Add these crisp, tender vegan gluten-free Linzer cookies to your Christmas baking list! This recipe is a dairy-free, gluten-free, and egg-free take on the traditional Austrian cookies, you can even make a nut-free version, all the details are in the full post. Fill these delicious cookies with the jam of your choice, raspberry, strawberry, or apricot, it’s up to you!
Add the flour, almond flour, and cornstarch to a small bowl. Whisk to combine and set aside.
Using an electric mixer, beat the butter, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl until blended and creamy, about 3 minutes. Stop to scrape down the sides of your bowl when needed. Add vanilla extract, and blend again.
Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix on low speed with your electric mixer or with a wooden spoon until a soft, sticky dough has formed. Form the dough into a ball.
Place the dough ball on a piece of plastic wrap and pat it down into a disk. Wrap the dough disk and place it in the refrigerator to chill for at least 3 hours and up to 3 days.
Remove the dough from the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes (it will be too hard to roll out right away, especially if it has been in the fridge for longer than 3 hours).
Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C).
Line cookie sheet(s) with parchment paper.
Dust a piece of parchment paper with a little gluten-free flour and place the dough on top of the flour. Place another piece of parchment paper on top of the dough and using a rolling pin, roll the dough out until it is ¼-inch thick.
Using the Linzer cookie cutter, cut out 15 top shapes, poke out the centers and place them on the prepared baking sheets, leaving a little space between the cookies.
Gather dough scraps into a ball and repeat rolling, this time, cutting out the bottom cookies. Repeat until all of the dough has been used and you have 15 matching cookies.
Bake cookies for 12 minutes. Don't overbake.
Remove from oven and let cookies cool on the cookie sheet for 1-2 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. Fully cool before moving to the next step.
Place powdered sugar into a small sieve and lightly dust the cookie tops. Set aside.
Using a small offset spatula or a butter knife, spread jam (roughly ½ teaspoon for each cookie) on the cookie bottoms.
Place each cookie top on top of each cookie bottom, and carefully press the two cookies together.
Notes
Please read all of the information and FAQ info above, as well as the notes below before making this recipe.
This recipe makes 15 cookies using a standard 2 ½" Linzer cookie cutter. This recipe can be doubled if needed. If doubling, separate the dough into two equal pieces and wrap them separately before chilling.
It’s important to know that different gluten-free flour blends use different ingredients and ratios, so results may vary if you substitute. I have never used any other brand of gf flour to make this recipe other than Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour (Amazon link) in the blue bag with xanthan gum, NOT the red package, so please know that your results may not be the same as mine if you substitute with another gluten-free flour blend. The weight listed above is for this specific brand of flour.
Use fine almond flour for this recipe, NOT almond meal.
This recipe will NOT work with coconut flour or any other single gluten-free flour, it must be a blend, the one listed above for the intended and best results.
If you cannot use almond flour, use my vegan gluten-free sugar cookie recipe to make these cookies. You will end up with more than the 15 cookies this recipe makes since the sugar cookie recipe makes slightly more cookie dough.
Powdered sugar, turbinado sugar, brown sugar, and liquid sugar (like maple syrup or agave) will NOT work to make this cookie dough. I have not tested with any sugar alternatives.
Make sure that your butter is slightly softened before starting, NOT melted or TOO soft. To make sure your butter is at the ideal softness, lightly press your finger into it. If it leaves a shallow indent, your butter is at the perfect temperature. If your finger sinks into the butter with barely any effort, your butter is too soft. Refrigerate it until it has firmed up and then test it again.
If your cookie dough gets too warm while rolling and cutting, place it back in the refrigerator to cool down for about 10 minutes.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in a cool, dry spot for up to 6 days. Because of the moisture from the jam, the cookies will soften and not be crisp after the day they were made.
To freeze the cookie dough for baking later: Wrap the cookie dough tightly and place it in an airtight freezer-safe bag or container and freeze for up to 2 months. When you’re ready to bake the cookies, remove it from the freezer and thaw it overnight in the refrigerator. When ready, start back at step 5.
The dough can be made in advance and kept in the refrigerator, tightly wrapped, for up to 3 days.
Nutrition info is based on 1 of 15 cookies using the recipe as it is written and is only to be used as a rough guide. Click to learn how nutrition info is calculated on this website.