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!
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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.
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.)
Ingredient Notes:
- 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:
- To make this recipe gum-free, use my DIY Gluten Free Flour Blend. It uses psyllium husk powder as a binder.
- To make this recipe dairy-free, use plant-based margarine.
Cookie Baking Tips:
- 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 hotcookie 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:
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.
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 ¼ inch thickness between two pieces of wax paper.
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 350º F for about 7-8 minutes.
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:
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.
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.
These cookies freeze well. Add to a freezer-safe plastic bag and freeze. They will keep up to 4 months in the freezer.
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!
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.
📖 Recipe
Gluten Free Nutella Linzer Tart Cookies
*As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup almond flour * see note
- ½ cup gluten free flour blend * see note
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted
- 1 large egg
Dusting:
- 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
Filling:
- ⅓ 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 350º 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
- 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.
- If your gluten free flour blend doesn’t contain Xanthan Gum or Guar Gum, please add 1 teaspoon.
- I highly suggest using almond flour and not almond meal. Almond meal is more coarse and will make your donuts grainy.
- To make this recipe dairy-free, substitute the butter for vegan butter.
- 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
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.
Fearless Dining
Simplifying the art of baking and cooking gluten-free recipes.
Julie
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!!
Sandi Gaertner
I am so glad you loved them. Thank you so much for coming back to let everyone know!!
Cheri
Have you ever made this dough and used it for thumbprint cookies instead?
Sandi Gaertner
I haven't but it should be okay for thumbprint cookies.
Rita
This was an easy and amazing cookie recipe. I used raspberry jelly and the were perfect!
Sandi Gaertner
Raspberry jelly sounds delicious in this recipe :-).
Francine Singer
What can I substitute for Almond Flour?
Sandi Gaertner
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/
Gabriela Martinez
Hi! This cookies look amazing!
I was wondering if I could substitute butter for coconut oil. And in what proportion?
Thanks
Gaby
Sandi Gaertner
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.
Gabriela Martinez
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
Sandi Gaertner
Hi Gabriela, one stick of butter equals half a cup. I hope you have a great weekend 🙂
Gaby
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
Sandi Gaertner
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 🙂
Kate
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.
Sandi Gaertner
Hi Kate, 1/4 is correct. Thank you so much for noticing! Have a happy holiday!
Cammi
Sandi can you use coconut flour for these instead of almond flour? We have to be but free in our house!
Sandi Gaertner
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 🙂
Sandra
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.
Sandi Gaertner
I am so glad you liked this recipe, Sandra...you completely made my day 🙂