We bring you the recipe for probably the most emblematic Czech Christmas cookies called linecké cukroví (Linzer cookies). This recipe has been prepared by our partner website Creative Mom.
Although the cookies bear the name of the capital of the Upper Austria region (Linz), they are considered Czech by many. As with so many recipes, their origins may be in Austria, however, the Czech lands were part of the Austrian empire and it was common for unmarried Czech girls to work as servants in Austrian households. Therefore, as it was the young Czech girls who prepared all the meals, one of them might have as well been the author of this recipe.
Linzer cookies come quite hard out of the oven and you have to give them time to soften. Nowadays there are many modern recipes for linecké to make the cookies instantly soft but the cookies just don’t taste the same, the pastry is usually dry and with a dusty taste. We assure you that if you take the time and make the cookies in advance you will be amazed with the result.
Supplies:
– 500 g/17.6 oz of all-purpose flour and a little for the table
– 240 g/8.5 oz of powder sugar
– 240 g/8.5 oz of unsalted butter
– 4 egg yolks
– 100 ml/3.4 oz of full-fat milk
– aprox. 400 g/14 oz of 100% red or black currant marmalade – if you can’t get your hands on currant marmalade, use any other but the Linzer cookies taste the best with currant marmalade because it’s acid and contrasts nicely with the sweet dough
– cookie cutters – traditionally round (circle, flower etc.) but you can use any
– round cookie cutter diameter 1 cm/0.4 in
– baking paper and tray
– rolling pin
How to make the Linzer Christmas cookies (linecké)
Combine the flour and sugar in a bowl, then add the egg yolks, milk and butter. The butter should be soft but don’t melt it! Just leave it out of the fridge and at room temperature for some time. The consistency of the butter affects the texture of the dough. Also, you can use alternatives like vegetable fat but the cookies will loose their traditional buttery taste.
Knead the dough with your hands until you get absolutely smooth dough without any lumps.
Sprinkle your table with some flour and roll out the dough, the ideal thickness is somewhere around 5 mm or a little less.
Cut out an even number of cookies and place them on the baking paper on the tray. Then using the small circular cutter, cut out small circles in the middle of half of your cookies.
Preheat the over on 170 °C and bake the cookies for 10 minutes or until they start turning golden. Take them out of the oven and let them cool completely.
Put some marmelade in the center of each cookie without a hole and then place another cookie WITH a hole on the marmelade and press a little with your fingers.
At this point, your cookies will already taste delicious but they will be a little hard. We make the cookies 2-4 weeks before Christmas and let them rest in a cardboard box covered with napkins. They soften nicely during this time. BUT they taste great also when they are still hard, so be sure to try them before!
Before you serve the cookies, sprinkle them with a little powder sugar.
Enjoy!
Be sure to check out our Recipes for more Christmas cookies soon!
