on low speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the vanilla and salt and mix until combined, then add the flour, cinnamon, and almond flour. Mix on low speed just until combined. Do not overmix!
- Separate the dough into 2 flat disks, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 20 minutes, or until chilled.
- When you are ready to roll out the dough, flour your counter and rolling pin well. Roll one disk at a time to 1/8", flouring more as needed so that it doesn't stick.
- Using a 2-2½" cookie cutter, stamp out shapes and then place onto parchment lined baking sheets. Take half of the cookies and use a smaller cookie cutter to cut out a shape in the center.
- Bake in a preheated oven for 7-9 minutes, or until lightly golden on the edges.
- Remove cookies from the oven and let them cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Place the cookies with the hole in the center onto a tray and dust with powdered sugar. Take the remaining cookies and add 2 teaspoons of jelly, Nutella, or lemon curd, spreading it slightly. Cover with the cookie top.
- Serve immediately or store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Did you make this?
Don’t forget to leave a rating below and make sure to follow on Pinterest, Instagram and Tiktok for more!
More of our favorite Christmas cookie recipes
- Lemon Cooler Cookies
- Heath Toffee Cookies
- Snickerdoodles
- Eggnog Cookies with Eggnog Buttercream Frosting
- Soft Molasses Cookies
- Mint Chocolate Dipped Oreos
- More Best Cookie Recipes
- More Holiday Recipes
- More Cookie Bar Recipes
These Linzer Cookies are buttery, tender, beautiful, and delicious. Filled with your favorite jams, jellies, and curds, they make the best holiday cookies to add to your cookie plate or bring to your next get together.
These are absolutely delicious! And that tiny bit of cinnamon gives such a wonderful warmth. My kids had so much fun cutting out the shapes!
You made this recipe so easy to make with such great directions and video. They are delicious and so fun to make!
Gorgeous!
I can’t get over how beautiful they are! I made a double batch for the school and they went nuts for them!
I have always wanted to make Linzers but never have! They are SO pretty. Thanks to you (and Kathy!) for making them look so easy!
Such a pretty cookie and what a fun way to change up the flavors by using different fillings. I think the Nutella may be my favorite! Adding these to our cookie tray this year.
Gosh, these Linzers are simply perfect! I love the flavor combination, and these are sure to be a crowd-pleaser, no matter what you’re serving them for this season.
These are just stunning!! I am printing the recipe now, cant wait to make these! I don’t think they’ll last long on the cookie tray. YUM!
These cookies are so beautiful! I love the different centers and your photos are amazing!
Wow, did I look like a superstar when I made these Linzer cookies recently! So pretty and delicious too, which is win/win. Thanks for sharing this recipe, Jill!
My mom used to make these when I was a kid. I’ve always loved them. Such a classic cookie.
I’ve always admired Linzer cookies, they look like little stained glass windows!
Such a classic cookie for the holidays. I love you used different shapes and different fillings. I’ll take the Nutella, please!
Thank you for such kind words, Jill! Your cookies look AMAZING! You did a great job as always
Jill, these are stunning!! You did such an amazing job. Thank you for sharing your talents with all of us! Merry Christmas to you and your family!
These cookies are absolutely gorgeous!