320gbaking block (fat) or unsalted butter, cut into dices and softened (room temperature)
140gicing sugar
4free range egg yolks
1lemon, zested
For decoration:
½jarstrawberry jam
icing sugar, for serving
Instructions
Take the butter (or baking block) out of the fridge at least 30 mins before making the dough, cut into dices and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, mix together flour, sugar and lemon zest.
Stir in the egg yolks and toss thouroughly.
Gradually add the butter (baking fat) and mix it together with your hands. A sticky and breadcrumby dough will be forming under your hands. Keep adding butter until you used it all.
Dust the work surface with some plain flour, take out the dough and knead it for 5-10mins or until it's completely smooth and you don't see any buttery bits in it (so that it's fully absorbed).
Form a nice loaf of it, place it on a plate, cover with a cling film and leave to rest overnight in the fridge.
The next day (or after some resting time):
Take the dough out 30 mins before baking.
Preheat the oven to 210C/190C fan.
Prepare your baking trays (3 is ideal) and lay down a sheet of baking paper in each of them.
Dust the work surface and a rolling pin with some flour.
Take half of the dough and start rolling it evenly to all sides, so that it is of the same thickness. Ideally, it should be 2-3mm thick.
Using a cookie cutter (or upside down cup/glass with a sharper edge), cut out shapes from the rolled dough and transfer them onto the baking trays. Leave at least 1cm gap from each side between them.
Scrape up any remaining bits from the cut-out dough, form a small ball and roll it out again. Use more flour for dusting if needed. Gradually keep adding the other half of the dough.
When you have a full baking tray of cut out cookies and your oven is hot and ready, put it in the oven for 7-9 minutes or until golden.
Take out, place on a cooling rack.
Repeat steps 5-9 until you used up all of the pastry.
Decorating Linzer Cookies:
Divide the baked cookies into two parts: bottoms and tops. Create pairs (one and one of each).
Spread a small amount of the jam on the bottom part and stick on the top part. Repeat with all cookies. Leave to set for a couple of hours. Dust with icing sugar before serving.
Storage:
Keep the cookies in an airtight container or a paper box, nested on a baking/greaseproof paper. They will stay fresh for about a month (or longer if you don't eat them all before!).
Keyword biscuits, Christmas, cookies, edible gifts, homemade, Linzer cookies
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