LINGONBERRY! Most everyone knows lingonberry as that sauce that comes with the Ikea meatballs. What folks don’t really know is that lingonberry jam is actually a staple in Northern Europe and eaten with a wide range of different foods – not just meatballs! I personally love lingonberry for their tartness. Lingonberries are harvested starting in September, which is why they always remind me of end of the year and Christmas. People don’t usually eat lingonberries on their own, they almost certainly turn them into a jam or sauce which they then use in their holiday dinners or baked goods.
Luckily for me, I was able to find my favorite lingonberry jam at my local organics market! I love the texture of Darbo Wild Lingonberry Jam as there are whole lingonberries in it which give the jam this amazing textural component. It’s also not overly sweet and the jam has that mouth puckering tartness. I bought a jar of the jam in preparation for the holidays and knew right away what I wanted to make with it. Linzer cookies! I love seeing these delicious cookies being made at this time of year. The Linzer cookie is actually named and modeled after the Austrian Linzer torte. The Linzer torte is a thin almond crust tart filled with jam and nuts and sprinkled with lots of powdered sugar on top and normally eaten for Christmas. The cookies utilize the same ingredients as the tart, but cut into cookie size/shapes instead. The top biscuit has a small cutout to expose the jam sandwiched in between and create a gorgeous look to the whole dessert. Nothing says “holidays” like these white and red delicious tart cookies 🙂
Special tools: you’ll be needing two sizes of cookie cutters. 2″ and 1″ in any shape you desire. I like to have a scalloped edge and a simpler round circle for the center. Many people use a heart shaped cookie cutter for the center cut out.
1
Linzer Cookies with Lingonberry Jam
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup almond flour
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup lingonberry jam
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
Directions
- Step 1 In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment (or large bowl if using a hand mixer), cream the butter and sugar together for 3-4 minutes on medium until the mixture is fluffy and the butter is lighter in color.
- Step 2 Scrape down sides of the bowl and add eggs and vanilla extract. Mix again on medium again until well-incorporated.
- Step 3 Scrape down sides of the bowl again. Sift the flour, almond flour, and salt into the bowl. Slowly mix on low for about 30 seconds (Do not over-mix at this point or the dough will become dough and the cookies will not have a soft texture).
- Step 4 Divid the dough in halves. Form two rectangle shapes with the dough and wrap with saran wrap.
- Step 5 Chill the two pieces of dough in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
- Step 6 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Step 7 Roll out one piece of dough between two pieces of parchment paper until 1/8″ thick.
- Step 8 Using a 2″ cookie cutter, punch out 12 cookies and place in the baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the refrigerator for another hour.
- Step 9 Gather the dough together and continue to re-roll the dough to cut additional cookie bottoms (if the dough becomes too soft and difficult to keep the cookie cutter shape, return the dough to the refrigerator to chill before re-rolling).
- Step 10 Roll out the second piece of dough between two pieces of parchment paper until 1/8″ thick.
- Step 11 Using a 2″ cookie cutter, punch out 12 cookies and then using the 1″ cookie cutter, cut out the center of each cookie. Place the cookie on the baking sheet and then place the baking sheet in the refrigerator for another hour.
- Step 12 Gather the dough together and continue to re-roll the dough to cut additional cookie tops (if the dough becomes too soft and difficult to keep the cookie cutter shape, return the dough to the refrigerator to chill before re-rolling).
- Step 13 After chilling the cookies, bake for 10 minutes.
- Step 14 Place cookies on a cooling rack to cool completely before assembling.
- Step 15 Spread 1 teaspoon of lingonberry jam onto a cookie bottom. Ensure to spread the jam to the edges of the cookie, but not too far that it would leak from the sides.
- Step 16 Top with a top cookie.
- Step 17 Prior to serving, dust the tops of the cookies with powdered sugar with a mesh strainer.
NOTE: It’s best to eat these within three days of baking and dusting with powdered sugar.
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