These buttery, golden gluten-free Linzer cookies are as pretty as they are delicious. With crisp edges and a soft bite, each is filled with jam, Nutella, or your favorite creamy filling. They’re perfect for holiday gifting, cookie exchanges, or just for the fun of baking something beautiful and festive with your family.
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These gluten-free Linzer cookies are one of our favorite holiday cookies to bake—and eat! With their crisp, buttery layers and jam or Nutella-filled centers, they’re as fun to make as they are to gift. Linzer cookies taste like a cross between Gluten-Free Danish Butter Cookies and Gluten-Free Shortbread.
Linzer cookies are originally from Austria, but they’ve become a festive staple in the Fearless Dining home, especially around Christmas. We have a lot of family living in Europe, so it is nice to be able to have gluten-free versions of their favorite holiday cookies. If you love Austrian cookies, I also have a delicious Gluten-Free Vanillekipferl, aka vanilla crescent cookies.
These homemade linzer are easy to customize, look beautiful on a cookie platter, and surprisingly simple to make gluten-free. Whether you’re baking for a party, gifting treats to friends, or just indulging your sweet tooth, these cookies are incredible!
If you are a cookie fanatic like me, you will want to check out all of my gluten-free cookie recipes. I also have a downloadable cookbook filled with Gluten-Free Cookies from Around the World.
A Note From My Kitchen
These gluten-free linzer cookies have been a family favorite for years. If you are new to baking gluten-free, this is an easy recipe to gain some baking confidence from. I tested two common, easy-to-find flour blends, which I discuss below, so you don’t have to search for any difficult-to-find ingredients. Use Nutella, jam, or even frosting sandwiched between the two buttery cookie layers. These cookies are fancy and look beautiful in a holiday cookie tin or at a cookie swap.
Ingredient Notes and Testing Tips:
For the full list of ingredients and amounts, please go to the recipe card below.
- 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. Most gluten-free flour blends should work in this recipe. You may need to tweak the moisture level, which is common since every blend has a different starch-to-grain ratio.
- Almond Flour – Traditional linzer cookies are made with hazelnuts, but hazelnuts are much more expensive than almonds. I found that almond flour works just as well! Use almond flour (not almond meal). I recommend Anthony’s Almond Flour because it is milled really fine.
- Sugar – Use cane sugar for sweetness. It also helps give the cookies a crisp texture.
- Xanthan Gum – If your gluten free flour blend doesn’t contain Xanthan Gum or Guar Gum, you must add 3/4 of a teaspoon.
- Eggs – Use a large egg to help keep the cookies moist and hold them together.
- Butter – For that rich, buttery base. Use unsalted butter. Swap dairy-free butter if you are dairy-free.
- Nutella – Make sure it’s gluten-free (or use another chocolate hazelnut spread). If you prefer a healthier version of Nutella, Whole Foods has a corn syrup free hazelnut spread we love to use in this recipe.
Easy Linzer Cookie Baking Tips:
- Measure carefully. Too much flour can throw off the texture, making them turn out dry.
- Chill the dough for 1-2 hours. It helps prevent spreading and makes cutting easier.
- Use cool baking sheets. If you want your cookie halves to be the same size, let the pan cool between baking batches. Hot cookie sheets between batches = spread-out cookies.
- Don’t leave the cookies on the pan after removing them from the oven. Transfer to a cooling rack after 5 minutes to prevent overbaking.
I have a great Gluten Free Cookie Troubleshooting Guide to help you bake perfect cookies every time!
How to Make Gluten-Free Linzer Cookies (Step-By-Step)
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Step 1: Whisk the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Don’t forget, if your flour blend doesn’t have a binder, add in xanthan gum as I mentioned in the ingredient notes section.
Step 2: In a separate bowl, whisk the wet ingredients. I partially melt the butter so it mixes in more easily.
Step 3: Combine wet and dry ingredients. Your dough will have the same consistency as cut-out sugar cookies. Soft and somewhat firm. If your dough is wet, add more flour 1 TBSP at a time until the dough is workable. If your dough is too dry, add more melted butter, 1 TBSP at a time, until it is softer.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for 1-2 hours. As the dough chills and the rice flour softens in the dough, the cookie dough will hold up perfectly to cookie cutters.
Step 4: Roll the dough between wax paper to a ¼-inch thickness. You can make them thicker if you prefer a thicker sandwich cookie.
Step 5: Cut out shapes with Linzer cookie cutters (bottoms and tops). You can find linzer cookie cutters online via Amazon and at local stores like Sur La Table.
Sometimes it is hard to get the cookie dough out of the linzer cookie cutter. Many linzer cookie cutters have a little groove to insert a butter knife or something in to press out the cut cookie dough. Tapping the cookie cutter on the parchment paper can also help drop out the dough.
Step 6: Place the linzer cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake. Check around the 8-minute mark to see if they are getting slightly golden.
Step 7: Once the cookies are completely cooled, 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!
Sandi Says: Don’t stress about making them perfect. Even if the hearts or stars aren’t flawless, a little jam (or Nutella!) and powdered sugar make everything look and taste beautiful. These are the kinds of cookies that feel special but aren’t fussy.
More delicious filling ideas:
- Fruit jams and preserves
- Frostings
- Peanut butter
- Chocolate mousse (trust me—it’s amazing!)
Frequently Asked Questions:
They should look set with lightly golden edges, check at 8 minutes. They’re thin, so they bake quickly. They should take no longer than 10 minutes.
Store unfilled cookies in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Add filling just before serving to avoid sogginess.
These cookies freeze well, but stay firmer freezing without the filling. Add to a freezer-safe plastic bag and freeze. They will keep up to 4 months in the freezer.
