Pistachio Raspberry Linzer Cookies

Pistachio linzer cookies filled with a raspberry jam center and topped with powdered sugar.

Delicious linzer cookies with a jammy raspberry filling. So yummy! While linzer cookies are typically a holiday/winter time dessert, I was craving them this weekend and decided to make a spin off.

What are linzers? The Linzer torte is a traditional Austrian pastry, a form of shortcake topped with fruit preserves and sliced nuts with a lattice design on top. It is named after the city of Linz, Austria. In Linz, these bakers would mix up a batch of Linzer torte dough, but instead of making a pie, they would cut out shapes such as stars, circles or hearts. Half of the shapes would get second cutouts in the center.

Below, I’ll walk you through how to make them:

The Set Up

You’re going to want to mix all of your dry ingredients in one bowl and all of your wet ingredients in your stand mixer. Reserve 1/3 cup of brown sugar and blend with your pistachios in a ninja bullet/or food processor. The pistachios really end up elevating the flavor of these cookies.

After the dough comes together, you’ll divide it into two discs and refridgerate. If you’re in a crunch you can pop them in the freezer to reduce the chilling time. When you roll out the dough, it might be sticky. If this is the case, add more flour to your surface and rolling pan as well as the dough itself to help it come together and roll better. Do this 1 tbsp at a time.

If you don’t have a round cookie cutter, that’s alright! I use a mini juice glass to cut rounds out of the dough and it works just fine. I also used a cannoli cylinder (why I have this and not a regular small cookie cutter, i don’t know…) for the inner circle part.

To get the perfect powdered sugar topping, make sure you add the sugar to the holed cookie halves before sandwiching the cookies together. Otherwise, you’ll cover the beautiful raspberry jelly filling. Full recipe is below, hope you enjoy!

Pistachio Linzer Cookies

Difficulty: easy
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2/3 cup (65g) shelled pistachios*
2/3 cup (135g) packed light or dark brown sugar, divided
2 and 1/2 cups (300g) all-purpose flour plus more for rolling out
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks; 240g) unsalted butter, softened to
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup (160g) raspberry jam or jelly (or any flavor!)
2 Tablespoons (16g) confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Instructions

Place the pistachios and 1/3 cup (67g) brown sugar in a nutribullet or food processor. Pulse into a very fine crumb. Set aside.
Whisk the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
In a large bowl using a hand-held or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and remaining 1/3 cup (67g) brown sugar together on high speed until completely smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla extract, and beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine.
Add the flour mixture AND the ground pistachio mixture to the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined. It will be crumbly at first, but will come together after a couple minutes of mixing.
Divide the dough into 2 equal portions, gently flatten into discs, and wrap each in plastic wrap. Chill the discs in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. If chilling for longer than 3 hours, allow to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before rolling because the dough will be quite hard.
Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper
Remove 1 disc of chilled cookie dough from the refrigerator. Generously flour a work surface, as well as your hands and the rolling pin. The dough may become sticky as you work, so keep extra flour nearby to use as needed. Alternatively, the dough may crack when rolling out. Wait a few minutes for it to soften back up. The more you work with it, the softer (and easier to work with) it will become. Roll out the disc until 1/4 inch thick. Using a cookie cutter cut dough into circles. Reroll the remaining dough and continue cutting until all is used. Repeat with the second disc of dough. You should have about 64 circles.
Using a smaller cookie cutter cut a hole into the center of 32 of the circles. Let’s call these 32 cookies the “donut cookies” because of that center hole.
Arrange the whole circles and the donut cookies 2 inches apart and on separate baking sheets (because the donut cookies take 1 less minute to bake).
Bake the whole circles for about 11 minutes, or until lightly browned around the edges, and bake the donut cookies for about 10 minutes. Rotate the baking sheets halfway through the bake time. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes. Dust the “donut cookies” with confectioners’ sugar, then transfer all of the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely before assembling.
Spread 1/2 teaspoon of jam on each whole cookie. Carefully top each with a donut cookie and press down gently to create a cookie sandwich.
Cookies will stay fresh covered at room temperature for 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.