If you wonder what to use your food processor for beyond the obvious, this linzer cookie recipe might be for you. It’s made entirely with the processor. Linzer dough most often has ground hazlenuts; this version uses ground pecans. It also eliminates the usual egg, giving us a cookie that is crisp as expected but meltingly tender and “shortbready.”
There’s no reason you couldn’t make these using a mixer, with the creaming method, but I will say to anyone considering these festive cookies: if you get frustrated by rolling out fragile, sticky dough, please take a pass on this. It does stick and it will stick; the butter and fatty ground nuts nearly equal the weight of the flour. The only way to avoid it is to use so much extra flour the cookies would be ruined. Everything else is easy and with a little care and patience, this recipe is very do-able. And really, aren’t sandwich cookies just a bit more special?
You don’t have to use a dedicated linzer cutter to make them; any round cutter 2″ or 2 1/2″ inches, fluted or not, will do fine. The peek-a-boo holes can be cut out with a smaller cutter or the wide end of a pastry tip. You could also skip the little holes altogether and sandwich two solid wafers together.
This recipe, as found, took a shortcut in preparing the filling by using the microwave. If you don’t have one, bring the jam to a brief simmer on the stove to thicken it. And even though it took a further liberty in dusting the assembled cookies with powdered sugar, I won’t do that. The cookies will look more professional if you dust only the tops before assembly. I think cookies like this deserve that touch.
Pecan Shortbread Linzer Cookies
Adapted from Cuisinart
1/2 cup/60g pecan halves, toasted (hazelnuts or walnut halves can be used)
1/4 cup/50g granulated sugar
3 cups/360g all-purpose flour
1 cup/120g confectioners sugar, plus more for dusting *
1/2 teaspoon salt
10 oz/280g unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup/160g seedless raspberry jam
*If you are making these in a mixer, you will need to sift the powdered sugar after measuring it. Sifting is not necessary with a processor; the first step will aerate and de-clump it just fine.
You will need one or two cookie or baking sheets lined with parchment.
Toast the nuts in a dry skillet over low-medium heat until fragrant and taking on color. Let cool.
Place the nuts and granulated sugar in the workbowl of a food processor and process until finely ground. Remove and reserve. Wipe out the workbowl with a paper towel.
Place into the workbowl the flour, salt and confectioners sugar; pulse 2 or 3 times to mix well. Add the reserved ground nut/sugar mixture and pulse until combined. Add the butter and pulse 12 times to blend. Add the vanilla extract and pulse several times until a dense dough forms.
Remove the dough, divide into halves, shape each into a disc and wrap well with plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least one hour up to overnight.
When ready to make the cookies, set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350F/180C/Gas 4.
Remove one disc of dough to a floured surface and flour your rolling pin. If too firm to roll, let stand several minutes or use your pin to gently press the dough to soften. Roll to a thickness of 1/4″ (1/8″ if you’re very skilled), moving the dough and flouring as needed to prevent sticking. With a linzer cutter or 2″ – 2 1/2″ round cutter, cut as many flat bottoms as possible and transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Gather and re-roll the scraps and cut the rest. You should have 24 when done.
Bake until golden, 11 – 18 minutes, depending on your oven and the thickness of the dough, rotating the pan front-to-back after 6 or 7 minutes. Transfer cookies to a rack to cool completely.
Repeat the rolling and cutting with the other disc, this time also cutting out the centers with a pastry tip or 3/4″ cutter if not using a linzer cutter. Bake and cool as above. [I don't recommend baking both halves at the same time, but if you do you will need to put racks in the upper third and lower third and rotate the pans from top to bottom as well as back to front. ~ ella]
Heat the jam in the microwave at full power or on the stovetop and let cool until just warm.
To assemble the cookies: Turn each of the bottoms upside down on a work surface so the flat side is facing up. Leave the tops flat-side down. If you are going to dust the tops with powdered sugar before assembling, do so now.
Place about 1 teaspoon of the warm jam in the center of each bottom, carefully top with the cut-out tops and press gently. Dust with powdered sugar if you didn’t do so earlier.
Store airtight.
Yield: 24 cookies
Ella’s notes: These can overbrown quickly, so start checking them early. This type of cookie freezes very well. I leave them at room temperature for a few hours until the jam is not so sticky and then freeze them in a container with parchment or wax paper between the layers.
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