These cookies are my jam.

#sorrynotsorry

I seriously don’t know what took me so long to make these cookies since I’m pretty sure I’ve owned the cookie cutter set for the better part of five years. Maybe it’s because they always looked super intimidating.  Or maybe it’s because they always looked like they were going to take the entire day to make.

And don’t get me wrong.

These little sandwich cookies are pretty time consuming. But they are soooo worth it.

Wondering what exactly a Linzer cookie is?

It’s a smaller version of a Linzertorte!  Originating from Linz, Austria, the Linzertorte is made of a rich buttery dough that is accentuated by almonds and filled with black currant preserves.  However, due to black currant preserves being a bit uncommon in American groceries, raspberry jam has become the jam of choice.

So, a Linzer cookie is a little miniature almond sandwich cookie filled with sweet raspberry jam.

And they’ve become quite the Christmas time tradition.

And that’s the first time I made them.  At Christmas.  But honestly, my obsession with them wouldn’t allow me to wait an entire year before I made these little delights again.  So, I made them for Valentines Day.  And I definitely couldn’t think of a better Valentines-inspired cookie than one that is heart-shaped, and stuffed full of sweet raspberry preserves

But what’s even better?  I’ve made them low carb!

I think my biggest worry about going low carb was eliminating the “fun” stuff from my diet – aka: all the cookies.  Being able to enjoy a cookie here or there makes life so much more enjoyable.  And being able to keep it low carb makes it that much more.

Linzer Cookies

makes 16 cookies * calories: 122 * fat: 11.3g * protein: 3g * net carbs: 2.2g * 

• 6 tbsp. butter, melted
• 2 c. almond flour
• 1/2 c. erythritol
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• about 16 tsp. sugar free raspberry preserves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the melted butter, almond flour, erythritol, and vanilla extract into a bowl until a dough forms.

Place the dough between two sheets of parchment paper and roll out to about 1/8-1/4 inch thickness.  Using the round cookie cutter in the Linzer cookie cutter set, or a heart-shaped cookie cutter of similar size, cut out 32 cookies.  Using the heart-shaped insert, cut hearts out of 16 of the cookies.

Place cookies on cookie sheet about 1 inch apart.  You will need to use a spatula to remove the cookies from the parchment paper, because they are extremely fragile.

Bake cookies in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until slightly golden.

Remove cookies from the oven, and cool for 1-2 minutes prior to removing from baking sheet and allow to cool completely.  Cookies will be much firmer by this point.

Once cookies are completely cooled, take a cookie without the whole, invert it, and spread about 1 tsp. of preserves on top.  Place a top cookie – one of the cookies with the heart-shaped hole – on top and sandwich together.  You can then dust each cookie generously with powdered erythritol for more visual appeal, but I found them sweet enough as-is.

 

 

 

These cookies seriously melt in your mouth.