Strawberry Linzer Biscuits
Servings: 14 biscuits
Utterly delicious, two buttery biscuits sandwiched together with a hole cut out of the top biscuit, so the strawberry jam glints through.
INGREDIENTS LIST
Biscuits:
- 200 g butter
- 80 g icing sugar (US powdered sugar) (plus extra for dusting the biscuits)
- 2 medium egg yolks (40g total)
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract or 1/2 tsp of vanilla paste
- 250 g plain flour (all-purpose)
- 1 pinch fine sea salt
Filling:
- 8 tsp strawberry jam
Preparation
- Biscuits: In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together. Gradually beat the egg yolks, vanilla and salt into the butter mixture.
- Add the flour and gently bring it together until the mixture forms a soft dough. Try not to overwork the dough, as it will become tough when baked.
- Divide the dough into two equally sized discs. Wrap each piece tightly in cling film and place in the fridge for 1 hour. You can keep it in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Once the dough has rested, preheat the oven to 160°C fan / 350°F / Gas 4 .
- Remove the two pieces of dough from the fridge and leave them to rest on the kitchen worktop for 10 minutes or longer if your fridge is very cold.
- Line 2 baking trays with baking paper or with silicone mats.
- Rolling the dough: Unwrap one of the doughs and place it on a lightly floured work surface and roll out to a thickness of about 0.5cm (¼ inch).
- Shaping the bottoms: Using a cutter of choice, cut out as many biscuit bottoms as you can from the doughI made two size biscuits, a 4cm (1½ in) cutter and a 6cm (2½ in) cutter for larger biscuits.Transfer the cutouts onto one of the baking trays. then gather your scraps and repeat the process until you've used all the dough from the first dough.
- Baking bottoms: Bake the first tray of biscuits for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the edges are just beginning to turn golden brown. Let them cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Shaping the tops: Repeat the process with the second dough to make the top half of the biscuits. Once you have your cutouts, choose a cutter to remove the centre of the biscuit. which will show off the filling in your biscuits. You can change the center cutout to match a theme, such as a heart shape for valentines.If the shape you’re stamping out doesn’t come out, use a cocktail stick to help.Add any offcuts to the other scraps of dough and roll out a couple of extra biscuits. If it is a warm day, put the biscuits in the fridge on the baking tray for 10 minutes to ensure they retain their shape during baking.
- Baking tops: Repeat the baking of the second tray of biscuits for 8 to 10 minutes as with the first.
- Assembly: Dust the biscuit tops with icing sugar. Using a teaspoon, place a small dollop of strawberry jam on the biscuit bottoms. Place a ½ tsp of jam onto the center of each bottom biscuit, spreading it slightly. Top with the dusted tops.
