Hazelnut Shortbread Sandwich Cookies
If you have a serious hankering for jam filled cookies and love supporting good causes, look no further these Hazelnut Shortbread Cookies with Jam. Made with ground hazelnuts, cinnamon and cardamom in a buttery dough, these linzer-style hazelnut spice cookies are my contribution (along with a monetary one) to Cookies For Kids’ Cancer charity and you don’t even need a linzer cookie cutter set.
Before we get into the cookie making aspect of this post, I want to catch you up on this charity and why it’s so worthy of your attention. Cookies For Kids’ Cancer is making a difference in the fight against Pediatric Cancer, the number one cause of death in children. This is the third year that food bloggers have joined forces to support this cause.
These shortbread cookies with jam along with a wave of other blogger cookie recipes shine a spotlight on this laudable charity. Myself and my fellow food bloggers are proud to donate our time and $$$ to this cause. I hope you have a great time perusing everyone’s confections (links included at the bottom of this article) and more importantly, I hope you’ll make your own contribution!
Now, for the cookies… These shortbread cookies with jam were adapted from a Linzer cookie recipe I found on Sally’s Baking Addiction (Sally is my secret blogger crush). In her recipe, Sally uses pistachios. I didn’t have any on hand, but there was a package of hazelnuts that I’d intended for Christmas baking, but hadn’t gotten around to it. I swapped in hazelnuts with stellar results, but I imagine you could use pecans, walnuts or almonds as well.
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Table of Contents
Making Hazelnut Spice Cookie Dough
Shortbread cookies with jam require a bit of planning, because after making the dough, you’ll want to refrigerate it for several hours before rolling and cutting. That said, I found the dough very easy to work with. Here’s how it’s done:
- In a food processor pulse the hazelnuts with half of the brown sugar until you have fine crumbs. Set aside.
- Whisk the flour, leavener and spices in a bowl and set aside.
- Cream the butter and remaining brown sugar.
- Add egg and vanilla to the creamed butter and mix well.
- In two additions, add half of the flour and nut blends, mixing just until the dough comes together
- Divide the dough in half and pat into round discs. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. (Note: When any recipe says “or overnight” I opt for the longer rest period and call it a two-day recipe).
Rolling Out Jam Filled Cookies
- On a well floured board, roll out one disc of dough to about 1/8″ to no more than 1/4″ thick.
- Use a 2″ round cookie cutter to cut out whole cookies. These will be the bottom of the filled cookies. Transfer them to a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet.
- Roll out the other disc of dough to the same thickness and use the same cookie cutter to cut the dough into rounds and transfer to another prepared baking sheet. Make sure you have equal number of tops and bottoms!
Do I Need Linzer Cookie Cutters?
The short answer is no, you don’t. What you DO NEED is a round cookie cutter that’s about 2″ in diameter AND a 1″ cookie cutter to make a peek-a-boo center. The cutters I have were the same one’s I used for my Red White and Blue Sangria, however, if you want to use Linzer Cookie Cutters, click on the photo below for the affiliate link:
Since this post intersected with Valentine’s Day, I thought I’d make these cookies Valentine-centric. With a fun little heart cutout in the center of the jam filled cookies (of course you can use whatever shape you like — just make sure that the cookie cutter is about an inch in diameter so that the top cookie has structure and isn’t too fragile — plus, you want the jam to “peek” out, not be the dominant feature.
- Use your 1″ cutter to create a cutout on the tops of the cookies. Remove the center portion so that each cookie on that sheet pan has a cutout.
- Bake the cookies until golden brown around the edges and cool to room temperature.
For those who want to know about those cute little heart centers — you could roll them into a disc with the remaining scraps of dough and continue to make cookies, but I I thought they were so fun, I baked them “as is” and claimed them as my prize for making hazelnut spice cookies from scratch.
Gilding The Shortbread Cookies with Jam
- When the cookie tops and bottoms are cooled, dust the cookie tops (ones with the cutouts) with powdered sugar.
- Spoon your favorite jam onto the cookie bottoms.
- Place a sugar dusted cookie over the jam topped cookie and lightly press together.
You can really taste the hazelnuts in these cookies. They’re not overly sweet (which I like) and have a delicate crumb. I served them last night to my parents who joined us for dinner and out of the whole batch, there were only two cookies left after the meal. Scott has claimed the stragglers for himself today.
