After drooling in vain over the delicious holiday treats showcased in all the Christmas markets, I decided to stop suffering and come up with my own gluten free Linzer cookies!
When I am home in Italy during the Holidays, we like to take trips to Austria and go see the charming Christmas markets, bustling with life, lights, decorations and, well, mouthwatering delicacies too!! The border that separates Italy from Austria is only a three hour car ride from my hometown, Cremona, and for us is a tradition to head there right before Christmas and soak in all that beautiful (yet freezing) festive atmosphere.
BUT, when it comes to joining their gastronomic tradition, well, that’s not as easy. And it’s particularly impossibile to find a dairy and gluten free version of their delicious Linzer cookies, let alone finding a version that’s also free from grains and made with very little sugar 🙁
As always, when you feel like the free-from options around you are not nearly as satisfying as you would like, baking your own healthy treats is always the best alternative (make sure you read my article The 6 DOs and DON’Ts of Paleo Baking).
The recipe from my gluten free Linzer cookies is also paleo, free from dairy and grains and suitable for those who are done with the elimination phase of the Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) and have already reintroduced almonds and chestnuts (learn more about reintroducing foods on the AIP here).
All you need to know about these Gluten Free Linzer Cookies:
What are Linzer Cookies?
Linzer cookies are a classic Holiday treat that consist of a crumbly pastry made of flour, unsalted butter, egg yolks, lemon zest, cinnamon, lemon juice and ground nuts, sandwiched with a filling of redcurrant jam or raspberry jam.
Their shape is particularly iconic because the top cookie has a small cutout in its center – called the Linzer eye), which exposes the underlying red jam filling.
These gluten free Linzer cookies differ from the original as they are made with only simple, dairy & gluten free ingredients, such as a combination of chestnut and almond flour, and a little coconut oil and milk as binders
Linzer cookies come from Linz, the third largest city in Austria and home to the renowned Linzertorte, a traditional Christmas tart made of a rich buttery dough traditionally filled with black currant preserves.
Linzer cookies originated from the same recipe as the Linzertorte, but the dough, instead of being shaped like a tart is cut into cookies, sandwiched together with a layer of jam.
Unless you eat them within a few hours after you are done baking them, YES, this specific type of gluten free Linzer cookies need to be refrigerated since they filling is not actually jam with sugar (that acts as a preservative), but freshly cooked raspberries.
For the best flavor, allow your refrigerated Linzer cookies to come to room temperature before serving them.
In order to enjoy your gluten free Linzer cookies whit the best, friable texture, it’s best to consume them within 2 to 3 days. Alternatively, you can keep them up to a week if you store the cookies ONLY in an air tight container, and add the jam filling right before serving to avoid them getting too wet.
You are probably wondering: “Can jam filled cookies be frozen?”. The answer is yes and no. YES you can freeze your gluten free Linzer COOKIES, as long as you do that before you fill them with raspberry jam and dust them with chestnut flour!
You will simply freeze all your rounds of cookies and wait until they are completely thawed before you sandwich them together with a freshly prepared filling!
Other Holiday Treats to Bake Along These Gluten Free Linzer Cookies:
If you are looking for other delicious gluten free Christmas treat ideas, make sure to check out:
- My Christmas Morning Smoothie Jar
- My Raw Christmas Truffles
- My Simple Gluten Free Christmas Cookies
- My Chocolate Matcha Gingerbread Cake
You could try them all and set a up a beautiful, healthy Christmas dessert buffet!
Gluten Free Linzer Cookies (Grain & Dairy Free)
Preparation
time:
00:15
Cooking
time:
00:15
No. of
servings:
12
For the Gluten Free Linzer Cookies:
- ½ cup Almond Flour
- ½ cup Chestnut Flour
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 2 tsp Agave Syrup
- 1 ½ tbsp Coconut Oil
- 1 tbsp Full Fat Coconut Milk
For the Raspberry Filling:
- 2/3 cup fresh Raspberries
- ½ tsp Vanilla Extract
- Preheat the oven to 345 F (175 C).
- Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl, mix and knead well until you get a nice ball of dough. To save time, you can combine them in a food processor.
- Divide the dough in half and pat each half into a disc.
- Place one disc of dough over a sheet of parchment paper, cover it with another sheet of paper and roll it down with a rolling pin until about 1/4″ thick.
- Using a round cookie cutter, cut out cookies.
- Gather the scrap dough, roll, and repeat. You should have about 12 cookies
- Cut 12 rounds from the remaining dough, using a Linzer cookie cutter to make peekaboo cutouts in the center.
- Bake all of the cookies for 12 to 15 minutes (until the edges begin to brown) and let them cool.
- In the meantime, prepare the raspberry filling simply by heating up the raspberries and vanilla extract in a small saucepan for a couple of minutes mashing them down with a spoon.
- When your gluten free Linzer Cookies have cooled down completely, place the 12 cookies with the holes on a cookie sheet and sift a little chestnut flour over the top.
- Spoon half a teaspoon of raspberry filling into the center of the remaining cookies, top with the flour-dusted cookies and serve.
I am excited to see your recreations of these gluten free Linzer Cookies! Make sure to take a photo and tag me when you share it on Instagram!! Don’t forget to share this recipe with your friends on Facebook, save it on your favorite Pinterest board and subscribe to my weekly newsletter so that you never miss a post!!
Lots of love and ciao!
Ambra
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2 Comments
This recipe looks so good! Any alternatives to chestnut flour? I’ve not seen that at stores near me.
Thanks Jane! Unfortunately I haven’t tried this recipe without chestnut flour, but I am thinking tigernut might be an option? I would buy some chestnut flour on Amazon (find it linked in my recipe) and stick to the original recipe just to be safe 😉
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