Hazelnut Prune Jam Linzer Cookies
The hazelnut adds a nutty, sweet taste to the dough and it pairs really well with this homemade prune jam.
Servings: 24
Calories: 204kcal
Ingredients
Prune Jam
- 8 ounces (227 grams) pitted prunes
- 1 medium 4 ounces Granny Smith apple, chopped
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup apple cider
- 1/2 cup water
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 star anise
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Hazelnut Linzer Cookies
- 2 cups (250 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour sifted
- 1 1/4 cups (140 grams) hazelnut flour
- 1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 (40 grams) large egg yolks
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Topping
- 1 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
Prune Jam
- Peel and chop the apple into 1-inch pieces. Place the apples and the prunes in a a food processor and processor until the fruit mixture resembles a really thick jam.
- Scrape the mixture into a 3-quart saucepan, add the apple cider water, sugar, star anise and ground cinnamon and stir to combine the ingredients. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat to medium low and then cook for 10-15 minutes stirring occasionally until the jam is very thick and is starting to stick to the bottom of the saucepan.
- Remove the pan from the heat, cover it with a lid, and allow it to sit for 10 minutes. Remove the star anise and place the jam back in the food processor and process it until the mixture is smooth. Scrape the jam into a container and cool to room temperature before placing it in the refrigerator or using in the cookies
Hazelnut Linzer Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the hazelnut flour on a baking sheet lined with parchment and toast it for 5 minutes. The edges should turn a little brown. Allow to cool to room temperature before using in the recipe.
- Place the flour and hazelnut flour in a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Place the butter, sugar, cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and vanilla in the bowl of stand mixer and with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed for about 30 seconds and then increase speed to medium and beat the dough until it is light and fluffy, 3 minutes. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Add the egg yolks and mix on medium speed until combined. Scrape the bottom of the bowl. Add the flour-hazelnut mixture in two batches and mix on medium-low speed each time until the flour is combined into the dough.
- Divide the dough into two equal portions, about 360 grams each. Flatten each piece into a 1-inch disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour and up to 2 days. One half of the dough will be the top of the cookie and the other half will be the bottom.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Remove half of the dough from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for 5 minutes. On a lightly flour Silpat, roll out the dough to a 1/4-inch thickness. Use a 2-inch cookie cutter and cut out the top half of a cookie. Use a smaller cookie cutter to cut out the center of the cookie. Reroll the dough and cut out more cookies. If the dough becomes too soft to work with, refrigerate it for 15 minutes.
- Place the cookies on a parchment-lined cookie sheet, 2-inches apart and bakes the cookies for 10-12 minutes. The cookies will be slightly brown on the bottom.
- Repeat the above steps for the other half of the cookie dough, but do not cut a center out of the cookies. These cookies will be the bottom of the cookie sandwich.
- When the cookies are completely cool, place the cookie tops (with the cutouts) on a board or piece of wax paper and sprinkle with powdered sugar using a fine mesh strainer. Place 1-1/2 to 2 teaspoons of jam on the bottom half of the cookie, spread it to the edges and place the top portion on top.
Storage
- The cookies keep for 2 days at room temperature in an airtight container. Store them in the refrigerator after 2 days.
Notes
Allow the baking sheets to completely cool before placing the unbaked cookies on the sheet for baking.
If you don't have hazelnut flour, you can make this cookie with an equal amount of almond flour. The original Linzer cookie is made with almond flour.
If you don't have hazelnut flour you can make your own. Place 140 grams of toasted hazelnuts in a food processor along with 1/2 cup of the flour. Process until the nuts are fine. The addition of the flour will keep the nuts from turning into nut butter.
If you don't have cardamom you can adjust the spices. You can use all cinnamon; just cinnamon and nutmeg; or replace the cardamom with ground ginger.
Nutrition
Calories: 204kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 37mg | Sodium: 51mg | Potassium: 92mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 332IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 22mg | Iron: 1mg