That’s it! I have to say, while this is a process, it’s not at all difficult and the end result is a beautiful jam filled cookie that looks like it came from a bakery. I have to thank Sally for making me look like a hero to my family!
Cookies For Kids’ Cancer
This is the third year for our Valentine’s event! We want to make a difference in the fight against pediatric cancer!
Did you know that cancer is the #1 cause of death of children by disease in the U.S.? There are 40,000 U.S. children actively battling cancer right now. With less than 4% of the National Cancer Institute’s budget going to all childhood cancer combined, I knew it was important for me to get involved.
Help us make a difference by donating to Cookies for Kids’ Cancer! Our goal is to raise at least $3000. Because these three companies: Dixie Crystals, Mediavine and OXO have each pledged to match our donations raised through this campaign up to $3000!
Thanks to many of you, we have reached our goal. You can still donate and help us make an even bigger difference!
Donate here.
Check Out The Other Fabulous Recipes From All the Participating Bloggers:
Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake from Julie of The Little Kitchen
Læsø Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies from Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla
Soft & Chewy Gluten Free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies from Allie of Miss Allie’s Kitchen
Small Batch Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe from Faith of An Edible Mosaic
Chocolate Madeleines from Caroline of Caroline’s Cooking
Rainbow Rice Krispie Treats from Bree of Baked Bree
Tiger Butter Candy from Melissa of MamaGourmand
Valentine’s Day Gluten Free Sugar Cookies from Brianna of Flippin’ Delicious
Chocolate Spritz Sandwich Cookies from Carlee of Cooking With Carlee
Pink Velvet Chocolate Chip Cookies from Jenn of Ever After in the Woods
French Butter Cookies from Rebekah of Kitchen Gidget
mini rose cookies from Meaghan of the decorated cookie
Raspberry Linzer Cookies from Stephie of Stephie Cooks
Red Velvet Brownies with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting from Coleen of The Redhead Baker
Warn Dark Chocolate Melting Cups from Lisa of Snack Girl
Salted Dark Chocolate Cookies from Jessica of A Kitchen Addiction
Cherry Cordial Bundt Cake from Carolann of Apron Warrior
Nutella Stuffed Cookies from Allison of Celebrating Sweets
Strawberry Pudding Cookies from Holly of A Baker’s House
Slice and Bake Whirligig Cookies from Laura of Untwisted Vintage
Raspberry Strawberry Cookies from Heather of Delicious Not Gorgeous
Chocolate Strawberry Hand Pie from Trang of Wild Wild Whisk
The Best Potato Chip Cookies Recipe from Marybeth of Babysavers
Darth Vader Valentine’s Day Hug Cookies to Support Cookies for Kid’s Cancer from Jenn of justJENN recipes
Hazelnut Shortbread Cookies with Jam from Lisa of Garlic & Zest
Sprinkled Chocolate Shortbread Heart Cookies from Lisa of Blogghetti
Double Chocolate Chip Cookies from Dee of Meatloaf and Melodrama
Homemade Salted Nut Rolls from Shaina of Food for My Family
Valentine Sugar Cookie Cups from Melissa of Persnickety Plates
Chocolate Dipped Cashew Butter Cookies from Ashley of Fit Mitten Kitchen
Chocolate Vanilla Striped Shortbread Cookies from Denise of Chez Us
Pineapple Coconut Bar Cookies from Barbara of Barbara Bakes
Chocolate Raspberry Roll-Ups from Sue of It’s Okay to Eat the Cupcake
Raspberry and Rose Meringue Parfaits from Michelle of Cup of Zest
Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies from Jade of Jonesin’ For Taste
Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies from Emilie of Finding Zest
Chocolate Mousse Cups from Miranda of Cookie Dough and Oven Mitt
Grain-Free Dark Chocolate Raspberry Tart from Gretchen of kumquat
Chocolate Shortbread Cookies from Sara of My Imperfect Kitchen
Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie from Angela of About A Mom
Honey Pistachio Shortbread from Megan of Stetted
Red Velvet Oreo Cheesecake Cookies from Nicole of For the Love of Food
Chocolate Peanut Butter Valentine’s Cookies from Becca of The Salted Cookie
Chocolate Caramel Pie from Stefanie of Mommy Musings
Gluten-Free Red Velvet Brownies {Dairy-Free} from Audrey of Mama Knows Gluten Free
Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes from Erica of The Crumby Kitchen
Dark Chocolate Bourbon Coconut Cream Mousse from Lisa of Taste Cook Sip
Maple Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies from Jamie of Southern Revivals
Red Velvet Mini Layer Cakes from Gwynn of Swirls of Flavor
The Best Potato Chip Cookies Recipe from Marybeth of babysavers
Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies from Kara of Kara in the Kitchen
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Hazelnut Shortbread Cookies with Jam
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT:
- Food Processor for grinding nuts
- 2″ and 1″ round cookie cutters or Linzer Cookie Cutter Set
INGREDIENTS:
- ⅔ cup toasted hazelnuts skins removed
- ⅔ cup brown sugar divided
- 2½ cups all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla
- ½ cup favorite jelly or jam (I used Bonne Mamman 4 Fruits)
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar for garnish
DIRECTIONS:
- Into a food processor add ⅓ cup brown sugar and hazelnuts. Pulse several times until you have a fine crumb. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cardamom, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and remaining ⅓ cup brown sugar until light and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla and beat to combine. Add half of the hazelnut and flour mixtures into the butter. Beat on low speed until just combined and then add the other half of the nuts and flour. Blend until dough just comes together.
