Czech Linzer Christmas Cookies

I think that from my last Vanilla Crescent post you all understood by now how much I appreciate Christmas and cookie baking. This is another very typical Czech cookie that you will definitely want to have on your holiday table. it's the perfect combination of the vanilla sweetness with the zing of a redcurrant jam. You will love it, I promise!

I cannot quite decide which is the true staple in Czech Christmas cookie culture - the crescents or these. I think both of them easily can be, I don't know a single family that would have their Christmas without either of them. My preferences would always go from one to another but they are for sure in my all time top two and, hopefully, they will be in your too.

You will need:

• 250g flour

• 60g icing sugar

• 160g plant-based butter

• 1 tbsp plant-based vanilla pudding

• 1 tsp vanilla extract (non artificial)

• 1 tsp corn starch

• 1/2 lemon juice and zest

• redcurrant jam

I know that the redcurrant (or blackcurrant) jam is not as accessible in all countries. If you cannot find it anywhere, I would go for raspberry one as it still has that little zing to it that balances the cookie out. In Czech republic there are redcurrants in the backyards of almost any house so they are often home-made for these cookies.

Similarly to the crescents, make the dough a day before and let it rest in the fridge overnight. Sift flour and icing sugar on the working board. Add the chopped butter, vanilla extract, vanilla pudding, corn starch, lemon juice and zest and work it all together with your fingers. This dough will feel much stretchier and wetter than the crescent one. Once all put together, fraisage it the same way I explained at the crescent recipe. To wrap it in the foil, I tend to put it in a flat "ball". Instead having it all in a ball, just flatten it up a bit, it will make it much easier to roll it all out once taken out of the fridge. the day after.

The day after...

Preheat your over to 360F.

This time, you can start by some Wham! and their Last Christmas or maybe some Mariah? I let you decide on the Christmas playlist you play while baking these.

Take the dough out of the fridge. Flour the working surface and flour the dough a bit as well as the rolling pin. Roll it into about 3mm height and cut the cookies out of the dough. Traditionally it would be round shapes, the full ones for the bottom and the ones in the hole in the middle to give a little peak of the jam once baked. I prefer to put them on separate baking trays as the baking time might be slightly different (around 1 min less for the ones with hole in the middle). So once cut out, put them to bake in the oven for around 12-14 minutes. You will need to check as per how your oven bakes, they should be getting pinky rose at the edges. and better check on them, it can go from pinky rose gold to burnt really quick. Take them out, let them cool down, stick the bottoms to the tops with redcurrant jam. I also put a little blob if the jam in the hole, it looks much better going plastically out of the hole rather than just spread on the bottom with a knife which you would do to stick it together. Also, don't eat them straight away, they are better when they rest at least for a day or two.