Enjoy these festive mincemeat Linzer cookies, featuring a buttery, nutty dough and a sweet, spiced mincemeat filling. They’re perfect for holiday baking or gifting.
Linzer cookies are a classic biscuit known for their tender, nutty dough and their signature cut-out top that reveals a peek of filling. They have a beautifully delicate texture that pairs perfectly with something fruity and lightly spiced. Therefore, they are a natural match for mincemeat during the festive season. Each cookie feels special, offering a balance of buttery richness and warming sweetness.
This recipe is also a great way to enjoy mincemeat in a different form. While mince pies are the traditional go-to, it’s not uncommon to find yourself with a jar or two left over during the festive season. These cookies offer a lighter, more playful alternative that still celebrates those familiar flavours. They are a lovely option for anyone who enjoys mincemeat but wants something a little less rich than a traditional mince pie.
These cookies aren’t just for holidays. They’re a treat that works well for any cosy afternoon or special gathering. Their elegant appearance makes them ideal for sharing with friends, giving as gifts, or serving alongside a warm beverage. With just a few ingredients and simple steps, they deliver the perfect balance of flavour, texture, and festive cheer.
Star Ingredient
What makes mincemeat such a standout ingredient is the balance it brings between sweetness, spice, and natural fruitiness. Its slow-cooked blend of dried fruits and warm spices creates a depth of flavour that feels comforting without being heavy. In a Linzer cookie, that richness cuts through the buttery dough beautifully. Thereby, giving each bite a burst of festive character while still letting the delicate texture of the cookie shine. The contrast between the crumbly base and the soft, glossy filling is what makes this pairing work so well.
You can use either a good shop-bought jar or your own homemade batch. If making your own mincemeat you can tailor, it to your taste. prefer. You can add in a splash of alcohol at the end to make it a bit boozy. This flexibility means the cookies can lean fruitier, warmer, or richer depending on your chosen mincemeat, making the recipe adaptable to your own seasonal style.
How to Purchase Ingredients to be Conscious to the Planet
I talk about the basic for biscuits a lot so I want to focus on the extra ingredients that these mincemeat linzer cookies have.
Ground almonds provide that classic nutty taste that linzer cookies have. Heading to refill shops to pick up your nuts is a great swap to make to shop with less plastic. Nuts of any description will always come in plastic when shopping at standard supermarkets. They tend to come in smaller quantities as well. Therefore, if you need a lot it ends up with a lot of small plastic bags. Taking you own containers or jars to refill shop you can get as much as you need with no plastic in sight.
Oranges are common within festive recipes. Select the loose one when shopping in supermarkets. Farm shops tend to have loose options as well. If you are looking to keep them together, utilise net bags. They are easy to keep a few already in your shopping bags, so you have them when you need them.
Mincemeat comes in jars, so even in supermarkets you can pick up with less waste. So, if you want to make a bigger impact, consider where you purchase from. See if there is a local brand to yourself that makes them it that you can support. Visiting Christmas markets may be a way to discover this. Alternatively, have a go at making a batch yourself. The required ingredients you can find in refill shops. You can also mix it up a little if you want to make it a bit more festive with a touch of alcohol at the end.
Ingredients you can buy Plastic Free
- Granulated Sugar
- Plain Flour
- Ground Almonds
- Orange
- Egg
- Salt
- Vanilla Extract
- Almond Extract
- Ground Cinnamon
- Mincemeat
- Icing Sugar
Equipment You Will Need
- Freestanding Mixer with Beater Attachment or Bowl with Handheld Mixer
- Spatula
- Measuring Spoons
- Micro Zester
- Rolling Pin
- Baking Sheet
- Silicone Baking Mat or Baking Parchment Paper
- Scallop Round Cookie Cutter
- Small Star Cookie Cutter
- Cooling Rack
- Teaspoons
- Small Sieve
Tips and Tricks when Making Mincemeat Linzer Cookies
Chill the Dough Twice for Best Results
This dough benefits from two chilling stages. Chill it once immediately after mixing to firm up the butter and make rolling much easier. You can even rest it overnight if that suits your schedule. After cutting out the shapes, chill the biscuits again before baking. This helps them keep their clean edges and prevents spreading in the oven.
Sustainable Ways to Chill the Dough
There are easy ways to avoid needing single use plastic to chill your dough. You can wrap the dough in compostable parchment paper. Alternatively, you could also press it into a shallow baking dish and cover with a reusable bowl cover. Flattening the dough slightly before chilling also helps it firm up more quickly.
Dust the Top of your Linzer Cookies Before Assembling
Dust the top halves with icing sugar before sandwiching them together. This keeps the filling looking glossy and avoids the sugar settling onto the mincemeat, which can make the centre appear cloudy.
Choose any Cut Out Shape You Like
A small star works beautifully for a festive touch to the cut out. But you can use any cutter you have. Circles, hearts, snowflakes, or any seasonal motifs all work well. Just make sure the cut-out isn’t too large, so the biscuit stays sturdy once assembled. Also consider any smaller details the cutter may have. If there are fine areas, you may find that cutting them out a bit harder with the smaller size.
Mincemeat Linzer Cookies
Equipment
- Freestanding Mixer with Beater Attachment or Bowl with Handheld Mixer
- Spatula
- Measuring Spoons
- Micro Zester
- Rolling Pin
- Baking Sheet
- Silicone Baking Mat or Baking Parchment Paper
- Scallop Round Cookie Cutter
- Small Star Cookie Cutter
- Cooling rack
- Teaspoons
- Small Sieve
Ingredients
- 225 g Butter / Plant Butter
- 135 g Granulated Sugar
- Zest ½ Orange
- 1 Egg
- ½ Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ½ Teaspoon Almond Extract
- 275 g Plain Flour
- 75 g Ground Almonds
- Pinch of Salt
- ½ Teaspoon Cinnamon
- Mincemeat
- Icing Sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Cream the butter, sugar and orange zest together in a bowl.
- Add in the egg, vanilla and almond extract and beat again to combine.
- Add in the flour, ground almonds, salt and cinnamon and beat to form a dough.
- Divide the dough into 2, flatten into discs and wrap in parchment paper.
- Chill the dough discs for a minimum of 2 hours (or overnight).
- Roll the dough out on a well floured surface to ¼ inch thick.
- Cut out 25 rounds and then cut out a star from the middle of each.
- Place these onto a lined baking sheet.
- Chill for 15 – 3o minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 170 degrees.
- Using the remaining dough and the spare dough from the cut outs roll out and cut out 25 more rounds.
- Pop these on lined baking sheets and chill as the first batch.
- Bake the biscuits in the middle of the oven for 10-12 minutes until edges are golden.
- Cool for a few minutes before transferring onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
- When ready to assemble, dust the top halves (the biscuits with cut out) with icing sugar.
- Add a teaspoon of mincemeat to each of the whole biscuits.
- Sandwich a top biscuit onto a mincemeat one.
- Store in an airtight container.
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