There are those who love Valentine's day, and there are those who hate it and wish it would just go away. I'm a lover of Valentine's day, but not so much for the grand romantic gestures that happen (don't get me wrong, I love a good grand romantic gesture, they just don't happen to me very often). No, I love Valentine's day because at this point in the year, it starts to feel like it has been winter for way too long, and I need an excuse to dive into fancy desserts. Bring on the chocolates, cakes, and cookies... Vegan Linzer Heart Cookies to be precise.
How cute are these vegan linzer heart cookies!? They are the cutest, I declare it. The buttery soft sugar cookie, sprinkled with powdered sugar, filled with sweet raspberry jam. They are every bit as tasty as they are adorable. Perfect for a gift for a loved one or just for you because you deserve it.
These are admittedly not my most fuss-free recipe as there are several steps, but if you are making this for your Valentine, well, we know love isn't fuss-free either. Dating tips from Sam. (Keep in mind Sam is single so all dating tips from Sam should be ignored).
To make Vegan Heart Linzer Cookies: In a large bowl mix together all the dry ingredients.
In a small bowl, mix together the flax or chia with the water and set aside to thicken. In a third bowl beat the vegan butter and sugar together until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the remaining wet ingredients including the flax or chia mixture, and mix well. Add the wet mixture into dry and combine until a dough is formed. I have found that sometimes the moisture levels in vegan butters are different, so if your dough does not come together, add up to 1 tablespoon of water until the dough just comes together.
Put the dough between two sheets of parchment paper and roll it out to about ¼ inch thick. Now pop it onto a baking tray and chill the rolled dough in the freezer for 15 minutes or in the fridge for 30 minutes. Once chilled, use a heart cookie cutter (or another shape) to make as many heart cookies as possible. Leave half of the heart cookies whole, and use a tiny heart cookie cutter (or another shape) to cut out the center of the remaining half.
Lay them on the parchment lined cookie sheet. Re-roll remaining dough until it’s all used up, chilling in between if needed. Bake 7 - 11 minutes. until they are just a little bit golden on the bottom.
Let the cookies cool completely before assembling. Place all of the cut-out heart cookies on a piece of parchment paper. Use a fine mesh strainer of a sifter to sprinkle the powdered sugar over top.
For the bottom layer of the cookie, take a whole cookie and spread about 1 teaspoon of the jam on the cookie keeping most of the jam in the center. Top with a powdered sugar coated cut-out cookie. Repeat with all the remaining cookies. If any cookies look a bit empty you can spoon a bit more jam in the middle of the cookies.
Vegan linzer heart cookies will keep for about a week when stored at room temperature in an airtight container.
Vegan Linzer Heart Cookies
Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Wet ingredients:
- 1 tablespoons ground chia or ground flax, (use ground white chia for lightest colour)
- 3 tablespoons water
- ¾ cup vegan butter
- ¾ cups white sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
For the linzer cookies:
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 6 tablespoons jam, (raspberry, strawberry, or other flavour)
Instructions
To make the cookie dough:
- Preheat oven to 350F (180C).
- In a large bowl mix together all the dry ingredients.
- In a small bowl, mix together the flax or chia with the water and set aside to thicken. In a third bowl beat the vegan butter and sugar together until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the remaining wet ingredients including the flax or chia mixture, and mix well. Add the wet mixture into dry and combine until a dough is formed. I have found that sometimes the moisture levels in vegan butters are different, so if your dough does not come together, add up to 1 tablespoon of water until the dough just comes together.
To make the hearts:
- Put the dough between two sheets of parchment paper and roll it out to about ¼ inch thick. Now pop it onto a baking tray and chill the rolled dough in the freezer for 15 minutes or in the fridge for 30 minutes. Once chilled, use a heart cookie cutter (or another shape) to make as many heart cookies as possible. Leave half of the heart cookies whole, and use a tiny heart cookie cutter (or another shape) to cut out the center of the remaining half.
- Lay them on the parchment lined cookie sheet. Re-roll remaining dough until it’s all used up, chilling in between if needed. Bake 7 - 11 minutes. until they are just a little bit golden on the bottom.
