Bake a batch of gluten free Linzer cookies! Seeing these all over social media recently, I couldn’t resist posting a recipe. My take on the rich, short and tender cookie is gluten free and low FODMAP and instead of jam swaps in a zesty passionfruit and cranberry curd. Simple, sweet and delicious, using ready made curd means you only have to focus on the cookie dough itself and the stamping out of shapes is the kind of therapeutic task I’m all about right now. Melt-in-your-mouth, these biscuits are the best snack throughout Christmas.
Gluten free Linzer cookie recipe notes:
- Use could use a round cookie cutter for this recipe instead of a fluted cutter – likewise mix up the shapes you cut out of the middle of the biscuits
- Swap the curd for jam if that’s what you have, it will be equally as delicious
- Because of the high quantity of butter the dough does get soft quickly, so work as fast as you can. If at any point it feels like it’s getting too soft, just pop it in the fridge to firm up
- Monash says up to 12g of whole almonds are low FODMAP, or up to 24g of almond meal – either way, 75g divided between 25 sandwich cookies is well under limit
- Keep an eye on how many tops and bottoms you’ve stamped out, so that you have as even amount as possible
Ingredients
290g gluten free plain flour (I use FREEE)
1 teaspoon xanthan gum (this helps to bind the cookie and helps with the short texture)
1/4 teaspoon salt
75g ground almonds
200g butter
175g caster sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon good quality vanilla extract
small amount of curd to fill the biscuits
icing sugar, to decorate
Method
To make the cookie dough, sift the flour, xanthan gum and salt together in a large bowl. Stir through the ground almonds.
In a separate bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Whisk together the whole egg and egg yolk and beat them gradually into the butter and sugar mix. Add the dry ingredients in a few stages and mix in until the mixture forms a soft dough. Divide into four pieces and wrap each in cling film, pressing them down to form a disc. The dough will feel really soft at this stage but by putting it in the fridge overnight, the gluten free flour has a chance to hydrate and suck up some of that moisture, making it easier to roll.
The next morning, or up to 48 hours later, remove your first batch of dough from the fridge and preheat your oven to 160C fan. Get a couple of baking sheets at the ready. Roll out the dough between two pieces of baking paper until about 3mm thick. Because of the high quantity of butter the dough does get soft quickly, so work as fast as you can. Using a 6cm cookie cutter, stamp out as many biscuits as the dough allows, lifting up the scraps around the cookies, if you can and keeping to one side for later. Place the baking paper with the stamped out cookies on one of the baking trays and chill until firm (about 10 minutes). This helps stop the cookies from spreading. Repeat this process with the second portion of dough.
When firm, bake the cookies for 10 minutes, or until just turning golden at the edges. They’ll keep cooking on the hot tray, so gently slide the parchment paper with the cookies onto a cooling rack to cool fully.
While the first batch of cookies are baking, I like to start rolling out the second batch (my small fridge only has a limited amount of space!). Repeat the instructions above, but this time, stamp out a small shape in the centre of each cookie as well. I used a mini star shape and a mini fluted cutter, but you can use any shape you like. With the mini stamped out shapes, you can either add them to your ball of scraps and re roll, or bake them as they are for chef’s perks!
Bake the cookies as above, for 10 minutes or so. If you have kept the mini cookie shapes intact, they’ll be done after about 6 minutes, so keep an eye on them. Repeat with any remaining scraps of dough.
Once all of the cookies are baked and cooled they can be filled. Separate the cookie tops and cookie bottoms. Dust the cookie tops liberally with icing sugar and place 1/2 a teaspoon of curd on each cookie bottom, spreading it out slightly but leaving a small gap at the edges. Sandwich the cookies together, being careful to not smudge the icing sugar tops.
Notes:
The curd will make the cookies softer over time. Still delicious – but better eaten sooner rather than later.
You can freeze the uncooked dough in discs, wrapped tightly, for a couple of months. Simply defrost overnight in the fridge and roll out as directed. You can also freeze baked cookies, without the filling, tightly wrapped or in an airtight container for up to 1 month. Defrost at room temperature.
In case you’re after a few more Christmas recipes:
– Easiest soda bread, that goes with anything from soup to jam
– Sweet and crunchy chocolate dipped biscotti (remove the nuts or include a smaller amount to make low FODMAP + vegan option)
– Pork, chestnut and sage stuffing, with zesty clementine
– Big, beautiful, beer batter Yorkshire puddings
– Mince pies!
– Chewy white chocolate and macadamia nut cookies
– Sticky ginger flapjacks
– Clementine and almond mini bundt cakes
– Pancakes with pineapple, papaya and cardamom compote