- Divide dough into two equal pieces. Roll into a ball and flatten each ball into a disc about 1/2″ thick. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate 3 hours or overnight.
ROLL AND CUT THE CUT THE COOKIES
- Preheat the oven to 350°. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silpats. Set aside.
- Generously flour a work surface and place one disc of dough in the center. Lightly flour the top of the dough and your rolling pin. (Keep the other dough in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use it.)
- Roll the dough out to about ⅛”-¼” thick with the rolling pin. Turn the dough a quarter of a turn after each roll to prevent sticking. (note: you may need to add a little more flour to the underside of the dough.)
- Use a 2″ cookie cutter to cut out 20 cookies (you may need to collect scraps and roll out the dough again to achieve 20.) Transfer the cookies to a prepared sheet pan and refrigerate for 10 minutes before baking to prevent spreading. These are the bottoms of the cookies. Bake the cookies for 11-14 minutes or until lightly browned on the edges. Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature.
- Remove the second disc of dough from the refrigerator and roll it out in the same manner as the first. Cut out 20 cookies from the dough and place them on a prepared baking sheet. Use a 1″ heart-shaped cookie cutter and press it into the center of each cookie. These are the “tops” of the spice Linzer cookies. Refrigerate 10 minutes before baking to prevent spreading. Bake the cookies for 11-14 minutes or until set and lightly browned on the edges. Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature.
- Transfer the baby hearts to another prepared baking pan (or just fit them around the tops) to bake (those are for you — because you need a taste tester or 20). Refrigerate 10 minutes before baking to prevent spreading.
- Place the powdered sugar in a fine mesh sieve. Hold the sieve over the “top” cookies with the heart center. Gently tap the side of the sieve to coat the cookies with sugar.
- To make the filled cookies, hold a “bottom cookie” and turn it over to the side that had contact with the pan. Spread a thin layer of jam over the cookie and spread it out slightly. Top with a powdered sugar coated “top” cookie.
- Continue in this manner until all the cookies are filled.
NUTRITION:
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Hello Lisa, I love these heart-shaped <3 shortbread cookies! Looks delicious and I want to try this.
Lisa, You are wonderful for creating and sharing this lovely recipe for such a worthy cause! These cookies are so pretty!
Your Mediavine swag is on the way and should be to you soon. It’s a small token of our appreciation for your time and efforts to wipe out pediatric cancer.
Thank you so much for participating!
— Susannah at Mediavine
These Shortbread Cookies look amazing! I could only imagine how delicious they are!
These cookies look delicious – hazelnuts are my favorite and I need to try making these and love that this post also goes to support a good cause! Great to see so many bloggers getting involved and brands matching donations.
Thank you. They didn’t last long.
These are so pretty, and I love the flavors in them. I’ve made a simple hazelnut cookie before and the flavor was great, but I particularly like the sound of the added spices in here too. Must give them a try!
I hope you enjoy them, Caroline!
This cookie dough – DANG is it good. I wanted to eat it out of the bowl. Resist! Great flavor, and so good with the jam. Bringing these to my next party.
So happy you enjoyed them, Mike. Thanks for sharing your results.
Great recipe, my entire family loved it!