To assemble the cookies:
- Let the cookies cool completely before assembling. Place all of the cut-out heart cookies on a piece of parchment paper. Use a fine mesh strainer of a sifter to sprinkle the powdered sugar over top.
- For the bottom layer of the cookie, take a whole cookie and spread about 1 teaspoon of the jam on the cookie keeping most of the jam in the center. Top with a powdered sugar coated cut-out cookie. Repeat with all the remaining cookies.
Notes
Nutrition
Bon appetegan!
Sam.
Dawson says
Hey question, could I freeze the dough for this cookie a few week in advance or would that mess it all up? I plan to make a lot of these this holiday and I want to prep ahead of time.
Sam Turnbull says
Yes it should freeze well. Enjoy!
Lydia says
I'm about to try this lovely recipe but I have to admit a little detail annoys me way more than it should.
The Linzer cookies are not American, British, Canadian cuisine. They are traditional Austrian cookies from Linz town.
http://www.foodreference.com/html/a-linzer-cookies-1209.html
Sam Turnbull says
Oh I had no idea! THanks for the info Lydia 🙂
Amanda says
Just made these today and they were divine! I used Red Mills Egg Replacer and it worked great. Even non-vegan friends loved these and couldn't get enough of them. And they were such a joy to make as well. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. It is perfect.
Sam Turnbull says
Glad you enjoyed!
Heidy says
I don’t see the sugar anywhere in your recipe other than the icing one, Im in the middle of making these with my 3 year old, now I have to improvise!
Sam Turnbull says
Sugar is listed in the wet ingredients section.
Nic Carnes says
I just made a batch of these for New Years Eve- my non vegan family won’t believe these delicious cookies are vegan!
Sam Turnbull says
Haha! love when that happens 🙂
Claire says
I had to add an extra tablespoon of the vegan butter (used earth balance) and the extra tablespoon of water to get the dough to come together, but these were pretty good! They aren’t tooooo too sweet but I think they turned out pretty good for my first vegan cookie!
Deanna says
Oh my goodness I just made these and they were unbelievable! I used bread flour (that’s all I had) and it made them harder instead of chewy which I actually prefer my linzers!! But I will 100% be making these again probably in the next few days because I ate half already 🙂
Sam Turnbull says
YAY! Thrilled you enjoy so much, Deanna 🙂
cal says
hi! i love the flavor of these, but i think my texture came off totally wrong! the cookies are not really crunchy or like shortbread, they're more cake-like. any idea what i did wrong? the flavor is great though - thank you for the recipe! i would like to make them again if i can fix the texture.
Sam Turnbull says
They aren't supposed to be crunchy, more buttery soft. You could try baking them a tad longer tho.
Emma Campbell says
If I'm using a different egg replacer, such as Red Mill's Egg Replacer, how many "eggs" should I use instead of the chia seeds? Thanks!
Sam Turnbull says
I'm not sure, as I don't work with store-bought egg replacers. I recommend sticking to the recipe as written for the best results. Enjoy!
Anna says
I used 1tbsp of soy flour mixed with 3 tbsp of water instead and they came out great. I had to put them on the highest shelf to keep me from snacking on them.
Amanda says
I know I'm late to this, but I made these today and used Red Mills Egg Replacer and I just used the standard amount to replace 1 egg (so 1 tbsp egg replacer, 2 tbsp water) and they turned out perfectly delicious.
allison says
I made these for valentine's day 2018 (late commenting whoops!) and they were delicious! the almond flavor was strong but went well with the fruity jam. the texture was perfect too. I will say they were a bit of work with the rolling and chilling, and some of my sandwiches didn't look as pretty as Sam's but they were really tasty!
Sam Turnbull says
So happy you enjoyed them, allison! Thanks for the comment... better late than never 🙂
Amber says
Hi Sam - Can I ask where you purchased your cookie cutters? 🙂
Sam Turnbull says
Yep! I linked it in the post already, I bought them off of amazon here Enjoy! 🙂