Tis the season of love. Heart shaped cookies are a Valentines must. So get these on your list for that special someone – or for yourself (because when we make cookies for someone, aren’t we making them just as much for ourselves anyway?

Perfectly nutty and rich, super tender, and not-too-sweet, this Classic Austrian Linzer Cookies recipe might just make my favorite cookie.

Nothing could be more scrumptious than a batch of these, buttery, confectioners’ sugar-dusted, jam-packed cookies.

Add a festive flair to your holiday desserts with these tender Linzer cookies. These traditional Austrian holiday cookies feature a decorative cutout on the top cookie that allows the strawberry jam filling to peek through, hinting at the delicious flavor to come. This linzer cookie recipe is easy to customize by using different jams and cookie cutter shapes for themed linzer tart cookies.

Linzer Cookies

prep time: 5 MINUTES cook time: 10 MINUTES additional time: 2 HOURS total time: 2 HOURS 15 MINUTES

Ingredients

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 3 cups almond flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks butter at room temperature
• 1 cup white granulated sugar
• 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 eggs at room temperature
• Strawberry jam for filling
• Powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together almond flour, all-purpose flour, cinnamon, cloves, and salt.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together egg and vanilla.
3. In a large bowl, using a hand mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.
4. Add eggs along with vanilla extract and beat until combined.
5. Add dry ingredients and beat until just incorporated.
6. Tightly wrap dough with plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours in refrigerator (or freeze for 45 minutes)
7. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375° and line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
8. Divide dough in half, form each half into a disk, and roll each piece of dough to 1/8″ in thickness.
9. Use a heart shaped cookie cutter to cut out cookies and transfer to cookie sheet about 1″ apart.
10. Use a smaller heart shaped cookie cutter to cut windows in half the cookies.
11. Bake 8 to 9 minutes, or until cookies are lightly golden. Let cool.
12. Depending on the size of your cookie cutter used, spread at least about 1/2 tsp of jam in the center of a cookie, then top with second cookie.
13. Dust with powdered sugar.