Raspberry Linzer Snowflake Cookies

Happy Friday my loves! I know Friday’s we usually do My Five Friday Finds, but since I just posted a gift guide, I thought I’d switch it up this week and post a yummy Christmas recipe!

Linzer tart cookies are one of my all time favorites, so I wanted to share this beautifully delicious recipe with you to switch things up with Santa!

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

• 4 oz. slivered and blanched almonds, (about 1 cup)

• ¼ cup cornstarch

• ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened (1 ¼ sticks)

• 2/3 cup powdered sugar, plus more for sprinkling

• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

• 1 cup + 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling

• ½ cup seedless raspberry jam

First, pulse the almonds and cornstarch in a food processor, until they are finely ground. In a standard mixer with a fairly large bowl, beat the butter and powdered sugar until smooth. Increase the speed to high and beat until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides. Lower the speed medium and add in the vanilla, salt and vegetable oil. Make sure you get the extra on the sides of the bowl!

Put the mixer on low and slowly alternate adding the almond mixture and flour. Mix until completely combined; again don’t forget the sides of the bowl! Divide the dough into two pieces. Flatten them in a strip of plastic wrap, and wrap tightly and refrigerate dough until firm.

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and set aside. Sprinkle flour on a flat, dry surface to make sure the dough doesn’t stick to the table! Roll out one half of the dough until about 1/4" thick. Using a floured cookie cutter, cut out your cookies. For half the cookies, you'll leave the cookie whole while the other half, you will cut out the centers of the cookies with another prepared cookie cutter. (I used snowflake shapes, but you can use whatever cookie cutter you have on hand as long as the cutter that is used for the centers is smaller than the size of the cookie cutter used to create the main cookie shapes.)

Next, transfer to a prepared baking sheet, setting the cookies about 1" apart from one another. Repeat this process with the second round of dough until all cookies have been formed and transferred to the baking sheets. Bake in the oven for 17-20 minutes, or until the edges have turned golden brown. Once out of the oven, place the cookies to a wire rack for cooling.

Sprinkle additional powdered sugar on top of the cooled cookies with cut-out centers. In a small bowl, heat the jam until slightly warm, and stir until smooth. Spread the top of the whole cookies with a tablespoon of jam, then place the cookies with the cut-out centers on top of them and enjoy!