1teaspoonbaking powder(ensure gluten-free if necessary)
½teaspoonground cinnamon
1tablespoonlemon zest
Pinchsalt
14teaspoonsraspberry jam *** (refined sugar free if necessary - or sub any other jam or spread)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius (340 degrees Fahrenheit).
Place the coconut oil in a large bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave.
Add the maple syrup, almond milk, ground almonds, brown rice flour, baking powder, cinnamon, lemon zest and salt and mix well – add an extra splash of milk if it’s looking too dry to combine. Or if the dough looks too wet, place it in the fridge for an hour to help it firm up.
Lay out a sheet of greaseproof baking paper on a counter and use a rolling pin to roll out some of the dough until it's a little less than ½ cm (¼ inch) thick.
Use a circular cookie cutter to cut 12 circular-shaped cookies out of the dough – you probably have to roll the dough out a few times.
Transfer these onto a baking tray lined with greased baking paper.
Roll out the remaining dough to the same thickness and use the same circular cookie cutter to cut circular shapes out of the dough and use a smaller circular or any other shape of cookie cutter to cut little holes of dough from the centre of each.
You will be able to make 12 of these - keep re-rolling the dough until you use it all up.
Transfer these onto a baking tray lined with greased baking paper.
Bake in the oven for around 12 minutes until golden brown and firm to the touch (bearing in mind that they will firm up more once cooled and out of the oven) .
Leave them to cool completely and firm up before sandwiching them together.
To sandwich together, turn the circular base cookies upside down and use a knife to spread 1 teaspoon of raspberry jam in the centre.
Place the cookies with the cut-out holes on top and sandwich together.
Dust over some icing sugar to decorate, if desired.
Tastes best when fresh, but keeps in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a few days (they do become softer the longer you leave them).
Video
Notes
*You can alternatively use almond flour.**You MUST use brown rice flour – white rice flour won’t create a crunchy shortbread-like texture.
Linzer cookies are traditionally made with blackcurrant jam, but you can use any type of jam you like. I recommend something slightly tart such as raspberry jam, apricot jam or strawberry jam. You can also use any other spread you like, such as a veganchocolate spread, vegan lemon curd or vegan caramel.
If you want the pretty icing sugar effect but want to keep them refined sugar free, you can dust them with cornflour (cornstarch) instead.
The number of cookies this recipe will yield will vary depending on the size and shape of the cookie cutters you use and how thick you roll out the dough.