These gluten free linzer cookies are one of our family’s favorite cookies.  Linzer cookies are popular Austrian holiday cookies that I know you will love, too! These cookies are easy to make, and you can fill them with jam, Nutella, frosting, or anything you like!

Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year…and not just because I get to make and eat a lot of cookies! 🙂 This cookie idea is also perfect as a Christmas cookie exchange recipe.

Linzer cookies are also perfect to use as a Christmas cookie exchange recipe. Your friends will love how pretty these cookies are! It is my favorite time of year, and today we celebrate with linzer tart cookies. If you are a cookie fanatic like me, you will want to check out all of my gluten free cookie recipes.

Rows of linzer cookies dusted with powdered sugar.
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King Arthur, Measure for Measure Flour 3 lbs

This is one of my favorite gluten-free flour blends for cookies, cakes, pie crust, biscuits, and muffins! (Do not use this flour blend for yeast recipes.)

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Ingredient Notes:

Photos of the linzer cookies ingredients.
  • Gluten Free Flour Blend – I tested this recipe using Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten Free Flour Blend and King Arthur’s Measure for Measure Gluten Free Blend. That doesn’t mean others will not work; I have not tested other flours.
  • Cane sugar
  • Xanthan Gum – If your gluten free flour blend doesn’t contain Xanthan Gum or Guar Gum, you must add it. See the Substitutions section for a gum-free option.
  • Almond Flour – I highly suggest using almond flour and not almond meal. Almond meal is more coarse and will make your donuts grainy.
  • Salt
  • Eggs – Use size large.
  • Butter – Use unsalted butter. See the Substitutions Section Below for a dairy-free version.
  • Nutella – Read to ensure your Nutella or chocolate hazelnut spread is gluten free.

Substitutions:

  • For best results, take special care to measure correctly. If you add in too much gluten free flour or other ingredients, it can mess with the cookies as they bake. If they don’t have the proper ratios of ingredients, you may end up with a baking disaster.
  • Chill the dough when possible. I know you are probably ready to eat your cookies, but taking a few minutes to chill the batter makes them less likely to spread.
  • Use a cooled cookie sheet when baking. Don’t take a hot cookie sheet and put the batter on it, or I promise the cookies won’t turn out. They start baking immediately, and it messes with their shape of them. Use a couple of sheets and rotate them out when making large batches of cookies.
  • Don’t let the cookies sit on the pan too long. After they have baked, only let them sit for up to 5 minutes on the baking sheet. The pan will still be hot, and continue baking them otherwise.

How To Make Gluten Free Linzer Cookies:

Linzer photos of steps 1 and 2.

Step 1: Add the dry ingredients to a large bowl and mix well.

Step 2: In a smaller bowl, add the wet ingredients and whisk to blend.

To measure your gluten free flour, I recommend using the spoon method or leveling method. In a perfect world, people weigh their flour, but most do not own a kitchen scale. Every gluten-free flour blend has a different weight, making a scale even trickier.

Put the measuring scoop into the flour and fill. Do not pack the flour. Use a knife to scrape along the top to remove the extra flour.

You can also use a spoon to fill the measuring cup. Use a knife to level along the top to remove the extra flour.

Linzer photos of steps 3 and 4.

Step 3: Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix. This linzer cookie dough mixes up quickly. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate the cookie dough for an hour.

Step 4: Put the dough on a piece of wax paper and then cover with another. Roll the dough to ÂĽ inch thickness between two pieces of wax paper.

Linzer steps 5 and 6 photos.

Step 5: Use linzer cookie cutters to get the tops and bottoms. You can find linzer cookie cutters online via Amazon and at local stores like Sur La Table.

Ensure the cookie cutters you use make it easy to get the middle shape out. I had a set where the shape was difficult to push the dough out of, which caused a lot of tears in the cookie dough.

Step 6: Place the cut-out cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake at 350Âş F for about 7-8 minutes.

Spreading Nutella on the linzer cookie bottoms.

Step 7: When the cookies are cool, frost the bottoms with Nutella, jam, or any filling you like! Optional: sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Put the tops on, then dust with powdered sugar. (Dusting with powdered sugar is optional.) Enjoy these gluten free linzer cookies with a glass of milk!

These cookies are perfect for holiday cookie exchange parties! Here are more of my favorite Gluten Free Cookies for a Cookie Exchange Party!*

More fun fillings:

  • Fruit jams and preserves.
  • Frostings.
  • Peanut butter
  • This one may seem odd, but chocolate mousse is also delicious in this linzer cookie.

Recipe FAQ:

How do you know when the cookies are finished baking?

These linzer cookies are thin and will not need much time to bake. Bake for 8 minutes and check the cookies. If they are looking slightly golden, they are finished baking. They should take no longer than 10 minutes.

How long will these cookies keep fresh?

These cookies will keep up to 4 days in an airtight container. I highly recommend not using Nutella or any filling until you are ready to eat the cookies. Sitting for a few days with Nutella or jam will make the cookies soggy.

