Gluten Free + Dairy Free Double Chocolate Linzer Cookies
Gluten Free
Dairy Free
Makes 12-15 Linzers, or 24 - 30 single cookies
Keeps up to 3 weeks in the fridge (but I dare you to resist it that long!)
History of the Linzer Cookie
(from the Eat 2 Explore Blog)
In Linz, a city in Austria, bakers would mix up a batch of Linzertorte dough, but instead of making a pie, they would cut out shapes such as stars, circles or hearts. Half of the shapes would get second cutouts in the center. These were called Linzer eyes.
Once baked, these dessert artisans constructed sandwich cookies using a whole cookie and a cutout cookie. In the middle, they would place black or red currant preserves just like the tart. American bakers use raspberry jam, lingonberry preserves, or any kind of sweet filling including hazelnut chocolate spread!
The top cookies are dusted with a liberal sprinkling of powdered sugar or decorated with icing. After the cookie is put together, the jam or preserves peek through the Linzer eye to make a beautiful dessert, perfect for the holidays.
After researching several recipes, I created my own gluten free one. A lot of times, gluten free baked goods can turn out grainy and don't hold together well when baking... not these! The are absolutely creamy, buttery (even without the butter!), melt in your mouth delicious.
The recipe doubles as a really solid butter or sugar cookie recipe as well. You can add nuts or other ingredients and cut them into single layer cookies.
Double Chocolate Linzer Cookies
What You'll Need 1 cup of coconut oil (still hard, but, slightly warmed up so that it mixes well) 1/2 tsp xanthum gum
2/3 cup of powdered sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups gluten free baking flour mix
1 cup almond flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp cloves
Dash of salt
Preparation 1. Place 1 cup of coconut oil into a small microwavable bowl. Place in microwave for about 25-30 seconds. The oil should still be solid, but, soft enough to mix well with the other ingredients. 2. Place coconut oil into a large mixing bowl. Add the powdered sugar and anthem gum and mix ingredients well with an electric mixer. 3. Add the flours and the rest of the ingredients and mix until all ingredients are wet. The batter will look like wet sand until you get your hands in it. 4. Scrape the bowl with a spatula. Then, with your hands, form the batter into a ball. 5. Place dough between 2 large pieces of parchment paper and onto a pastry board or large counter top. 6. Roll the dough with a rolling pin until it’s about 1/4 - 1/3 inch thick. 7. Place dough in parchment paper onto a cookie sheet and then inside the refrigerator for about 45 minutes. 8. Once dough is chilled, take it out and cut the dough. Form into a ball again and cut more cookies until dough is used up. 9. Use the smaller cutters on half the cookies. Be sure and save the dough that is cut out of the cookies and bake those as well. 10. Bake on 325 degrees for 12-14 minutes, until cookies are just slightly golden. 11. Remove and allow to cool for about 15 minutes. 12. Sprinkle with cocoa powder. 13. Add a heaping tsp of vegan chocolate frosting to the center of the bottom cookies. Add the top cookie and press down until the jam starts to come out of the hole shape in the top. You don’t need a lot of frosting! 14. Keep cookies in the fridge. 15. Makes about 12 Linzer Cookies. Makes about 24-28 regular cookies, if you just want to make them without the frosting.