Food and Recipes Recipes Linzer Tree Cookies 3.5 (2) 2 Reviews These Christmas tree cookies come with built in ornaments. By Southern Living Test Kitchen Southern Living Test Kitchen The Southern Living Test Kitchen has been publishing recipes since 1970, four years after the first issue of Southern Living Magazine appeared on newsstands. The Southern Living Test Kitchen team includes a team of professionals with deep expertise in recipe development, from pastry chefs and grilling experts to nutritionists and dietitians. Together, the team tests and retests, produces, styles, and photographs thousands of recipes each year in the state-of-the-art test kitchen facility located in Birmingham, Alabama. Southern Living's editorial guidelines Updated on January 5, 2022 Print Rate It Share Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: Greg DuPree; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis Active Time: 45 mins Total Time: 2 hrs 30 mins Yield: 1 ½ dozen sandwich cookies Jump to recipe Classic Linzer Cookies are a must at any cookie swap or holiday brunch; this modern take on a tried-and-true holiday cookie is sure to impress your Christmas crew this year. With just a hint of almond extract and cinnamon, these light and buttery cookies are spiced for the season. Cutting your Linzer Cookie dough into a tree shape adds a fun, festive element to this traditional cookie. In this recipe, two lightly-spiced butter cookies get sandwiched by the fruit jam of your choice (we're partial to strawberry or raspberry—you can even make your own). We use a straw to punch out small circles (almost like ornaments) in the top layer of cookie dough, creating windows that will reveal the bright, gem-hued jam. You can get creative with your pattern, mixing up the number of punched holes or using another, smaller cookie cutter to create a fun shape. A tip from the Test Kitchen: Dusting the top cookie with powdered sugar before topping the bottom cookie helps the jam from being covered in powdered sugar, so you can see the colors. The construction of these cookies is half of the fun—recruit the kids to join you in the kitchen to help spread the jam and sandwich the cookie halves together. Ingredients 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface ½ teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon ¼ teaspoon kosher salt ⅔ cup granulated sugar ½ cup unsalted butter, softened 2 large egg yolks 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ¼ teaspoon almond extract 3 tablespoons fruit preserves or jam 2 teaspoons powdered sugar Special Equipment Plastic or metal drinking straw Directions Whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl; set aside. Beat granulated sugar and butter with a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg yolks, vanilla, and almond extract, beating until just combined, about 30 seconds (do not overbeat). Gradually add flour mixture, beating on low speed just until a dough forms, about 1 minute. Turn dough out onto a clean work surface, and divide in half. Flatten halves into 1-inch-thick disks. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap; chill 1 hour. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove 1 dough disk from refrigerator, and unwrap. Roll to ⅛-inch thickness on a lightly floured work surface. Using a 3 ½-inch tree-shaped cookie cutter, cut out 18 cookies. Using a straw, poke 4 to 8 holes in each cookie, poking all the way through bottoms. Arrange the cookies 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake in 2 batches in preheated oven until cookie edges are lightly browned, 6 to 7 minutes per batch. Cool on baking sheets about 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks, and cool about 20 minutes. Repeat procedure with remaining dough disk, but do not poke any holes in cookies. You will end up with 18 cookies with holes and 18 whole cookies. Spread center of each whole cookie with about ½ teaspoon preserves, leaving a small edge around cookie without preserves. Sprinkle cookies with holes evenly with powdered sugar. Place 1 cookie with holes on top of each whole cookie. Rate it Print