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I absolutely love these Apricot Oat Linzer Cookies made with an oat-pecan-flour dough and apricot jam filling. A wonderful cookie for an autumn tea party or for holiday baking.
The cookie dough in this recipe vaguely reminds me of a graham cracker both in taste and texture, and the apricot jam pairs so well with it. I simply love the combination!
I originally saw this recipe in a recent TeaTime Magazine (Sept/Oct 2023 issue), although they filled theirs with apple butter, which I’m sure is also very tasty. Of course, I tweaked the recipe to suit me, and I am quite happy with the result!
History of Linzer Cookies
The history for these cookies comes from Austrian and German immigrants who brought the tradition and recipe to America. The cookies are named after the Linzertorte, a nut pastry covered with fruit preserves and a lattice top.
Bakers then developed cookies using Linzertorte dough, with cutout shapes of stars, hearts, or circles, with a second cutout in the center of the top cookie (called the Linzer eye). They would then sandwich the two together between jam. Black or red currant preserves are traditional, as is raspberry, but some cooks use lemon curd or even hazelnut chocolate spread.
This recipe takes the traditional dough to a whole new level replacing the almond flour with ground old-fashioned oats and pecans. You could also use English walnuts, if you’re running short on pecans.
I had in mind to use fig jam with this cookie, but after tasting a sample, decided it was too sweet, and much preferred the tartness of the apricot jam. Plus, I made these for a baby shower tea party, and used teddy bear cutouts for the “eye,” but any shape will be lovely.
MORE TEA PARTY COOKIES TO CONSIDER
- Linzer Cookies with Strawberry Preserves
- Black Currant Tea Biscuits
- Chocolate-Coated Raspberry Spritz Cookies
- Russian Tea Cakes
Ingredients for Apricot Oat Linzer Cookies
(See the full recipe at the bottom of this post.)
- all-purpose flour
- old fashioned oats
- pecans (or English walnuts)
- baking powder
- ground cinnamon
- salt
- butter, softened
- granulated sugar
- large egg
- vanilla extract
- apricot jam
- decorating sugar or powdered sugar (optional)
Special Tools for Linzer Cookies
To make Linzer Cookies, you’ll need a pastry rolling pin, an offset spatula, and if possible, a Linzer Cookie Cutter Set.
The traditional size for these cookies is 2-inches, but I’ve made them larger using cookie or biscuit cutters. See my recipe for Linzer Cookies with Strawberry Preserves for how I used them. I now have the special Linzer cookie cutters and purchased the Jokumo brand vs Wilton because of the extra holiday cutouts they offer. They are very sweet and make cutting Linzer cookies quite easy. If you plan to add these cookies to your annual holiday recipes, I would encourage you to add one of these cutting sets to your baking tools.
Instructions for Making this Recipe
Gather your ingredients so that you have everything close at hand on the counter or table. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
Prepare the Flour
Using a food processor, combine the all-purpose flour, old-fashioned oats, and pecans. Pulse to grind into a semi-fine flour.
If desired, you may substitute English walnuts for the pecans, without noticing much difference in taste.
Make the Dough
In a medium bowl, combine the processed flour mixture, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Whisk to combine.
Using a large mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Scrape the bowl as needed. Add the egg and vanilla extract, mixing to combine.
Gradually add the oat mixture to the creamed butter, mixing just to combine. Scrape the bowl as needed, and do not overbeat.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 40 minutes.
Cut Out the Cookies
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and allow it to sit at room temperature for 5 minutes for better workability. Divide the dough in half.
On a lightly floured surface, roll half of the dough out to about 1/8″ thickness. Cut dough with cookie cutters and transfer with an offset spatula to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Repeat until all the dough has been used.
Try to work quickly. If the dough becomes too soft (or sticky), you may refrigerate it for a few minutes until chilled and more workable.
It also helps to dip the cookie cutter (and the offset spatula) in flour before each cut and before transferring cookies to baking sheet, to prevent sticking.
