Salted Caramel Christmas Linzer Cookies
These salted caramel Christmas linzer cookies are made with a buttery, almond flour shortbread cookie, a decadent caramel sauce, and a generous dusting of powdered sugar.
Ingredients
For the spiced linzer cookies:
- 240 g (2 cups) all-purpose flour
- 110 g (1 cup + 2 tbsp) almond flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ginger
- ¼ teaspoon cloves
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 227 g (1 cup) unsalted butter, 2 sticks, room temp
- 150 g (¾ cup) granulated sugar
- 1 egg, room temp
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
- powdered sugar for dusting
For the caramel sauce:
- 100 g (½ cup) granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 15 g (1 tablespoon) water
- 42 g (3 tablespoon) unsalted butter, room temp
- 56 g (¼ cup) heavy cream, lukewarm
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
Instructions
For the spiced linzer cookies:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, almond flour, spices (optional), and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg and vanilla to the butter, sugar mixture, and mix until fully combined.
- Add the dry ingredients in two batches, mixing on low speed until everything is mostly combined.
- Use a rubber spatula to scrape the bottom of the bowl and finish combining the dough.
- Divide the dough in two, shape into disks, and wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Chill in the fridge for at least one hour or up to a few days.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- On a lightly floured surface (or between two floured pieces of parchment paper), roll out one disk of dough to ¼" in thickness. Use a 2 ½" - 3" fluted round cutter and a small snowflake cutter. Cut out an even number of solid cookies and cookies with a snowflake cutout.
- Place all cutout cookie dough in the freezer for 10 minutes. Place the scrap cookie dough back in the fridge for about 15 minutes before re-rolling.
- Bake the frozen cutout cookies for about 10 minutes. Bake the small snowflakes for about 8 minutes.
- Allow cookies to cool completely on the baking sheet.
- Repeat with the remaining cookie dough.
For the caramel sauce:
- In a small saucepan, whisk together the sugar, salt, cream of tartar, and water.
- Heat over medium high heat, swirling (not stirring) often to encourage even cooking. When it comes to a boil reduce heat to medium.
- When the color turns an even medium amber color remove from heat and add the butter one tablespoon at a time, whisking to combine. Whisk in the heavy cream and vanilla.
- Transfer to a glass jar to cool, then chill in the fridge overnight.
For assembly:
- Pair the linzer cookies up and sprinkle powdered sugar on the top snowflake cutout cookies.
- Spread a thin layer of caramel sauce on the bottom cookie, then place the paired cookie on top.
- Sprinkle the caramel center with flaky sea salt and enjoy!
Notes
- I recommend making the caramel sauce the day before the cookies will be assembled so it has time to thicken up in the fridge overnight.
- I also prefer to make the cookie dough the day before and let it chill overnight, but they can be baked the same day so long as the dough has at least one hour to chill in the fridge.
- Store these cookies in the fridge for 3-5 days.
Nutrition Facts
Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 188kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 32mg | Sodium: 51mg | Potassium: 21mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 312IU | Vitamin C: 0.03mg | Calcium: 17mg | Iron: 1mg
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