Linzer Cookies with Raspberry Honey Chia Jam

Baking Christmas cookies is a family tradition many families cherish. Growing up, I have many memories spending hours baking a wide variety of cookies with my Oma in her Munich kitchen. German-speaking countries have a tradition of making their own jam in the summertime and preserving it in their basements to use during the wintertime. A lot of these cookie recipes are filled with different kinds of jam. Traditional recipes call for a lot of sugar, nowadays Thomas and I prefer using honey instead and we try to substitute it as much as possible. =) Honey chia jam is one of our favorite easy alternatives to make! Give these Linzer cookies a try and let us know what you think! We love the addition of ground hazelnuts in these cookies, I think they must be my absolute favorite nut! :-) Regina used star and heart cut outs making them versatile for other holidays and occasions. Enjoy!  

Serves:

Prep time: 10 minute

Cooking time: 1 hour

Ingredients for the dough:

• 1 cup of roasted hazelnuts, peeled
• 1 ¾ cup of flour
• ¼ cup of dark brown sugar
• ½ jar of Brazilian Quince - Marmeleiro (Buy it on Amazon)
• 2 egg yolks
• ½ tsp of cinnamon
• 1 stick of unsalted butter, cold
• 2-3 tbsp of cold water

Ingredients for the raspberry chia jam:

• 10 oz of fresh raspberries
• 1 ½ tbsp of chia seeds
• 2 tbsp of Brazilian Quince - Marmeleiro
• Lemon juice from half lemon

Directions:

1. Place hazelnuts with brown sugar in a blender or food processor and mix until all the hazelnuts crushed into a flour mixture.
2. Add in the regular flour and cinnamon, mix to combine.
3. Stir in the butter, honey and egg yolks. Add the water, one tbsp at a time, until the mixture will come together. Slightly knead the dough with the hands, wrap with the plastic and refrigerate for at least one hour.
4. To make the raspberry chia jam, simply mash berries in a bowl, stir in the remaining ingredients and let it sit for 10-15 minutes until chia seeds are softened. Store in a glass container in a fridge.
5. Preheat the oven at 350F. Prepare the baking trays lining with parchment paper. Pull the dough out and let it sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes. Divide dough in 2-3 parts. Roll out one part of the dough and place the rest to the fridge, covered with plastic wrap. Using Linzer cookie cutters, cut the circles and then using the small cutters, create a hole in one of the circles (which is going to be a top of the Linzer cookie).
6. Bake the cookies until the light brown color, about 5-7 minutes. Cool them down completely.
7. Place a small amount of raspberry jam on the bottom and cover with another cookie with a hole in the center.  Press a little bit, so the jam will come out a little bit. Dust with powdered sugar. Store in an airtight container in a cool place for up to a week.