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These Glühwein Hazelnut Linzer Cookies are my nod to missing all the German Christmas markets as we are in the States this year for the holidays. Sniff. However, we will be back there for Christmas next year and I can’t wait. Consequently, I am consoling myself by planning all the Markets I will visit in towns I have not explored yet.
Glühwein (“glow wine”) is hot mulled red wine. This seasonal drink is popular at Christmas markets and restaurants throughout Germany during the holiday season. Take a Christmas shopping break to stand at a glühwein hut with friends sipping this lovely spiced hot drink. This is a lovely tradition I miss.
These Glühwein Hazelnut Linzer Cookies are Linzer-style cookies with spiced wine jelly. The recipe is included below. The fun in creating Linzer cookies is how creative you can be with cookie cutters. Use the same cutter but in two different sizes, or different shapes. Nevertheless, use two different-sized star cutters to create the cookies. The bottom is a solid star cookie, the top has a cutout from a smaller-sized star cutter.
So this is Important!
Make sure to bake the cutout cookies and the solid star cookies separately on two different baking sheets. The cookies have two different baking times, the solid stars being shorter. If you bake them together on one sheet, the cutouts will be finished first and will end up overdone.
The dough contains hazelnut flour which can be hard to find. Consequently, Make your own by pulsing whole raw hazelnuts with 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar. Because the powdered sugar prevents the nuts from becoming wet and sticky as they are pulverized.
If you have almond flour on hand, use that. Also, cut the prep time of these cookies way down by using any red-colored jelly or jam instead of creating the mulled wine version.
So! I wish everyone a lovely Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, no matter what part of the world you are!
Glühwein Linzer Hazelnut Cookies
Prep Time: 40 minutes Bake Time: 10 minutes Steep/Chill Time: 60 minutes Yield: 2 dozen cookies
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Rest/Chill Time 1 hour
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 2 dozen
Ingredients
For the Glühwein Jelly Filling:
- 3/4 cup red wine
- 1 star anise
- 1 inch of a cinnamon stick
- 2 whole cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh orange zest
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
- 1 package of plain gelatin
- 1/3 cup white granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
For the cookie dough:
- 1+1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup hazelnut flour
- 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar or 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
Instructions
Make the Mulled Wine Jelly Filling:
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Heat the red wine in a small saucepan. When the wine has come to a boil, add the star anise, cinnamon stick, whole cloves, lemon and orange zest. Lower the heat and let simmer for 5 minutes.
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Remove from the heat let the mixture rest for half an hour.
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Place the gelatin and 4 tablespoons of cold water in a small dish to dissolve it.
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Strain out the spices and pour the spiced wine back into the saucepan.
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Over a medium flame, stir in the gelatin, 1/3 cup of white granulated sugar and the freshly squeezed lemon juice. Cook for 5 minutes stirring constantly until the mixture thickens.
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Remove from heat, set aside and let cool completely.
Make the Hazelnut Cookies:
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In a separate bowl whisk together the all-purpose and hazelnut flours. Set aside.
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Cream together the unsalted butter, white granulated sugar and vanilla sugar or extract.
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Beat in the egg until just combined.
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Add the flour mixture a bit at a time until just combined.
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When dough comes together, pat into a ball, wrap in plastic cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
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Roll out the dough and use two different sized star cookie cutters to create shapes. Use the larger star cookie to cut out all the cookies. On half of those large stars, use the smaller star cookie to cut a star-shaped opening in the middle of the cookie.
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Place on parchment paper. Taking care to place the whole star cookies on one sheet and the cutout cookies on another.
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They will have two different baking times which is why you don't want to combine the shapes on one baking tray.
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Bake the solid star cookies for 8-10 minutes or until the edges of the cookies just start to brown. Bake the cutout star cookies for 6-8 minutes or until the edges of the cookies just start to brown. Remove from oven, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Assemble the Cookies:
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If the mulled wine jelly has hardened too much to make it difficult to spread. slowly warm it up over a very low flame until it softens a bit.
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Sprinkle a layer of powdered sugar on a small flat plate.
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Use a small pastry knife to spread the mulled wine jelly on the solid star-shaped cookie.
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Take a cutout star cookie and flip it upside down onto the plate with the powdered sugar. Rub it on the plate until the underside is covered with powdered sugar.
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Shake off the excess and place the cutout, powdered sugar side up, on top of the jelly spread cookie. Repeat until all the cookies have been married.
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Place on a serving platter and serve.
Like these Glühwein Hazelnut Linzer Cookies? Also check out some of these other delicious recipes:
ORANGE APEROL GLÜHWEIN
LEMON SUGAR LINZER COOKIES
MULLED WINE CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES
