Gluten free Linzertorte cookies are one of the few desserts that can be described as dainty, impressive, versatile and delicious. This gluten free Linzer Cookie recipe proves they can be easy to make, too!
I don’t profess to bake a lot of 350-year-old recipes, but the allure of the Linzertorte was too much to resist, having seen and heard so much about this Austrian treat.
While the recipe below isn’t the exact one found in 1653, little has changed over the years — a testament to the Linzertorte’s staying power. It must be delicious to have remained basically unchanged for so long.
Hailing from Linz, Austria (the birthplace of that other delicacy, Pez Candy!), this dessert takes several forms today (especially in North America).
You can make one large tart, several small ones or make them into cookies. I’ve seen it made into bars, as well.
Any way you slice it (pun intended) what awaits your tastebuds is a light, crumbly, aromatic crust bursting with sweet raspberry or black currant filling!
You’re going to love this recipe! As will ALL of your friends and family!
Gluten Free Linzertorte Recipe
Gluten Free Linzertorte (Linzer Tarts) Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter or non-dairy alternative (e.g. Earth Balance® Buttery Sticks), room temperature
- 2/3 cup lightly packed brown sugar
- 1 large egg (or favorite egg substitute)
- 1/2 cup toasted almonds, ground*
- 1 1/2 cups gfJules™ Gluten Free All Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- confectioner’s sugar for dusting
Filling Ingredients:
- 1 cup fresh or frozen and thawed raspberries
- 1/3 – 1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam
Instructions
Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add in egg and beat. Slowly stir in the dry ingredients: ground almonds, gfJules Gluten Free™ All Purpose Flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Mix until thoroughly incorporated. Shape dough into a disc and wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, or until cold and no longer sticky.
Preheat oven to 375° F (static) or 350° F (convection).
Pull off pieces of cold dough and press into the bottom and up the sides of a large tart pan (9-inch) or 4 small tart pans with removable bottoms. The dough will rise when baked, so keep this layer of dough thin. Prick bottoms with a fork in several places to prevent bubbles from forming in the dough. Bake tart pan(s) for 12 minutes then remove to a cooling rack.
Roll out remaining dough onto a clean surface or baking mat lightly dusted with gfJules™ All Purpose Flour or cornstarch. Roll to the thickness of a graham cracker – approximately 1/8 – inch thick. Cut out strips to use as lattice or use small cookie cutters to cut out shapes like hearts, circles, stars, leaves … if using small tart pans, use miniature cookie cutters; if using one large tart pan, the cutters can be 1 – 3 inches. If making a lattice design, skip this bake step and see below. For cookies, place them onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake in still heated oven for 5-8 minutes, depending on the size of your cookie cutters. Remove cookies once golden brown but not crispy. Set out to cool on a wire rack.
Meanwhile, spoon jam and berries into a small saucepan and warm over low heat, stirring until thinner and pourable. Once warmed, spoon jam over the centers of each tart, creating a 1/8 – inch thick layer of jam and berries. If making lattice, weave the design on top of the jam-covered tart. Return tart(s) to still heated oven and bake for another 10-12 minutes for smaller tarts, 20-25 minutes for the larger tart.
Lay cookies on top of the jam in a pattern or random design, then dust with confectioner’s sugar before serving.
Note: This recipe may also be used for making Linzer Cookies, by cutting cookies with a larger cutters and cutting one small hole in the center of every other cookie. Bake according to cookie directions above. When cooled, spread each cookie without a hole cut in the center with the raspberry filling; top with a cookie with a hole cut out. Dust with confectioner’s sugar before serving.
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Do I still blind bake the bottom crust of the torte if I’m doing a lattice top?
Hi Jared, the blind bake is really just for pies that don’t get baked themselves afterwards, so no need to do that if you’re baking a top crust as well. Hope that helps!
~jules
I love that you added more berries to the jam, and I definitely want to try making these soon! I even found the proper cookie cutters!
Wonderful! I can’t wait to hear how they turn out – have fun!
~jules
Everything looks so delicious!
Thank you, Bethany! I hope you get to try some of the recipes soon!
~jules
How long will the cookies hold up-if I don’t put jam in them until I put them out. How far ahead of time can I bake them? Trying to get things done before Christmas, but if they will end up falling apart, then I’ll wait til next week…
Thanks!
Tara
I kept mine in a tupperware with jam on them for several days; don’t think I’d try it this far ahead of Christmas though! You could put the jam on now though, and freeze the cookies -that’d probably be fine. Try it now, freeze them and take them out in a few days to see how they do. That way you’ll have time to make them closer to Christmas if you’d rather.
Is the almond necessary in this recipe? I would like to make it to share with someone who has nut allergies?
Why don’t you try gluten-free oats instead of the almonds? You need something comparable to the almonds in terms of bulk for the recipe, so go for something like that instead. Enjoy!