5-Ingredient Linzer Cookies (Nut-Free)
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
These Linzer cookies filled with strawberry jam are buttery sandwich cookies that stay tender for at least one week when stored properly. The dough is nut-free and one batch gives you about 60 cookies. You can prepare both the dough and the cookies in advance, which makes them an easy treat to have ready for the busy Christmas season.
They are ideal for make-ahead Christmas baking and are one of the first holiday cookies we bake in December.
I used strawberry jam in the photos, but raspberry or other smooth jams work just as well. In fact, if you like to make homemade gifts, try making Christmas jam and use some of it for the cookies!
How to make Linzer cookies without nuts
This is a simple recipe and 5 pantry ingredients are all it takes to make it: flour, butter, sugar, egg and jam.
You can make the dough right on your clean worktop, so if you feel comfortable with it, you do not even need a bowl. Just measuring cups and spoons (or a scale) and your hands.
No food processor or stand mixer is needed. The dough comes together in about 5 minutes, so your total prep time, including measuring out the ingredients, should be around 10 minutes.
A rolling pin is not optional here, you really need it for this recipe. This is not a pie crust that you could roll out with a glass bottle (done that many times). You should be quick when rolling because the cookie dough softens easily. A simple trick is to put the rolled and cut-out cookies onto a baking sheet and into the fridge while you wait for the previous batch to come out of the oven.
Divide the dough into 3 pieces. Work with one piece at a time and keep the rest in the fridge. One quarter of the dough should fit on one 9×13-inch (23×33 centimeters) baking sheet.
They will be nice and crispy when you take them out of the oven. They must be cooled down completely before filling or storing.
Dust the tops with powdered sugar after baking and cooling, before you sandwich them with jam, so the sugar stays pretty and does not dissolve into the filling.
My tips for making & baking
- Don’t place cut-out cookies on a hot baking sheet!
- Baking time can vary depending on your oven and baking sheet so check the cookies a few times the first time you make them.
- Bake the bottoms (cookies without a hole in the middle) and the tops (with a hole in the middle) separately for even baking.
- If you don’t have a small round cutter for the center holes, use the wide end of a piping tip instead.
- This recipe yields 60 jam-filled cookies when using a 2-inch flower cutter (5 centimeters) and a ¾-inch round cutter (2 centimeters). We prefer small cookies, but you can make larger ones. If you do so, you will get less.
- Roll the dough thin, about ⅛-inch (4 millimeters).
Frequently asked questions
Linzer cookie dough will keep for up to 2 to 3 days when stored properly in the fridge.
Absolutely. For best results, keep the baked cookies without jam in an airtight container for up to 1 week and assemble them 1 or 2 days before serving.
Or bake them, let them cool completely, flash-freeze them on a baking sheet and then stack them in a freezer-friendly container or a resealable bag. Use them within 3 months for the best flavor and texture.
Filled Linzer cookies keep well for about 3 to 4 days in an airtight container at room temperature. The longer they sit, the softer they become, so if you like a light crunch, assemble them closer to serving, about 1 to 2 days ahead.
We love raspberry or strawberry jam, but any preserve will work if it has a nice thicker consistency (try apricot, fig or blueberry).
More Christmas cookie recipes
- Gingerbread Cookies without Molasses – A traditional Christmas recipe in my family prepared with make-ahead dough.
- Walnut Crescent Cookies – Very rich, buttery and perfect for a Christmas gift exchange.
- White Wine Cookies – Spanish recipe for a tasty treat to go with your afternoon cup of coffee.
5-Ingredient Nut-Free Linzer Cookies
Ingredients
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour scooped & leveled (340 grams)
- ¾ cups powdered sugar loosely packed (90 grams) + extra for dusting
- 1 large egg beaten
- 2¼ sticks unsalted butter chilled (250 grams)
- jam for filling, strawberry or raspberry
Equipment
Instructions
- Day 1: In a medium bowl (or on a clean worktop) combine 2½ cups flour and ¾ cups powdered sugar. Pour in 1 beaten egg and mix with your hand or fork.
- Add 2¼ sticks of diced butter. With your hands, break the butter into smaller pieces while rubbing it into the flour until you get a crumb-like mixture. Now, form the “crumbs” into a dough by pressing the mixture together and kneading it slowly. Once the butter softens a bit, the dough will come together nicely.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap or place it in a resealable bag and refrigerate overnight.
- Day 2: Cut the dough into 3 pieces. Wrap 2 of them in the plastic wrap and refrigerate for later use.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Place the dough onto a clean worktop dusted with flour. Roll it out thin, about ⅛-inch (4 millimeters) thick. Use round or flower-shaped cookie cutters to cut out the shapes. Place them onto a baking sheet (see note 3) lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat and transfer to the preheated oven.
- Bake on the middle rack for about 8 minutes but check them after 6 to see how they look. You want them to be pale so if you see some edges that are light brown, take them out immediately. Let them cool down completely.
- Meanwhile, repeat steps 6 and 7 with the remaining dough. Alternate the batches: 1 batch of cookie bottoms, 1 batch of tops with holes in the center (about ¾ inch hole), again bottoms and tops.
- Fill the cooled cookies with jam and dust with powdered sugar (optional).
- Enjoy!
Notes
- When using a 2½-inch (4-centimeter) cookie cutter, you will get about 120 pieces, so 60 sandwich cookies. The larger the cutter, the lower the quantity.
- Don’t place cut-out cookies on a hot baking sheet. Also, if you have filled another sheet with cookies but the oven is full, keep the sheet in the fridge meanwhile.
- It is best to use a 9×13-inch (23×33 centimeter) cookie sheet so that you can fit it in your fridge if needed. You should be able to fill 4 of the 9×13 sheets.
- Linzer cookies are delicious with raspberry jam, strawberry jam, apricot preserve, Christmas jam,…
- Make-ahead & storage: Dough can be kept in the fridge up to 3 days. Cookies can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months, then thawed and filled. Or, store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to a week.
Thank you so much — making these for my granddaughters wedding. I have made them previously and they are beautiful to look at and taste so good.
I love linzer cookies! They look amazing!
Thanks!
ohhhh these cookies are so pretty! they look perfect for a holiday party
Thank you!
I wanted to make Linzer cookies this year, but I don’t have a small cookie cutter for the center… Do you just use any style cutter or is there a specific one for Linzer cookies that I don’t know about?
No Lisa. You can use any small cutter, even the wider part of a piping tip will work.
What a classic! These cookies are so beautiful and perfect for the holidays. I’d love to try these out with a variety of jams (even though raspberry is my favorite, tbh.
:) Thanks!
These cookies were a hit with my family! They were gone in an instant!
Glad to hear that! :)
These are so light and the raspberry jam is the perfect touch of flavor. I’m going to try these again with some other jams for the holidays. Great recipe!
Thanks, Mike!
Those are such pretty cookies! And I appreciate all the tips you have included. I’ve never made Linzer cookies (we tend to go for jam thumbprints), so all the extra info is quite useful.
These are hard to resist, Annemarie! Glad you liked the additional info – I know that sometimes it’s challenging when you make something for the first time and that is why I try to include as much info as possible.