Can you freeze linzer cookies?

These cookies freeze well. Add to a freezer-safe plastic bag and freeze. They will keep up to 4 months in the freezer.

What Are Linzer Cookies?

Gluten free linzer torte (or linzer tart or linzer schnitten) is a fancy way to say gluten free linzer cookies. (I love how many names this cookie has, depending on where in the world you are!)

Linzer tart cookies are popular Austrian holiday cookies. They’re a cookie variation of a linzer torte, a traditional Austrian holiday dessert. 

Reader Review:

I struggled a bit with the dough being sticky but worth the effort they are delicious!”

Denise, Pinterest User

I have a great Gluten Free Cookie Troubleshooting Guide to help you bake perfect cookies every time!

Gluten Free Nutella Linzer Tart Cookies

Sandi Gaertner
Easy Nutella stuffed gluten free linzer cookies.
4.73 from 18 votes
gluten free allergy icon
soy free allergy icon
vegetarian icon
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Course Gluten Free Cookies and Bar Recipes, Gluten Free Dessert Recipes
Cuisine American
Servings 24 cookies
Calories 135 kcal

*As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.

Equipment

  • Mixing bowls
  • Whisk
  • Cookie sheet

Ingredients
  

Dusting:

  • 3 tablespoons powdered sugar

Filling:

  • â…“ cup Nutella

Instructions
 

  • In a large bowl, add the dry ingredients.
  • Whisk to blend.
  • In a small bowl, add butter, sugar, and egg.
  • Mix well.
  • Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
  • Mix and put dough onto plastic wrap.
  • Refrigerate for 1 hour.
  • Preheat the oven to 350Âş F.
  • Remove dough and place on wax paper.
  • Put another sheet of wax paper onto the top and roll to ½ inch thick.
  • Use a linzer cutter to cut the shapes.
  • Bake 8 minutes, remove to cooling rack.
  • When cool, top the bottom with Nutella and add the top.
  • Dust with powdered sugar.

Notes

  1. I have tested this recipe with King Arthur Measure for Measure GF, Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 GF blend, and Authentic Foods Multi Blend. That doesn’t mean others will not work, I just have not tested other flours.
  2. If your gluten free flour blend doesn’t contain Xanthan Gum or Guar Gum, please add 1 teaspoon.
  3. I highly suggest using almond flour and not almond meal. Almond meal is more coarse and will make your donuts grainy.
  4. To make this recipe dairy-free, substitute the butter for vegan butter.
  5. These cookies will keep up to 4 days in an air-tight container, or up to 4 months in the freezer.

SPECIAL NOTE

Please know that every gluten free flour blend has a different starch to grain ratio. If you use a blend I didn’t test, you may need to adjust your moisture levels in your baked goods.

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 135kcalCarbohydrates: 13gProtein: 2gFat: 9gSaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 17mgSodium: 38mgPotassium: 19mgFiber: 1gSugar: 10gVitamin A: 128IUCalcium: 23mgIron: 1mg
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Nutrition Disclaimer

Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.

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Recipe Rating




56 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    To be honest, I was quite intimidated at the thought of making linzers! But this recipe was super easy to follow & they turned out AMAZING! And SO much easier to make than I thought!!

  2. Hi! This cookies look amazing!
    I was wondering if I could substitute butter for coconut oil. And in what proportion?
    Thanks

    Gaby

    1. Hi Gabriela, I haven’t tested this out with coconut oil, but I would say you will need to refrigerate the dough to get the coconut oil very cold before rolling out the dough. Please come back and let us know how it turns out.

      1. Thanks Sandi, haven’t try it yet with coconut oil, but I just got vegan butter. For us outside the US how many grams do you mean by a stick of butter? Thanks

      2. Hi Gabriela, one stick of butter equals half a cup. I hope you have a great weekend 🙂

      3. Thanks Sandi, I finally used vegan butter and I found out that the dough was too sticky to work with, so I added more flour and almond flour. It is too wet… I have a cookie in the oven right now as a test
        Fingers crossed

      4. That is interesting Gaby. I wonder why vegan butter would behave differently? I hope the test cookie came out. If it works, please let me know how much additional flour so I can make a note in the recipe for other readers 🙂

  3. 4 stars
    I noticed that there is a discrepancy between your blog post instructions and the official recipe instructions—one says to roll the dough 1/4inch thick, the other says 1/2inch. Which is correct? Half an inch seems very thick.

    1. Hi Cammi, coconut flour absorbs a lot more liquid than almond flour and I haven’t experimented with that flour in this recipe. To avoid nuts, I recommend using 1 1/2 cups of gluten free flour blend (I love Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 GF Blend best.) You may need to adjust the liquids slightly…I haven’t experimented with only flour, but you will be able to tell if you need more liquid if the dough is crumbly. Let us know how it turns out 🙂

  4. 5 stars
    I just made them…they are delichious . Although I didn’t have the almound flour and as a substitute put white rise flour. After taki g from the frezze added a tsp of coconut oil. Went great.
    Thank you for the recipe.