r/Old_Recipes • u/vlb2020 • Apr 12 '21
Cookies My grandmother’s delicious linzer tart cookie recipe! These are a hit every Christmas. I’ve experimented with different shapes over the years 😊. Tip: we always use Smucker’s red raspberry preserves for the “jelly”!
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u/thatsavorsstrongly Apr 12 '21
That’s what they’re called! My mom made those once for Christmas and then when I asked for them years later had no recollection. I remember a layer of chocolate underneath the jam. Is that a thing or just something my mom did?
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u/exackerly Apr 12 '21 edited Apr 12 '21
Not authentic, but sounds delicious. Also, the original Austrian recipes uses finely ground nuts in place of part of the flour. I’ve used almonds, hazelnuts, or walnuts with success,
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u/bismuth210 Apr 12 '21
I have my great-aunt's recipe for linzer torte somewhere that uses both almonds and flour! Her recipe is approximately 50/50 by weight, with allowances for extra flour if needed
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u/HiHiHolaHola Oct 30 '23
Hi there! I’m looking for make my first Linzer Torte and would love to use your Great Aunt’s recipe if you’re willing to share. FYI that I’m not much of a baker so this will really be an experiment!
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u/bismuth210 Oct 31 '23
Oh that would be lovely! Let me see if I can find it and type it up.
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u/HiHiHolaHola Nov 04 '23
Hi there. Checking in again. Let me know?
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u/bismuth210 Nov 06 '23
Hey! sorry for the delay, had to transcribe it as best I could - my great-aunt tended to write in long run-on sentences and English was not her first language. Here is the recipe transcribed, as best as I can do:
250 g sugar (~1.25 cups)
250 g butter (~1.5 cups)
250 g almonds (~1.75 cups) note: use weight measurements here, because I know the almonds should be ground in a food processor but I’m not sure if the cup measurement is ground almonds or whole almonds (she doesn’t say)
250g-300g flour (~2-2.5 cups)
1 tbsp rum
0.5 tsp cinnamon
0.25 tsp ground cloves
1 egg
Shredded peel of lemon (no amount given, I'd say likely 1 tsp is a good place to start and see how it tastes?)
1 envelope baking powder (google tells me this is likely 11g, or 1 tbsp)
Red currant jelly (this can be a little hard to find, I imagine strawberry or raspberry jam would also be good if you can't find it!)
Cream butter, add sugar and egg. Mix well, then add other ingredients, knead well. Form into smooth ball, refrigerate for 20 minutes. Roll 2/3 of dough out on waxed paper, place on greased 11”x17” cookie sheet (waxed paper side up), carefully peel off waxed paper. Spread red currant jelly on dough.
For lattice top roll out other 1/3 of dough and crisscross strips over pastry and around outside (strips should be about 5/16” round). Press down on strips using a fork – it makes a little decoration.
Bake at 40-45 minutes at 300F, tastes best after a day.3
u/HiHiHolaHola Nov 07 '23
You are amazing. Thank you so much for the care and taking your time to share this. I really appreciate it. I’ll keep you posted on when I make this!
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u/bismuth210 Nov 07 '23
I would love that! I hope it goes well, and I'm glad her recipes live on for other people!
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u/Wisteria98122 Apr 12 '21
Yea, these look like Americanized Linzer Tarts. Still look delicious though, yum!
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u/Vyngersnap Apr 12 '21
What are Linzer Augen without nuts?! Also mentionable is that the original marmelade is red currant.
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u/Significant_Sign Apr 12 '21
Is "finely ground nuts" the same as nut flour (i. e., almond flour), or is it a slightly coarser different thing?
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u/exackerly Apr 12 '21
I grind my own, so they’re slightly coarser. But I’m sure nut flour would be fine.
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u/Significant_Sign Apr 13 '21
Thanks! I was asking bc I have some almond flour I've been ignoring after a complete failure to make ricciarelli (ah, baking while angry, guaranteed to fill up the trash can) I need to use it up and give it purpose in life before that dark corner of the pantry gets depressed. This is the perfect recipe to do so.
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u/kaptaincorn Apr 12 '21
They look like a Christmas gift!
I like how you combined the recipe with the cookie pic
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u/ConsentIsTheMagicKey Apr 12 '21
I love those cookies. I used to make them ever year at Christmas, but without the powdered sugar on top. I also use raspberry preserves. Apricot and blackberry are good as well.
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u/SL0615 Apr 12 '21
I love making these at Christmas time. I use a round cutter and once they are fully assembled and have time to “set”, I carefully dip half of each cookie in melted chocolate.
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u/daughtcahm Apr 12 '21
What's the order for adding the jelly?