More Gluten-Free Cookie Recipes:
- Gluten-Free Strawberry Linzer Cookies – The same fun cookies in a new flavor!
- Gluten-Free Gingerbread Magic Bars – This has a fun flavor twist on magic bars.
- Gluten-Free Cranberry Macadamia Nut Cookies – These are popular on the blog year-round.
- Gluten-Free Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies – This is an awesome classic cookie recipe.
Love This Recipe?
💬 Did you make this linzer cookie recipe? Drop a comment below, and let me know how it turned out! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Let us know which flour blend you used. This will help others know this recipe is delicious. Thank you!
Gluten Free Nutella Linzer Tart Cookies
Equipment
- Cookie sheet
- Linzer Cookie Cutters
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup almond flour * see note
- ½ cup gluten free flour blend * see note
- ¾ cup cane sugar
- ½ cup melted unsalted butter
- 1 large egg
Dusting:
- 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
Filling:
- ⅓ cup Nutella
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Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 1/2 cup almond flour, 1/2 cup gluten free flour blend, and 3/4 cup cane sugar. Use a whisk to blend them together.
- In a small bowl, add 1/2 cup melted unsalted butter and 1 large egg. Mix well.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix into cookie dough. The dough should be soft but workable.
- Mix and put dough onto plastic wrap. Refrigerate the cookie dough for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350º F. Use the bake and not convection bake setting.
- Dust a silicone mat with a little flour to prevent sticking. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and place it on a silicone mat.
- If your dough is sticky, sprinkle a little gluten free flour over the dough. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick.
- Use linzer cutters to cut the shapes in the cookie dough. Place the cut outs onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
- Bake the linzer cookies for 8-10 minutes, remove to a cooling rack. The bake time can vary slightly depending on the size of your cookies.
- Move the cookies out of the oven and slide the parchment paper with the cookies onto a cooling rack. Let them fully cool to room temperature.
- When they are cool, spread Nutella on the bottom cookie. Put the top cookie with the hole on top.
- Dust the cookies with powdered sugar.
Notes
- 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. Other blends will work, but you may need more flour or butter depending on the starch ratio in your mix.
- If your gluten free flour blend doesn’t contain Xanthan Gum or Guar Gum, please add 3/4 teaspoon.
- I highly suggest using almond flour and not almond meal. Almond meal is coarser and will make your donuts grainy.
- To make this recipe dairy-free, substitute the butter for vegan butter.
- These cookies will keep fresh for up to 4 days in an airtight container or up to 4 months in the freezer. They are best stored without the filling.
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, my rule of thumb is to add more flour if your dough or batter is wet and add more liquid if the dough or batter is too dry!
Nutrition
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.
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!!
I am so glad you loved them. Thank you so much for coming back to let everyone know!!
Have you ever made this dough and used it for thumbprint cookies instead?
I haven’t but it should be okay for thumbprint cookies.
This was an easy and amazing cookie recipe. I used raspberry jelly and the were perfect!
Raspberry jelly sounds delicious in this recipe :-).
What can I substitute for Almond Flour?
Hi Francine, almond flour and gluten free flour blends absorb liquids very differently. I could make recommendations, but I haven’t tested any. I would recommend you use this Sugar Cookie Cut Out recipe instead: https://www.fearlessdining.com/gluten-free-halloween-cut-out-cookies/
Hi! This cookies look amazing!
I was wondering if I could substitute butter for coconut oil. And in what proportion?
Thanks
Gaby
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.
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
Hi Gabriela, one stick of butter equals half a cup. I hope you have a great weekend 🙂
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
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 🙂
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.
Hi Kate, 1/4 is correct. Thank you so much for noticing! Have a happy holiday!
Sandi can you use coconut flour for these instead of almond flour? We have to be but free in our house!
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 🙂
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.
I am so glad you liked this recipe, Sandra…you completely made my day 🙂
can I use oat flour-cornstarch-rice flour blend for gf all purpose flour?or sth else?also use more honey for sugar?
Hi Demi, I have not tried your suggested blend so I don’t know how this would turn out. Oat flour needs more liquid than rice flour so you will probably need to do a lot of experimentation to get it right. Let us know how it turns out.
My Christmas list doesn’t seem to be getting shorter especially when I see a recipe that is definitely worth trying. Wondering if these could be made ahead and froze for a couple of weeks?
Hi Laurel, I have not tried to freeze these cooked. The dough will definitely freeze well. Thank you so much for stopping by 🙂
These look beautiful! I am wondering if either this recipe or your grain free linzer cookie recipe can be made with shortening or coconut oil instead of butter. We aren’t able to do dairy.
Hi Amy, good morning :-). I would say you can use either, but with the coconut oil, they may spread a bit so try to bake a couple first before baking the whole batch to test it. Take care and thank you for your note. Sandi
It looks perfect.you are inspiring me.Thank you
Can I replace the almond flour with gf flour mix?
Thank you so much for the lovely comment. Here is a recipe for a similar cookie using almond flour: https://www.fearlessdining.com/recipe/grain-free-almond-linzer-cookies/
I mean can I use only the gf flour blend with out the almond flour?
Sorry Wafaa. You can use just the gluten free flour blend. You would want to use 1/4 cup additional to make up for not using the almond flour.
You are an amazing person.Thank you
Hi,
I must be missing something because I can’t seem to find the actual recipe for these cookies anywhere. Do I have to sign up to be able to see the ingredients and how-to? Please let me know,
Thanks
Marisa
Hi Marisa, That was happening for me as well. I refreshed the page cache and I think it should be showing up now. Sorry about that. I appreciate your letting me know.
Thanks so much! I see the recipe now–can’t wait to try them!
These could easily trump the jam version! Such gorgeous, tempting cookies!!