Spiced Mulled Wine Linzer Cookies

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If Christmas were a cookie, it would be these delicious Spiced Mulled Wine Linzer Cookies! Perfectly sweet and heavily spice spiced, jammy mulled wine filling, sandwiched between two soft linzer cookies cookies, and finished with a light dusting of powdered sugar. They taste like your favorite mug of mulled wine, but in cookie form! Can it really get better than that? If you want to make Santa happy this year, these are the cookies you need to make, trust me! Every bite is soft, full of jammy mulled wine flavor, with just the right amount of sweetness, and it just melts in your mouth. There’s nothing not to love about these cookies, especially during the holiday’s!

About The Recipe

I cannot believe we are finally sharing these cookies with all of you! This recipe has been a long time in the making…over a year to be exact. My mom and I originally came up with this recipe in October/November of last year, but getting it from our heads onto a plate was a whole bunch of problems.

Why? Well, we wanted something very specific and getting that was…challenging to say the least.

We kept telling ourselves last year that we would get it done, that we would get it up, but December came and gone, and there were no mulled wine linzer cookies on the blog.

The problem? Figuring out how to make a wine jelly that wasn’t boring and full of all the flavors we wanted.

We set the recipe aside and told ourselves we would get it done this year. We talked it through occasionally during the summer, especially leading up to September and October, but every idea we had just didn’t feel right, you know?

November came quick and we knew we had to start figuring this out. In all honesty, we didn’t figure out exactly how to do this until a few DAYS ago! Our biggest road block (originally) was how to set the jelly. We decided to use pectin, which worked really well! The newest road block was flavor.

We talked about this jelly for about 2 hours the other day. Just going back and forth about HOW we could infuse it with flavor, but also boiling it to set the pectin. Because, if you’ve made our Gingerbread Spiced Mulled Wine before, you’ll know we make a spiced simple syrup and then add the wine.

This was confusing and frustrating to us. Deeply.

Then, my mom suggested maybe using ground spices instead of whole. Immediately, things clicked! I had used ground cinnamon in my Apple Cider Bourbon Smash and it worked beautifully. So, it SHOULD work in our jelly.

Turns out, we were right! The wine jelly turned out so well that you just want to eat it with a spoon.

From there, the cookies and assembly were easy.

Honestly, these cookies were worth waiting a year for! Every bite is soft, sweet, perfectly spiced with a wonderful wine flavor coming from the jelly, while really making it feel special and festive.

What is a Linzer Cookie?

Traditionally, they are a sandwich cookie featuring a shortbread cookie made with almond flour, that are then filled with a jam. Originally, the cookies are from Austria, inspired by their famous Linzer Torte. So, you can really say that these cookies are just a mini Linzer Torte!

But, our recipe today is a bit different from the originals. We added a dash of gingerbread spice to the cookie dough and, instead of a fruit based jam, we made a wine jelly to really make these cookies extra festive for Christmas!

Why You Will Love These Mulled Wine Linzer Cookies This Christmas

• A spiced wine jelly filling that’s actually easy to make!!!
• Delicious buttery shortbread cookies with subtle spices.
• Make for great Christmas gifts or cookies to leave out for Santa 😉
• Full of flavor and oh so cozy.
• Can be cut into ANY shape!!

Equipment Needed

• 4 Quart Saucepan
• Wooden Spoon
• Large Glass Casserole
• Stand Mixer
• Rolling Pin
• Holiday Linzer Cookie Cutters
• Sheet Pans
• Piping Bag

Ingredients

(Full ingredient amounts and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the post)

For The Wine Jelly:

• Cabernet Sauvignon – A cheap, fruit-forward cabernet sauvignon works best for this recipe.
• Molasses – Just a little bit to add sweetness and to help lend the classic flavor of gingerbread.
• Fresh Orange Juice – An essential! Not only do you need the acidity to help the jelly set, but it also gives this jam a wonderful flavor.
• Fresh Lemon Juice – We add lemon juice all the same reasons as orange juice, but also to help cut some of sweetness!
• Granulated Sugar – You will need quite a bit of sugar for this recipe!
• Gingerbread Spice – Our secret to the perfect jelly! Using ground gingerbread spice adds the perfect amount of flavor, while making it easy to use.
• Pectin – This is what sets up the jelly! It’s absolutely essential.

