Raspberry Linzer Heart Cookies

02/14/2017
Serves many Valentines
Equipment
heart shaped cookies cutters in two sizes
Prep time
45m
Cook Time
45m

It simply does not feel like Valentine’s Day without these special cookies!  There are many, many variations of this recipe out there in the world.  I suppose the truest version is the one which calls for a pure shortbread dough (no eggs).  That is also the trickiest kind to make and work with.  And since these cookies are already a multi-step, delicate, time-consuming process, I prefer this recipe, which I cobbled together from bits and pieces of my favorite recipes over the years… my recipe includes eggs, so the dough is easy to work with, but on account of the almond flour, it retains that dry, buttery shortbread flavor and texture, so hopefully you won’t feel like you are missing out on anything.  Try them and let me know what you think!  Make sure you make a double batch so that you can give some to all of your Valentines!  These cookies are truly a labor of love, and anyone who receives them from you will know they are special, and they are loved.

Ingredients

  • 1 Cup
    unsalted butter
  • 2/3 Cups
    granulated sugar
  • 1/2 Teaspoon
    salt
  • 2 Cups
    all purpose flour
  • 2 Cups
    almond flour, finely ground
  • 1 Teaspoon
    cinnamon
  • 2
    large eggs
  • zest from one lemon
  • 1 Teaspoon
    baking powder
  • 1 Teaspoon
    vanilla
  • 1/2 Teaspoon
    almond extract
  • about 2 Cups
    red raspberry preserves
  • about 1 Cups
    confectioner's sugar

Instructions

  1. Zest your lemon, bring your butter and eggs to room temperature, and pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

  2. Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs, vanilla, lemon zest, vanilla and almond extract.

  3. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, almond flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. Add dry mixture to wet mixture and blend until a soft dough forms.

  4. Scoop out your dough, and starting with one half, roll out your hearts! For this half, make cut-outs in each of your hearts... After baking, I like to dip the small, center hearts in chocolate and cover in sprinkles for an extra treat.

  5. Bake off all of your cut-outs. Cooking time will vary by oven, but you'll want to bake until the cookies change color to pure white, and then a tiny bit golden. The almond flour takes a few minutes longer to cook than the white flour, and if you give it that extra minute or two, your cookies will have a dreamy nutty flavor that you won't get if you take them out while they are still perfectly white.

  6. Now roll out the other half of your dough. This time, do NOT make cut-outs in your hearts. You need these hearts to form the bottom of your linzers. Bake and cool completely.

  7. Put your preserves in a pastry bag and pipe preserves onto the whole hearts...top with a cut-out heart so that there is a window of preserves peeking through.

  8. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and enjoy! I'm pretty sure cupid keeps these in his quiver along with the arrows.

Nutrition: Lovin' from the oven on Valentine's Day has no caloric value.

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