Fruit Shaped Linzer Cookies are traditional Linzer cookies with cherry and strawberry shaped cut-outs! Super cute, beautifully spiced, Linzer cookies with jam filling make for a delightful treat!
Cookie dough: Whisk the flour and salt together in a large bowl, set aside.
In the bowl of stand mixer add the butter, sugar, and almond extract and beat them together on medium-high till the mixture turns creamy, 2-3 min. (You can also use electric hand mixer for this).
Add in the eggs along with the ground cinnamon and beat until everything is well incorporated.
Add in the dry mixture in batches and continue to mix as it forms a dough.
Chill: Transfer the dough to wax paper or plastic wrap, enclose the dough and refrigerate for at least an hour.
Prep: Preheat the oven to 350°F / 180 C and line your baking tray with parchment paper; set aside.
Shape: Once chilled, take the dough out and let if rest for 5 minutes at room temperature. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/4-inch thickness and cut out cookies using a 3-inch round cookie cutter. (You will need 2 cookies to make a sandwich cookie.)
Now, cut out cherries and strawberries in the middle of half of the cookies for the fruit jam to beautifully show. You can use back of a small sized piping tip to cut out cherry shapes and smaller heart shape cookie cutter for strawberries.
Bake: Carefully place the cutouts on the prepared baking tray and bake for 12-15 min in a preheated oven.
Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes in the baking tray before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Apply a generous amount of fruit jam on the cookie without the cut-out. and then place the cut-out cookie on top. Press gently to make a sandwich.
Cookie toppings: In a small bowl, melt the white chocolate chips with (about) 1 tsp of oil (coconut or canola) in the microwave for 1 minute, then 20-second intervals; stirring gently after each interval and reheating as necessary. Be careful not to burn it!
Then transfer about 2 TBSP of melted white chocolate to a baggie. Snip a very small corner of the bag and pipe small dots on the jam for the strawberry-shaped cookie to mimic the seeds.
To the rest of the melted white chocolate, add the green gel food color and mix well. Transfer this mixture to another baggie (or piping bag) and cut off a tiny corner. Use this to make the leaves and stems on the cherry cookies. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
These cookies will stay fresh for up to 5 days if stored in an airtight container at room temperature.Place cookies in an airtight container or freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature before serving.