A Simple Recipe for Merry Christmas: Delightful Linzer Cookies
Have Fun & Enjoy! 😊
Linzer cookies were invented in Austria, where they are traditionally baked for Christmas. Then these beautiful and delicious cookies became popular all over the world! And not just for the holidays. The addition of almond flour makes them healthier (you can grind several nuts in a coffee grinder/blender. You can also use walnuts or pecans. Lastly, you can use only regular al-purpose wheat flour :)) For a gluten-free option, white rice flour+almond flour is the way to go.
You can cook together with children, it will be real fun for them! And for adults too 😊 I already wrote about how cooking can become a form of dynamic meditation, switching your brain from the usual worries to the expectation of a pleasant result. Small daily achievements like these are important, they support and strengthen your self-confidence. And the hormone of happiness dopamine, released as a result, will lift your mood even more!
Everything is VERY simple: melt unsalted butter in the microwave for 30–35 seconds or take the butter out of the fridge in the evening so that it softens by the morning (you need 110–170g of butter = 1/2–3/4 cup = 1–1½ stick.) Add 1 tsp of vanilla extract (or a packet of vanilla sugar. You can skip this step), 4–5tbsp of sugar and 2eggs to the butter and mix everything. In another bowl, mix 1½ cups all-purpose flour, ½ cup almond flour and ½ tsp baking powder. Combine liquid and dry ingredients. Place the soft dough in the refrigerator for half an hour, this will make it easier to roll out. The cutters for this dough are traditionally round, but you can use any. Instead of special round cutters (which I don’t have), I use a regular glass + a cream injector 😊 If you don’t have any cutters, you can also use any cup + a knife to cut out a triangle in the center :)
Bake for 10–15 minutes at 160C(=320F). Everyone’s oven is different, so check the readiness. Immediately after the baking, the cookies are very soft and it is better to wait several minutes until they cool down to easy assemble the halves. Put any jam on the lower half and cover with the upper half. According to tradition, these cookies are also sprinkled on top with powdered sugar like snow, but this is also not necessary. That’s all! These cookies will decorate your holiday table and will successfully complement gifts for family and friends 😊
If you want to put them in gift boxes, you can put jam on the bottom halves and cover with the top halves BEFORE baking, which will make the jam very thick. And the smell of baking (especially magical in this case) will activate your parasympathetic nervous system (responsible for relaxation and healing), will give you feeling of joy and that everything will be good!
Feel free to comment if you have any questions.
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