Christmas is almost upon us and boy, am I excited. Food, food and food! For some people they look forward to the gifts. For me, I look forward to being with my family and yes, you guessed right, food. Tis’ the season to be hungry. I love all the festive dishes during this time of the year. Roasted chestnuts, fruit cakes, mince pies, egg nog, peppermint everything and the big assortment of cookies. Christmas is not complete without cookies, so to get my cookie fix, I made these amazing Paleo Christmas Linzer Cookies.
For my family, Christmas is the most celebrated holiday because it was my grandfather’s favorite. We decorated our flat in Hong Kong down to the doorknobs. We would always have a surplus of danish butter cookies because it was a go-to-gift from my grandpa’s friends and coworkers. I definitely did not mind! The texture of my Paleo Christmas Linzer Cookies are very similar. It is crispy, buttery and just melts in your mouth. It’s probably some of the best dang cookies I’ve made.
I decided to put a slight twist to add some Christmas cheer to the traditional Linzer Cookie. Instead of the classic raspberry or blackberry filling, I decide to create a Spiced Cranberry Jelly to fill these Christmas Linzer Cookies. I also added orange zest to the dough to tie in the flavors. Witho0ut further delays, let’s bake some cookies!
Paleo Christmas Linzer Cookies:
Spiced Cranberry Jelly:
2 Cups – Fresh Cranberries
1 Cup – Organic 100% Apple Juice
1/2 Cup – Palm Sugar (Grated)
1/4 Cup – Fresh Lemon Juice
Zest of 1 Lemon
½ Tsp – Ground Cinnamon
½ Tsp – Ground Ginger
¼ Tsp – Ground Nutmeg
¼ Tsp – Ground Mace
Pinch of Ground Cloves
¼ Tsp – Dill
Linzer Cookies:
¾ Cup – Powdered Palm Sugar (Recipe Here)
½ Cup – Blanched Almond Meal
1 Cup – Otto’s Cassava Flour
8oz – Grassfed Butter/Ghee (Room Temp and preferably Salted)
1 – Free Range Extra Large Egg
Zest of 1 Large Orange
Extra Powdered Palm Sugar for dusting Cookies
Let’s start by making the spiced cranberry jelly. Devin absolutely loves it. She says that it tastes like Christmas exploded in your mouth. The cranberry jelly is definitely on the tart side, so if you are not a fan, you can either skip the lemon juice or you can fill the cookies with a different kind of jelly. Not only is the cranberry jelly good in these Christmas Linzer Cookies, it also goes really well in savory recipes, such as your Christmas turkey. let’s whip up a batch.
It is fairly easy to make if you had previously made jams or jellies. In a pot or sauce pan, mix all of the spiced cranberry jelly ingredients and let it boil down. If you prefer to use store bought pectin in your jellies, just follow the instructions on the boxes. A reminder for those who are not familiar with pectin properties in fruit, cranberries have a fairly high pectin level, so you might not need to add any additional pectin.
Boil the mixture down until it starts thickening. One way to tell if your jelly is set is to put some on a dish and set it in the freezer for a few minutes. If it wrinkles when you touch it, it is set. Before jarring, strain the jelly through a fine mesh. You want to use jelly instead of preserves in these Christmas Linzer Cookies.
Let the mixture cool completely before using it for the cookies. I will suggest making the jelly a day ahead. The dough for the Christmas Linzer Cookies is fairly easy to make. In a food processor, blend together almond meal, powdered palm sugar, Otto’s Cassava Flour, butter, egg and orange zest until a dough forms. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour.
Preheat the oven to 325°F. You can use a linzer cookie cutter or like me, I use a combination of circular and Christmas cookie cutters. Knead the dough a bit before cutting it. If the dough is crumbling, I suggest adding a little more oil, such as Kasandrino’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Drizzle a light amount on your hands and knead it into the dough until it is smooth and more pliable. If you are having trouble with the dough sticking to the cookie cutter, you grease the cutter with oil to make them release easier. Once the Christmas Linzer Cookies are cut, bake them in the oven for 12-15 minutes.
After the cookies are done baking, set them on a cooling rack to completely cool before dusting with powdered palm sugar. Assemble the cookies and be ready to eat more than one! These goes great with a glass of almond milk! There you have it, my Paleo Christmas Linzer Cookies. Until next time, eat up my friends!
