June Meyer's Authentic Hungarian
Linzerteig Cookies
Here is the original recipe for LINZERTEIG or Linzer cookies, the recipe in our family dates back about 150 years. This is the mainstay of our Christmas cookies. It is a wonderful cookie, with a hint of lemon and butter rich beyond belief. It makes a cookie that will ship well if you make them about 1/3 of an inch thick.
Regards, June Meyer.
Recipe can be doubled for big batches:
Mix all ingredients in a big bowl, I use my pastry cutter (as though
I were making pie crust).
If your Cuisinart can handle a large amount use it. Mix until ingredients are blended
and mixture can be molded in your hand.
Divide mass into 3 large thick disks of dough, wrap each in saran wrap and refrigerate
for 3 hours to 2 days.
When ready to bake cookies, dust counter surface with flour and place one of the
dough disks on flour and roll out with floured rolling pin to 1/4 to 1/3 inch thick.
Cut with cookie cutters, brush top with beaten egg white wash (Egg White Wash is
the white of an egg beaten with 1/2 teaspoon of water till mixed).
Use a pastry brush or an European goose brush (made for this use) and sprinkle well
with ground walnuts mixed with sugar.
Place on a greased cookie sheet.
Cookies can also be decorated with green or red sugar, multi sprinkles, etc. Just
use the egg white wash to make them stick. Do not use whole nuts, they will burn.
You can also roll out dough to fit in a greased baking pan, spread
thick rasberry jam or apricot Lekvar over the cookie dough, and cut thin serrated
strips of more dough to make a lattice design on top of the jam.
Brush with egg white to give nice gloss.
When the cookie dough is baked, the sheet of latticed Linzerteig is cut into 2 inch
x 2 inch squares.
Bake in a moderate oven. About 325 degrees. The time depends on how thick the dough
is rolled out and what kind of pan you are using. Try 10 min. Do not let them burn,
light tan is okay.
These cookies can be stored in a cool place or freezer.