For The Cookies:

• All-Purpose Flour – Just regular unbleached all-purpose flour is the perfect flour to give these cookies a wonderful texture.
• Almond Flour – An essential addition to linzer cookies! If you don’t have almond flour, you can make your own by finely grounding almonds.
• Baking Powder – Baking powder keeps the cookies from spreading, while also providing the perfect amount of rise.
• Gingerbread Spice – Just a dash to lend a small amount of flavor to the cookies, without being overwhelming once paired with the jelly.
• Salted Butter – Remember to set out your butter early enough so it will have time to come to room temperature!
• Granulated Sugar – This not only sweetens the cookies, but also makes them crisp! Which, is very important as once the sandwiches are assembled, the cookies absorb the moisture and become oh-so soft, simply melting in your mouth.
• Large Egg – Just one egg is all you need for this recipe!
• Vanilla Extract – A splash of vanilla gives these cookies a wonderful flavor.

How To Make Mulled Wine Linzer Cookies

Step 1: Make the wine jelly

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil over medium heat. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat.

Pour into a clean bowl or glass casserole and allow to set.

Step 2: Make the cookie dough

Whisk together flour, almond flour, baking powder, and spice. Set aside.

With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.

Beat in egg and vanilla.

Stir in flour mixture.

Step 3: Roll out dough and cut

Divide the dough in half. Wrap one half in plastic wrap and set aside. Roll the other half between 2 pieces of parchment paper to 3/16″ thick.

Cut into desired shapes. Cut centers out of half the cookies. Remove excess dough. Place in freezer for 5 minutes, or refrigerator for 15 minutes.

Step 4: Bake

Transfer to prepared pan. Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until lightly browned around the edges. Repeat with other half of dough, re-rolling scraps as necessary.

Step 5: Assemble

Transfer the jelly into a piping bag and snip tip for ¼ inch opening.

Place one half of cookies flat side up. Pipe desired amount of jelly on each cookie. Dust tops of remaining cookies with powdered sugar and place on top of jam filled cookies.

What is The Best Wine To Use For Wine Jelly?

With this recipe, we based it off our Gingerbread Spiced Mulled Wine, which we typically use a cheap Cabernet Sauvignon. Though, a Merlot, or Zinfandel are both wines that will work beautifully for the jam! They’re dark, very fruity and full bodied, which means they can really hold up and compliment the gingerbread spice.

We’ve learned that it’s best to read the labels and look for descriptions such as “jammy”, “bold”, or, if possible, a wine with vanilla or spice notes!

Another thing to keep in mind is that the wine shouldn’t be expensive. Generally cheaper the better!

Decorating Ideas

While linzer cookies are traditionally dusted in powdered sugar, it’s fun to also pipe royal icing onto these cookies to create fun and cute designs! You can also use colored decorative sugar on the royal icing to add a bright pop of festive color. It’s not traditional, BUT it is very festive and can be lots of fun!

Also, feel free to also have fun cutting out the shapes! Use cookie cutters of all shapes and sizes. Just keep in mind they are meant to be sandwich cookies, so don’t do anything too big.

For some of the cookies, I used a biscuit cutter and a few of our mini cutters to cut out the centers to create cute little sandwich cookies.

How To Store

After assembly, these cookies need to be kept in an airtight container. You can leave them out at room temperature for a day or so, or keep in the fridge for about 2-4 days. The cookies will soften, but don’t worry! They’re actually just as good the next day as they are freshly baked!

You can also freeze these cookies for up to 2 months.

Substitutions

• Don’t have almond flour? No worries! Using a food processor, you can grind some almonds and have the same thing! Just remember it needs to be a very fine grind. No chunks!
• If you cannot find a cheap Cabernet Sauvignon, you can use a Merlot or Zinfandel. Just make sure they’re described as “jammy”, “bold”, or, if possible, with vanilla or spice notes!

Looking for more recipes like this? Here are a few you may like: Gingerbread Cookies, Hot Cocoa Sandwich Cookies, Apple Butter Linzer Cookies, Gingerbread Spiced Mulled Wine

Expert Tips

• This recipe doesn’t use a whole bottle of wine, as they would make too much jam.
• If jelly doesn’t set thick enough, put it back on the stove and boil it again for another minute. You can test the jelly by placing a small amount on a plate and letting it set. If it’s still runny, you can boil it again. If it’s set, continue with the directions!
• Be careful to not over-mix the cookie dough!
• Depending on the size cookie cutter(s) you use, it will vary the amount of cookies this recipe makes.
• Don’t press too hard when assembling the cookies! You don’t want the jelly to smush out.
• These cookies are really meant to be made and eaten within 24 hours of assembly.
• Feel free to bake the small cut outs from the top cookies!

When you make these Spiced Mulled Wine Linzer Cookies, leave a comment down below! We love hearing from you and answering any questions you might have! Also, be sure to tag us on social media and hashtag it #BakersTable.

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