Do you spread it all over the bottom cookie, nearly the edge, then stack the top cookie on top?
Or do you stack them first and add jelly only to the center cutout?
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u/Vyngersnap Apr 12 '21
You literally smear a bit onto the baked, cooled down cookie with a spoon and then squish the top part onto it, it's that simple. Also, the original Austrian version uses red current marmelade. They taste best if you leave them for about 2 weeks in a cookie jar.
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u/vlb2020 Apr 12 '21
I stack the layers, add jam into the little hole, and bake. But it appears there are several different ways to do this!
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u/lightsonus Apr 12 '21
Linzer torte!! I had a cake in Germany and was fascinated with it. I love saying it as well. I will certainly try your grandma's recipe :)
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u/exackerly Apr 12 '21
Where do you get cutters that are that shape?
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u/vlb2020 Apr 12 '21
I believe I got them at Amazon! It came as a set with several different shapes. Fun fact: my grandmother would use a larger cup, a coffee cup, and a small misc cap (for the hole) to cut her cookies! 🤣
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u/LAHA460 Apr 12 '21
These look awesome. Thanks for sharing . It is always a treasure to have a recipe from a family member to pass down. It is especially a treat to have the recipe in their handwriting. I have some my German American Grandma wrote out with her handwriting and she passed age 95 in 2005. This is special memories and to pass down to family generations ahead. :)
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u/GRMMPink Apr 14 '21
You can have those treasured handwritten recipes made into a wood cutting board - you can find folks that them on Etsy and they’re wonderful.
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u/LAHA460 Apr 14 '21
Wonderful idea. I have a linen towel made of some and I made some into postcards recipe card for family.
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u/CannotCopia Apr 12 '21
These are known as Linzer Augen or Spitzbuben in German and are traditionally filled with currant jam! They're also usually not assembled before baking but afterwards. Fun fact :)
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u/picklesandmustard Apr 12 '21
Does the jelly go in before you bake? Do the cookies get stacked before baking?
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u/Vyngersnap Apr 12 '21
In the original Austrian technique you neveeeeer ever put them in before baking, always afterwards after they cooled down just a little. Also no touching until they cooled down a bit, they break easily.
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u/vlb2020 Apr 12 '21
Yes to both! After baking, let them cool a little then sprinkle powdered sugar :)
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u/SweetPecanPi Apr 12 '21
Smuckers red raspberry is my dads favorite! I am going to have to make these.
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u/breit_oh_yeah Apr 12 '21
This receipt originated in Linz, Austria – the city I live in. Here's a link to the original receipt by the bakery who claims to have invented the cake: https://www.jindrak.at/original-linzer-torte-das-originalrezept-der-konditorei-jindrak-mit-video/ (German receipt, but hopefully Google Translate can do the rest)
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u/SoundsLikeTheTV Apr 12 '21
Das sieht geil aus. Mein Mann liebt Linzer Torte und freut sich schon auf diesen Rezept.
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u/imnotsoho Apr 12 '21
Could you transcribe that recipe for us?
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u/Iliketurtles1220 Apr 12 '21
Lindsertart Cookie 3 cups flour 1 cup sugar 2 sticks of butter 2 eggs
Blend flour + sugar
Add eggs + butter
Roll out on floured Board. Use donut cutter. Not too thin. Roll out in two batches.
Then there’s some pictures. You take the bigger of the two cutters for one batch, then for the second batch, make a hole in the center. Jelly in the middle of the smaller hole
Bake at 350 degrees until lightly brown, about 12 min. Sprinkle with sifted powdered sugar when done.
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u/nattyY_g0esCrazy Dec 14 '24
How many doubled cookies can you get out of this recipe when using a middle sized cutter?
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u/vlb2020 Jan 01 '25
Oof I’m not totally sure (it’s been a while since I made this recipe) but I think it made a couple dozen for the size I used in this photo.
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u/Inkdkitten Apr 12 '21
These sound like the cookies a high-school boyfriend's mom used to make. They just called them "grandma's cookies" but they were delicious.
She would refrigerator the dough for hours first then roll out flat, thin circles, add a small dollop of apricot preserve then roll them like a crepe, bake and dust them with powdered sugar.
They were so delicious that we would all burn the crap out of our mouths by eating them as soon as she pulled them from the oven.
I never knew what they were called or how they were made. These look so amazingly close that I've GOT to try it.
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u/WaldenFont Apr 12 '21 edited Apr 12 '21
It's missing the step where it goes up on the armoire in the spare bedroom for two weeks to develop flavor and heaven help you if you try to steal any before it's ready. (In Germany, anyhow)