Between the cherry filling and the sweet icing on top, the taste and texture of these linzer cookies actually make me think I’m eating a fancy pop-tart! These nutty almond linzers are crunchy right out of the oven, but after icing the top and sandwiching jam in the center, they begin to soften. The magic happens on day 2 when the icing and jam settle into the cookies, making the whole sandwich cookie tender, soft, and deliciously crumbly.
Why You’ll Love These Iced Cherry Almond Linzer Cookies
Impressive & beautiful dessert recipe, without requiring special decorating skill (not today, royal icing & piping tips!) Flavors of almond & cherry pair so well, just like in these cherry pie bars and cherry cobbler Save time by using store-bought cherry preserves/jam for the filling Easy 3-ingredient icing comes together in seconds Linzer cookie cutter set not required—you can use any small cookie cutters you have Cookies’ taste & texture are even better the next day, so this is a great make-ahead cookie option
What Are Linzer Cookies?
Linzer cookies are traditionally made from a nutty almond-based cookie dough. The dough is rolled out, cut into shapes, and baked… just like sugar cookies. Then the cookies are sandwiched together with a filling, usually a sweet fruit jam. These festive, stained glass window-esque cookies are easily some of the prettiest cookies around, especially on holiday cookie trays. Fun fact: Linzer cookies originate from an Austrian treat called linzertorte, a type of pastry filled with a fruit preserve and topped with a lattice design. I adore linzer-style cookies, and have a few varieties already published including raspberry pistachio linzer cookies and caramel hazelnut linzer cookies. If you have a copy of my cookbook Sally’s Cookie Addiction, you’ll find a recipe for raspberry almond linzer cookies on page 65.
Almond Linzer Cookie Dough
Here’s what you need to make these cookies: You need whole almonds for this cookie dough, which you’ll grind down so they are crushed. You do not, however, want almond meal or almond flour because both are too fine. You’ll be much happier with the final cookie with the extra texture from the coarser pieces of nuts. A small food processor is helpful for coarsely chopping the almonds: I usually use brown sugar in linzer-style cookies. Today, however, I chose regular granulated sugar so it doesn’t take away from the almond and cherry flavors. After that, the dough comes together easily with a stand mixer. Expect a thick, crumbly dough:
Refrigerate the Dough
Divide the dough in half. If you have a food scale, it helps to evenly divide the dough. If you don’t, however, that’s fine, too. Just eyeball it. This dough weighs about 850g, so each piece should weigh about 425g. Flatten each piece of dough into a disc and tightly wrap in plastic wrap. Chill the two wrapped discs of dough for at least 3 hours. Similar to this gingerbread cookie dough, when it first comes out of the refrigerator the dough will be really hard. Let it sit out for 10 minutes before you start to roll it out. When you first start to roll it out, the edges may crack a bit, but as you work it, the oils from the almonds release a bit and it quickly becomes more workable.
Roll Out & Cut Shapes
I decided on a 3-inch tree-shaped cookie cutter (the smallest one from this set) for today’s iced almond cherry linzer cookies, but you could really use any 2- to 3-inch cookie cutter for these. I love these fluted-edge cookie cutters for a more classic linzer cookie look, which I use to make these raspberry pistachio linzer cookies and chocolate gingerbread sandwich cookies. To make the cutout in the top cookie, so the filling shows through, you need another cookie cutter that’s really small—about 1 inch. You can simply make a round center hole, but it looks extra festive with a little star or heart shape. For the pictured cookies, I used the star from this linzer Christmas cookie cutter set.
What if I Don’t Have a Super Small Cookie Cutter for the Center?
If you don’t have any cookie cutters that small, don’t worry! Try using the end of a straw to make a small round hole in the center, or use a small paring knife to carve a few tiny holes (which would look like red ornaments on tree-shaped cookies!). All the cookies will be cut with the larger cookie cutter, but only HALF will be cut with the smaller one, for the top cookies. So roll out your first disc of dough, leaving the other disc in the refrigerator for now. Cut out the cookies and bake. These are your bottom cookies: Then roll out your second disc of dough, cut out the cookies the same way as before, but then use the small cookie cutter to make the little cutout shape in the center of each cookie before baking. These are your top cookies:
Assembling These Iced Cherry Almond Linzer Cookies
Once the cookies have baked and cooled, it’s time to ice, fill, and sandwich them. Typically, linzer cookies get a pretty dusting of confectioners’ sugar on top. But I wanted something different here, and almond icing is just SO GOOD. For the icing, you need confectioners’ sugar, a little milk, and almond extract. You want the icing consistency to be semi-thick, so it’s not too runny. Dip each of the top cookies into the icing, and let any excess drip off. Set the iced top cookies aside to dry, and turn your attention to the bottom cookies. For the filling, I used cherry preserves, but honestly… any flavor works. If your cherry preserves are pretty chunky, you can use your small food processor to give them a few pulses and smooth out the texture, which is what I did. Pureeing it too much results in a too-thin sauce, though, so go easy. Spread about 1/2 teaspoon of cherry preserves onto the bottom side of each bottom cookie, then gently place an iced top cookie on top to create a cookie sandwich. It’s fine if the icing hasn’t fully set yet, just hold the cookies carefully by the edges. Let the assembled iced cherry almond linzer cookies sit out for a few hours for the icing to set, and then you can stack and store them. It definitely takes some time to make and assemble these linzer cookies, but if you love the look of cut-out cookie cutter cookies, and don’t want to go to the trouble of decorating sugar cookies, these are a fantastic—and just as beautiful—alternative. Plus, again, they’re like a fancied-up cherry pop-tart. 😉 This recipe is part of my annual cookie countdown called Sally’s Cookie Palooza. It’s the biggest, most delicious event of the year! Browse dozens of cookie recipes over on the Sally’s Cookie Palooza page including:
White Chocolate Chip Molasses Cookies Cookies in a Jar Maple Walnut Tassies Almond Butter Sparkle Cookies Cherry Almond Shortbread Cookies
and here are 75+ Christmas cookies with all my best success guides & tips.
