Raspberry Lemon Linzer Cookies Recipe
Linzer cookies are one of those recipes that look incredibly impressive and are secretly not that hard, which is basically my favorite category of baking. These raspberry lemon linzer cookies have a buttery, melt-in-your-mouth shortbread base with a hint of lemon zest, filled with sweet raspberry jam and dusted with powdered sugar. They’re stunning in a cookie box and genuinely one of my favorite holiday cookies to make every year.
Wanna know the secret to a classic linzer cookie melt in your mouth texture?
Confectioners sugar instead of granulated.
Because powdered sugar is light and powdery instead of coarse and grainy, it basically disappears into the butter when you mix it. No sugar granules means the dough comes together super smooth, and that’s exactly what gives you that crumbly, melty bite instead of a dense or gritty cookie.
No substitutes please!
The first time I tested this dough it spread completely flat in the oven- no fluted edges, no pretty shape, just a sad cookie situation.
After going back to the kitchen and reworking the recipe, these now hold their shape perfectly. The chill time is non-negotiable 30 to 45 minutes in the fridge is what keeps the edges sharp and the cookies looking bakery-worthy. You can’t skip it!
Raspberry Lemon Linzer Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- ½ cup (60 g) confectioners sugar
- Zest of 1 lemon, equal to 1 teaspoon
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) vanilla extract
- 2 cups (250 g) all purpose flour
- Pinch (Pinch) kosher salt
- Raspberry jam, for filling
Instructions
- Line a half sheet tray with parchment paper and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, add the butter and sugar and beat on low-medium speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add the lemon zest and vanilla extract, and beat till combined. Scrape down the bowl to make sure it’s evenly mixed.
- Add the flour and salt, and continue to mix until large clumps form. The dough may not completely come together but that’s ok! Dump the dough out onto the parchment paper, shape into a flat disk, and chill for 30-45 mins.
- Prepare 2 sheet trays with parchment paper.
- Roll out the dough into ¼’’ thickness between 2 pieces of parchment paper and cut out shapes using a 2 inch round or fluted cookie cutter. Repeat with scraps.
- Take half the cookies and using a smaller cookie cutter (can be any shape) cut out the middle. Remember that these are sandwich cookies so you need to have equal tops and bottoms!
- Freeze the cookie cutouts for 1 hour on the sheet trays. Then preheat your oven to 350° F and bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges of the cookies turn golden brown.
- Once cooled, dust the top cookie (the one with the little cutout) with confectioners sugar, spread a little raspberry jam on the bottom cookie, then sandwich together.
Love it! Do you have a non-dairy alternative for this recipe?
Thank you! I would say you can try margarine as the dairy alternative because other healthier butter substitutes like earth balance might not hold the cookie shape as well.
The dough stayed crumbly and didn’t become useable after froze… recommendations?
Hey Afton! Thanks for trying the recipe! Did you follow the recipe exactly? I haven’t heard about that happening from anyone else, Im sorry that happened! You might just need to let it sit at room temperature before rolling out. Thanks for trying!
I love this recipe a lot – simple, not a lot of ingredients and hard to mess up. I’m making them again this year
YAY so glad to hear this, thank you so much!!
Does using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment make any difference on the dough versus using a hand mixer? Asking because I do not have a stand mixer.
Great q! For this recipe no it shouldnt matter. As long as the dough comes together it will work. Sometimes I just even use my hands! For other recipes where you have to whip cream or egg whites, a hand mixer just takes more time because it’s not as strong as a stand mixer.