Place the first baking sheet in the refrigerator while you finish up the rest of the cookie dough.
Repeat with the second half of the cookie dough, using the center cutter for the remaining cookies. If desired, you may sprinkle the top half of the cookies with decorating sugar.
Place second baking sheet in refrigerator to chill. Depending on the size of the cookies, you may need a third baking sheet to finish the cookie dough.
Total refrigeration for the cookies is 15-30 minutes.
Bake the Cookies
Place the first baking sheet in a preheated oven and bake for 12-15 minutes, until edges start to turn brown. Allow to cool for 7-8 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack. Repeat with the second and third baking sheets until all the cookies are baked.
Once the cookies have cooled completely, it’s time to assemble them. Pair cutout tops with bottoms, matching size and shapes.
Spoon apricot jam onto the bottom cookies, spreading to the outer edges.
Place the tops of the cookies onto the jam, pressing lightly to attach and line up with the pattern. If the cookies have not already been sprinkled with sugar, you may opt to sprinkle the tops with powdered sugar.
I’ve made these cookies with sugar and without. If you want a bit of decoration or for the cookies to have a bit of sparkle, go ahead and decorate with either sparkling sugar or powdered sugar. But they are also quite good without this topping.
This recipe will make 36-40 assembled cookies. Store in an air-tight container for 5-7 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Serve these pretty sandwich cookies at a tea party or give as Christmas gifts.
See more Cookie Recipes Here. Browse Holiday Baking Ideas Here. View Tea Party Recipes Here.
Apricot Oat Linzer Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup old fashioned oats
- 1/4 cup pecans or English walnuts
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup apricot jam
- 1/2 cup decorating sugar or powdered sugar optional
Instructions
- Gather your ingredients so that you have everything close at hand on the counter or table. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
Prepare the Flour
- Using a food processor, combine the all-purpose flour, old-fashioned oats, and pecans. Pulse to grind into a semi-fine flour.
- (If desired, you may substitute English walnuts for the pecans, with little taste difference.)
Make the Dough
- In a medium bowl, combine the processed oat mixture, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Whisk to combine.
- Using a large mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Scrape the bowl as needed. Add the egg and vanilla extract, mixing to combine.
- Gradually add the oat mixture to the creamed butter, mixing just to combine. Scrape the bowl as needed, and do not overbeat.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about forty minutes.
Cut Out the Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and allow it to sit at room temperature for 5 minutes for better workability. Divide dough in half.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll half of the dough out to about 1/8″ thickness. Cut dough with cookie cutters and transfer with an offset spatula to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Repeat until all the dough has been used.
- Try to work quickly. If the dough becomes too soft (or sticky), you may refrigerate it for a few minutes until chilled and more workable.
- It also helps to dip the cookie cutter (and the offset spatula) in flour before each cut and before transferring cookies to baking sheet, to prevent sticking.
- Place the first baking sheet in the refrigerator while you finish up the rest of the cookie dough.
- Repeat with the second half of the cookie dough, using the center cutter for the remaining cookies. If desired, you may sprinkle the top half of the cookies with decorating sugar.
- Place second baking sheet in refrigerator to chill. Depending on the size of the cookies, you may need a third baking sheet to finish the cookie dough.
- Total refrigeration for the cookies is 15-30 minutes.
Bake and Assemble the Cookies
- Place the first baking sheet in a preheated oven and bake for 10-12 minutes, until edges start to turn brown. Allow to cool for 7-8 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Repeat with the remaining baking sheets until all the cookies are baked.
- Once the cookies have cooled completely, it’s time to assemble them. Pair cutout tops with bottoms, matching size and shapes.
- Spoon apricot jam onto the bottom cookies, spreading the jam to the outer edges.
- Place the tops of the cookies onto the jam, pressing lightly to attach and line up with the pattern.
- If the cookies have not already been sprinkled with sugar, you may opt to sprinkle the tops with powdered sugar.
- This recipe will make 36-40 assembled cookies.
Notes
Nutrition
