Who says you can’t have a Linzer cookie in April? Add some lemon-y zing and a butterfly shape and what’s not to love! A descendent of the famous Linzer torte, it’s hard to go wrong with a shortbread-like dough that melts in your mouth and a sweet/tart filling that glues it all together. Linzer cookies employ the same basic recipe as a Linzer torte, but the dough is cut into cookies and form a sandwich around the filling. The top cookie has a small cutout in its center to show off the filling underneath.
The Linzer Torte, the Austrian mother of the Linzer Cookie, is the oldest known written recipe in history. A copy of the recipe was found in the Veronese Admont Abbey’s journals, dated 1653! The tart was baked like a pie with a buttery almond crust, filled with black currant preserves and topped with a latticework crust. The recipe was developed using a crust made of nuts since they were easier to come by at times than wheat for flour. While a black currant tart is a perfect way to end a meal, bakers came up with a cookie version they could stock in their shops.
When the Linzer torte was bought to North America in the 19th century, it became very popular. Today, the Linzer cookie is still very commonly used not only for the holidays but anytime of the year in different applications.
This cookie is crisp if served on the same day it is assembled but becomes soft when stored with filling.
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- 3/4 cup (170 gm) butter, softened
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla
- 1/2 tsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp lemon zest
- 1 3/4 cups flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp poppyseeds
- 1 large egg
- 6 large egg yolks
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
- zest of 2 lemons
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
Ingredients
Shortbread
Lemon Curd
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- In a large bowl, cream butter, white sugar, powdered sugar, vanilla, lemon juice & lemon zest with an electric mixer until light & fluffy. Reduce speed to low & add the flour & salt. Continue to mix until well incorporated. Slowly add poppyseeds & mix until just combined, about 1 minute.
- Remove dough from bowl, form into a disk & wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Chill for at least an hour or overnight.
- Fill a medium saucepan, about halfway full with water & bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer. Fill a large bowl with ice water & set aside.
- In a glass or metal bowl, whisk together egg, egg yolks, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest & salt. Set over the saucepan of simmering water, ensuring that the bottom of the bowl is not touching the water. Whisk the mixture constantly until it reaches 170 F. Immediately remove the bowl from the heat, add butter & whisk until smooth. Place over the bowl of ice water. Cover with plastic wrap making sure it is touching the lemon curd surface so a 'skin' will not form. Let mixture stand at room temperature until cooled & thickened.
- Preheat oven to 325 F.
- Roll out shortbread dough on a large sheet of parchment paper to 1/8-inch thickness. Using a butterfly cookie cutter, cut out 36 cookies. Leave 18 of them as is & cut some designs in the wings of the remaining 18 cookies. At this point you may need to place the cookies in the freezer for about 10 minutes so you can remove them easily to the baking sheet without destroying their shapes.
- Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper & transfer cookies to baking sheet. Bake for about 8-10 minutes or until just baked. Place cookies on a wire rack to cool completely.
- Spread desired amount of lemon curd on the bottom cookies. If desired, dust the tops with powdered sugar. Lightly press on a top cookie to sandwich the curd. Repeat with remaining tops. Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
• Don’t hesitate to speed up the process by purchasing a jar of lemon curd. There are a lot of real good ones available.
