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Gingerbread Linzer Cookies

Gingerbread Linzer cookies are spiced sandwich cookies filled with raspberry preserves and finished with powdered sugar. Chilled dough rolls thin for crisp-edged cookies with a peek of ruby-red filling.
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Chilling 1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 5 minutes
Servings: 24 sandwich cookies
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Calories: 200
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

For the cookies
  • 2.75 cup all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
  • 1 cup almond flour finely ground
  • 0.5 tsp baking powder
  • 0.5 tsp table salt
  • 2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 0.25 tsp ground cloves
  • 0.25 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1 cup butter unsalted, softened
  • 0.67 cup brown sugar packed, light
  • 0.25 cup molasses unsulfured, not blackstrap
  • 1 egg yolk large
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the filling
  • 0.5 cup raspberry preserves
For finishing
  • 0.25 cup powdered sugar

Equipment

  • 2 baking sheets
  • 1 electric mixer

Method
 

Make the dough
  1. Whisk the all-purpose flour, almond flour, baking powder, table salt, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, and ground nutmeg in a medium bowl.
  2. In a large bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes.
  3. Beat in the molasses, egg yolk, and vanilla extract until smooth.
  4. Mix the dry ingredients into the butter mixture on low speed just until combined, scraping the bowl as needed.
  5. Divide the dough in half, shape into disks, wrap, and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.
Cut and bake the cookies
  1. Heat the oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. Roll one disk between sheets of parchment to 1/8 inch thick and cut 2 1/2-inch rounds.
  3. Cut a 1-inch window from the center of half the rounds, rerolling scraps as needed.
  4. Arrange the cookies about 1 inch apart on the prepared sheets and repeat with the remaining disk.
  5. Refrigerate the cutouts for 15 minutes.
  6. Bake one sheet at a time for 8 to 10 minutes, until the edges are set and the tops look dry.
  7. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 5 minutes.
  8. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and cool completely.
Assemble the cookies
  1. Sift the powdered sugar over the windowed cookies.
  2. Spread about 1 teaspoon of raspberry preserves on each whole cookie.
  3. Top each whole cookie with a windowed cookie.

Notes

For clean cutouts that hold their shape, chill the dough until firm and refrigerate the cut cookies before baking. Store assembled cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days; freeze unfilled cookies for up to 2 months. For a gluten-free variation, use a 1:1 gluten-free baking flour in place of the all-purpose flour.