These cookies originated in Linz, Austia. Fun fact: Linz is also where PEZ candy came from. Both great, but only these can be homemade.

These cookies look fancy, but they are actually quite easy to make. They do take some time, but it's mostly while the dough rests and chills. Great for kids to help with! Circular cookies are traditional, but they can be made in various shapes. You'll need two cookie cutters of the same shape, one large and one smaller. A donut cutter works great here as well. Worst case scenario, you may freestyle cut out the center.

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

Zest of 1 lemon (or 1 teaspoon of cinnamon)

1 large egg yolk

1 cup all-purpose flour or gluten-free flour

3/4 cup almond flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

Organic Blueberry Confiture

Powdered sugar, for dusting

DIRECTIONS

DOUGH: Beat butter, sugar, and zest until combined, scrape bowl as needed, about 3 minutes. Add the yolk and vanilla to butter mixture and beat together. Set aside.

Whisk together the flour, almond flour, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and mix until just combined. Try not to over-beat.

Divide the dough in half and make each half into a disc. Wrap in parchment, waxed paper, or our personal fave, Bee's Wrap, and refrigerate until firm, about an hour.

ASSEMBLY: After the hour has passed, remove one of the two halves of dough. On a lightly floured surface, roll one disc of dough out about 1/4"-thick. Using a 2 1/2" round cookie cutter, cut out cookies (if you have a doughnut cutter, we highly recommend it — keeping center part out, for now). Transfer rounds to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Gather the scrap dough, roll, and repeat. Place the cut cookies in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

PREHEAT the oven to 350°F.

While the first half of cookies is chilling, repeat the above process with the remaining dough. Once you've transferred these cookies to a baking sheet, use your smallest cookie cutter, donut hold cutter, end of a round piping tip (or simply freestyle) to make a peekaboo cutout in the center of each. Place cookies plus center cutouts in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to chill. 

BAKING: Bake all of the cookies and cutouts for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the edges are just beginning to turn brown (the cutouts will brown earlier, but no need to remove from oven). Let them cool for 5 minutes on the pan, then transfer to a rack to cool entirely.

FILLING: Place the cookies with the holes in them on a cookie sheet or large cutting board and sift powdered sugar over the top*. Turn the remaining cookies flat side up (the original bottom of the whole cookie) and spoon 1/2 teaspoon of Bow Hill confiture into the center, spreading it slightly towards the edges. Grabbing sugar-dusted cookies on the edge, place on top of confiture topped cookie.

Erledigt! Genießen!

*It is important that you do this step prior to sandwiching cookies, otherwise the confiture will also have powdered sugar on top, making the striking image of the cookies less so.

Recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour's Linzer Cookie.