Cherry Linzer Biscuits are a smaller, more portable version of the ‘Linzertorte’- a European Christmas pastry dating back to 1653. This recipe by @lottielovesbaking using the Bonne Maman Cherry Conserve makes the perfect melt in your mouth buttery biscuit that has the perfect snap every time you have a bite.
Ingredients
125g salted butter, softened
140g caster sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
Pinch of salt
Zest of half a lemon
200g plain flour
A couple of heaped tablespoons of Bonne Maman Black Cherry Conserve
Icing sugar, for dusting
Makes 18-20 biscuits, depending on the size of your cutter
Method
1. In a large bowl beat the butter and sugar together until well combined.
2. Mix in the egg and vanilla bean paste.
3. Add the salt, lemon zest and flour and mix until a dough forms (it will be quite a soft dough).
4. Wrap the dough in cling film and pop in the fridge for at least 2 hours (it can be left overnight).
5. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C. Line a couple of baking trays with baking parchment. Remove the dough from fridge & cover your worktop with a generous sprinkling of flour.
6. Roll out the dough to the thickness of a one pound coin (make sure you flour the rolling pin otherwise the dough might stick). It is important to keep them quite thin as the final biscuit will be made up of two layers. Also try to work fairly quickly as you want to keep the dough relatively chilled – if at any point it gets too warm during the rolling process pop back in the fridge for a few minutes.
7. Cut out shapes using a fluted 7.5cm circular cutter.
8. When you have made all the shapes you can bring the dough back together and roll out again.
9. Once you have cut out all the biscuits, cut out small circles in half of them using a 3cm round cutter.
10. Transfer the biscuits to the baking trays.
11. Bake in the oven for about 8-10 minutes until lightly golden. Watch them carefully as they easily burn.
12. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes, before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
13. Once cool, spoon a little of the Bonne Maman Black Cherry Conserve onto the biscuits without the hole in the middle. If the conserve is a bit firm soften for a few seconds in the microwave.
14. Gently top each one with the remaining biscuits (the ones with the circle cut out).
15. Dust with icing sugar.
16. They keep for a few days in an airtight container, though they are at their best on the day you make them as the jam can soften the biscuit over time.
