Linzer Augen (Linzer Cookies)
Upper Austria's favorite Christmas cookie: a short almond and lemon dough cut into rounds, half of them with peepholes, sandwiched with apricot or red currant jam and dusted with sugar.
Linzer Augen ("Linz eyes") are the cookie version of the Linzer torte. Austria's Ministry of Agriculture says the oldest known recipes for "Linz" cakes are in the 1653 cookbook of Countess Anna Margarita Sagramosa, found in 2005 by Waltraud Faißner in the Admont Abbey library (Codex 35/31); that the first printed Linzer torte recipe is in Conrad Hagger's 1718 Salzburg cookbook; and that the popular claim that Linz confectioner Johann Conrad Vogel invented the torte after 1822 is refuted by older sources. Almonds were its only nut until the late 1800s, lemon peel its main flavor, red currant jam its traditional filling, and in 1856 Franz Hölzlhuber took the recipe to Milwaukee and later sold it there (same source). Upper Austria Tourism ranks Linzer Augen first among the region's five most popular Christmas cookies.
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Why it works the kitchen science
A short almond dough
Ground almonds and confectioners' sugar make a tender, sandy cookie that melts against the jam rather than a crisp one that shatters.
Dust first, then fill
Sugaring the tops before they meet the jam keeps the windows clean and bright.
Step by step
- Step 1
Quickly work all the dough ingredients together with your fingertips or a mixer on low until they just form a dough. Divide in two, flatten into disks, wrap and chill 30 minutes.
- Step 2
Heat the oven to 330°F (165°C) and line baking sheets with parchment.
- Step 3
Roll one disk at a time between two sheets of parchment to 1/8 inch thick; the dough is crumbly, and the paper keeps it together.
- Step 4
Cut 2 1/2-inch rounds. In half of them, cut one or three small holes in the center with a tiny cutter or the wide end of a piping tip.
- Step 5
Bake about 12 minutes, until pale golden at the edges. The windowed tops may be ready a minute sooner. Cool completely on the sheet.
- Step 6
Dust the windowed tops with confectioners' sugar.
- Step 7
Spread about 1 tsp jam on each solid bottom (warm the jam briefly if stiff) and set a top on it, pressing gently so the jam fills the window.
Linzer Augen (Linzer Cookies)
Serves 15 (2 sandwich cookies each) · about 30 sandwich cookies (2 1/2-inch cutter) · 1 hr 35 min total
Dough
- 2 1/2 cups (300 g) all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp (200 g) butter, cold, cut into pieces
- 3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp (100 g) confectioners' sugar
- 1 cup (100 g) blanched almonds, finely ground (or almond flour)
- 2 large egg yolks
- Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
- 4 tsp (20 g) sugar plus 2 tsp vanilla extract (in place of 20 g vanilla sugar)
- A pinch of salt
To fill and finish
- About 2/3 cup (220 g) apricot jam or red currant jelly
- Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
Method
- Quickly work all the dough ingredients together with your fingertips or a mixer on low until they just form a dough. Divide in two, flatten into disks, wrap and chill 30 minutes.
- Heat the oven to 330°F (165°C) and line baking sheets with parchment.
- Roll one disk at a time between two sheets of parchment to 1/8 inch thick; the dough is crumbly, and the paper keeps it together.
- Cut 2 1/2-inch rounds. In half of them, cut one or three small holes in the center with a tiny cutter or the wide end of a piping tip.
- Bake about 12 minutes, until pale golden at the edges. The windowed tops may be ready a minute sooner. Cool completely on the sheet.
- Dust the windowed tops with confectioners' sugar.
- Spread about 1 tsp jam on each solid bottom (warm the jam briefly if stiff) and set a top on it, pressing gently so the jam fills the window.
Adapted from Upper Austria Tourism, "The five most popular Christmas cookies," our Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe, Linzer Augen, doubled and converted to US amounts. The source gives no rolling thickness, cutter size, chilling time or yield; 1/8 inch, a 2 1/2-inch cutter, 30 minutes and about 30 sandwiches are ours. Its 165°C is converted to 330°F. Austrian vanilla sugar is replaced with sugar plus vanilla extract, our swap. upperaustria.com. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (2)
Tips
- Upper Austria Tourism's tip: roll this crumbly dough between two baking mats or strong freezer bags.
- Filled cookies soften over a day or two, which many Austrians prefer; store in a tin with parchment between layers.
- Red currant jelly is the Linzer tradition per the Ministry; apricot is the source's first choice for the cookies.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Johann Conrad Vogel invented the Linzer torte. Folklore: the Ministry of Agriculture says older sources refute it and that, shortly after Vogel's death, the Linzer Tagespost noted the torte was made long before he came to Linz.
- The Linzer torte is the world's oldest cake. Disputed wording: the Ministry calls the 1653 recipe the oldest known cake recipe named after a place; travel and food media often shorten that to "the oldest cake".
- Use hazelnuts. Disputed: the Ministry says almonds were the only nut until the late 1800s and hazelnuts arrived around 1900; mixed nuts are common now. This recipe keeps almonds, as Upper Austria Tourism does.
- Red currant, not raspberry. Documented as the torte's tradition (Ministry); American Linzer cookies usually use raspberry jam, a house choice.
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