Austrian Linzer Stripes Christmas Cookies | ‘Linzer Streifen’
- Austria, Christmas, Cookies & Pastries, Desserts & Sweets, Holidays & Seasonal
Linzer Stripes are Classic Christmas Cookies from Austria. The delicate shortcrust pastry is refined with the typical Christmas Aromas of almonds, cloves, and cinnamon. In combination with the sweetness and slight acidity of the fruit jam, they are simply a heavenly Christmas treat. They are an absolute must-try recipe and should not be missing from this year’s Christmas Cookie selection.
Ingredients you will need for this recipe:
- 250 g all-purpose flour
- 250 g butter | cold
- 200 g ground almonds
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 150 g powdered sugar | icing sugar
- 2 eggs
- a pinch of ground clove
- a pinch of cinnamon
- a pinch of salt
- 1 glass of red jam | strawberry jam
How to make traditional Linzer Stripe Cookies:
(1) For the Dough
Add 250 g all-purpose flour, 200 g ground almonds, 150 g powdered sugar, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, a pinch each of cinnamon, ground clove and salt, 250 g cold butter cut into small cubes, as well as 1 egg and 1 egg yolk (set aside the egg white for later) into a mixing bowl. Knead everything together with the dough hook of the food processor to a smooth dough.
Form the dough into a ball, wrap in cling film, and place in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
(2) For the Cookies
Preheat the oven to 180 °C, top/bottom heat.
Take the dough out of the cling film. Roll out 2/3 of the dough on a piece of baking paper to a thickness of approx. 3 mm and carefully place on a baking tray. Prick the rolled out dough with a fork and bake for about 15 minutes on the middle rack in the oven.
While the dough is baking in the oven, roll out the remaining 1/3 of the dough thinly in a square shape on baking paper and put it in the fridge again to cool.
Heat up the jar of strawberry jam in a small saucepan.
As soon as the dough comes out of the oven, brush with the previously set aside egg white and spread the warmed jam evenly over it with the backside of a spoon.
Take the thinly rolled out dough out of the fridge, cut into strips approx. 1.5 cm wide and place on the baked dough spread with jam diagonally to the baking tray with a distance of approx. 1 cm. Then bake for another 15 – 20 minutes on the middle rack, until golden brown.
(3) Cut the Cookies into Stripes
Allow to cool completely and carefully cut into approx. 2 cm x 5 cm size pieces with a sharp knife and finish by lightly dusting the cookies with powdered sugar.
Some Recipe Tips:
Storage: Stored in an airtight container, the Linzer Stripes Christmas Cookies can be kept for up to 4 weeks.
Jam: You can use any red colored jam for this recipe. However, it should be fine, with no fruit chunks. Traditionally, currant jam is being used for the Linzer Stripes Christmas Cookies.
The Dough: If the dough is too sticky or too soft when rolling out, simply put the dough back in the fridge and let it cool down. The colder the dough, the easier it is to handle.
Austrian Linzer Stripes Christmas Cookies | ‘Linzer Streifen’
Course: Cookies & Pastries, Dessert & Sweets, ChristmasCuisine: AustriaDifficulty: Intermediate30
minutes1
hour40
minutesLinzer Stripes are Classic Christmas Cookies from Austria. The delicate shortcrust pastry is refined with the typical Christmas Aromas of almonds, cloves, and cinnamon. In combination with the sweetness and slight acidity of the fruit jam, they are simply a heavenly Christmas treat. They are an absolute must-try recipe and should not be missing from this year's Christmas Cookie selection.
Ingredients
250 g all-purpose flour
250 g butter | cold
200 g ground almonds
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
150 g powdered sugar | icing sugar
2 eggs
a pinch of ground clove
a pinch of cinnamon
a pinch of salt
1 glass of red jam | strawberry jam
Directions
For the Dough
Add 250 g all-purpose flour, 200 g ground almonds, 150 g powdered sugar, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, a pinch each of cinnamon, ground clove and salt, 250 g cold butter cut into small cubes, as well as 1 egg and 1 egg yolk (set aside the egg white for later) into a mixing bowl. Knead everything together with the dough hook of the food processor to a smooth dough.
Form the dough into a ball, wrap in cling film, and place in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
For the Cookies
Preheat the oven to 180 °C, top/bottom heat.
Take the dough out of the cling film. Roll out 2/3 of the dough on a piece of baking paper to a thickness of approx. 3 mm and carefully place on a baking tray. Prick the rolled out dough with a fork and bake for about 15 minutes on the middle rack in the oven.
While the dough is baking in the oven, roll out the remaining 1/3 of the dough thinly in a square shape on baking paper and put it in the fridge again to cool.
Heat up the jar of strawberry jam in a small saucepan.
As soon as the dough comes out of the oven, brush with the previously set aside egg white and spread the warmed jam evenly over it with the backside of a spoon.
Take the thinly rolled out dough out of the fridge, cut into strips approx. 1.5 cm wide and place on the baked dough spread with jam diagonally to the baking tray with a distance of approx. 1 cm. Then bake for another 15 - 20 minutes on the middle rack, until golden brown.
Cut the Cookies into Stripes
Allow to cool completely and carefully cut into approx. 2 cm x 5 cm size pieces with a sharp knife and finish by lightly dusting the cookies with powdered sugar.
Notes
- Storage: Stored in an airtight container, the Linzer Stripes Christmas Cookies can be kept for up to 4 weeks.
- Jam: You can use any red colored jam for this recipe. However, it should be fine, with no fruit chunks. Traditionally, currant jam is being used for the Linzer Stripes Christmas Cookies.
- The Dough: If the dough is too sticky or too soft when rolling out, simply put the dough back in the fridge and let it cool down. The colder the dough, the easier it is to handle.
