2.5 to 3 inch round cookie cutter and a small accent cookie cutter such as small star, heart, round.
Pastry Brush
Rolling Pin
Baking Sheets
Parchment paper
Cookie Spatula
Piping bags
Ingredients
Cookie Dough
1cuproom temperature unsalted butter(2sticks,226grams)
3egg yolks
1tbsp milk
1tbsp vanilla extract
3cupsall purpose flour
1/8tspsalt
3/4cuppowdered sugar
1 1/2cupwalnuts, toasted, divided into 1 cup and 1/2 cup(1 cup is used in the cookies dough and remaining 1/2 cup is used for the topping)
1/3cupgranulated sugar
FILLINGS
Chocolate Ganache
1cupdark chocolatechopped
1/2cupheavy cream
Jam
1 cupraspberry jam
TOPPINGS
1egg whites
1/2cuptoasted walnuts, chopped
1tbspgranulated sugar
Instructions
Sift flour and salt into a bowl, set aside.
Toast Walnuts
Spread walnuts ( 1 1/2 cup) on a baking sheet and toast them in the oven at 350F for 8-10 minutes. Stir walnut halfway through.
Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature.
Make Cookie Dough
Process toasted walnuts (1cup) in the food processor. Pulse toasted walnuts (1cup) with granulated sugar (1/3 cup) in the food processor, until fine.
In a small dish whisk together : egg yolks (2), vanilla extract 1tbsp) and milk (1tbsp).
Cream room temperature unsalted butter (1cup, 2sticks) with powdered sugar (3/4cup) for 2-3 minutes then gradually add egg yolk mixture. Beat until combined and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl few times to ensure everything is blended together.
Into the butter stir in ground walnut/sugar mixture and sifted flour. Scrape the dough onto a clean work surface and gather into a ball. Wrap in a plastic wrap and chill for 4 hours or overnight.
Baking
Preheat oven to 350F.
Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Whisk one egg white until broken up. Chop remaining toasted walnuts (1/2cup), set aside.
Roll the dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper into about 0.15" thick. Once rolled out run a spatula underneath of the dough, this helps prevent your cut out cookies sticking to the parchment. If dough is sticking too much, very lightly dust parchment paper with little bit of flour before rolling the dough out.
Using a 2 .5 inch round cutter cut out full rounds. Transfer rounds onto the baking sheet. Space cookies 1/2 to 1 inch apart. Cut out more rounds, this time use a small accent cutter to cut out center. Brush each round with a cut out center with little bit of egg white, then dip into the chopped walnuts. Transfer to a baking sheet.
Bake cookies for 8 - 9 minutes. Remove from the oven. Transfer onto a cooling rack and let cool completely.
Make Ganache Filling
Put chopped chocolate (1cup) into a bowl, I like to use tempered glass bowl. Make sure chocolate is chopped into even small pieces, or you can use chocolate chips if that is more convenient for you.
Heat heavy cream (1/2cup )until small bubbles form on the top.
Pour hot heavy cream (1/2cup) over chocolate (1cup, chopped) Cover with paper towel and a plate. Paper towel is not touching chocolate nor heavy cream. Reason I do this is to prevent liquid/water from condensation on the plate dripping into the ganache. Let sit for 5 minutes, then remove the plate and paper towel, whisk until chocolate until smooth. If any small bits of chocolate are still present, microwave for 5 seconds, stir again until smooth. Chill overnight or till set. Spoon set and thickened ganache into a piping bag.
Fill Cookies
Fill a piping bag or a small ziploc bag with ganache and one more bag with raspberry jam. Cut a small opening on a bag.
Pipe a circle with ganache onto the full round cookies Then pipe raspberry jam in the center. Sandwich cookies together. Store in the airtight container, in a cool room or fridge. Best to let cookies sit for a day before sharing them with your friends. Let come to room temperature before serving. Cookies keep up to 2 weeks.
Notes
LINZER COOKIE DOUGH VARIATIONS
This cookie dough is really easy to work with. You can use number of flavoring, nuts, dry fruit, chocolate, citrus zest, coffee to make it suit your taste buds.
Can I use other nuts in this recipe?
Sure you can use ground hazelnuts, pecans, pistachios.
I'd like to add cinnamon, how much should I add?
1/2 tsp to 1 tsp.
How to make coffee flavored cookie dough?
Add instant espresso to egg mixture and whisk well until dissolved.
How can I make lemon or orange flavored cookie dough?
Add 1 tbsp lemon or orange zest, 1tsp vanilla extract and 1 tsp lemon or orange extract.
I'm allergic to nut, can I make this cookie dough without nuts?
yes, you can. Adjust cookie dough recipe : omit walnuts (1cup and 1/2cup), milk (1tbsp) and granulated sugar (1/3cup). Instead of 3/4 cup powdered sugar use 1 cup and 1/3 cup of powdered sugar.
Can I add dry fruit?
Add up to 1/2 cup of dry fruit. Finely chop dry fruit such are cranberries, apricots etc. Add it with all dry ingredients.
My dough is too dry, what to do?
If your cookie dough is too dry, add 1tsp milk.
What do you suggest I do with 3 egg whites?
This recipe used 3 egg yolks and it leaves you with 3 egg whites. If you are adding a walnut topping you'll use one egg white for the topping. Rest you can use to make meringue cookies, egg omelette, or make a fruit mousse.
Can I use this recipe to make icebox cookie?
Definitely. This cookie dough works great for icebox cookies.