Whether you can’t get enough of our special Valentines sweets or are looking to bewitch that special someone with a homemade treat, we understand. That is why this year we are sharing with you the recipe for our Linzer Hearts, a delectable hazelnut cookie topped with raspberry jam and another hazelnut cookie on top.

To begin, you will take 1 ¼ cups of hazelnuts and grind them up to a medium grind.

Next, you will prepare to cream your butter and sugar together using the paddle attachment of your electric mixer. This will require 1 cup of butter and 2/3 cup of sugar which you will cream together after setting your electric mixer to a medium-highs speed.

Once your butter and sugar have been creamed together, you will want to take 2 eggs and 1 tsp of vanilla and add it into the mix, then begin mixing again.

While waiting, you will take 2 cups of flour, 1 tsp of baking powder, 1 tsp of cinnamon, 1/4 tsp of salt, and 1 tsp of lemon zest, which you will then whisk together before adding and whisking in your hazelnuts from before.

Once your egg mixture has come together, you will then want to add your flour mixture with the hazelnuts and mix until your dough has incorporated the flour and hazelnuts. At this point, you should notice that your dough is a little dry, but sticky, and this is exactly how you want it.

Thus, you will scrape off the excess from your paddle and the sides of your bowl with your rubber spatula, wrap your dough in plastic, and place it in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Afterwards, you will take your dough out of the freezer and place it onto a floured surface where you will sprinkle some flour on top and rub some flour onto your rolling pin to prevent your dough from sticking. As you proceed to roll your dough, you will want to flatten it from different angles, continuing to do so until it becomes 1/8 – 1/4 of an inch thick, at which point you may begin cutting your bottom layer of hearts with your large heart-cutter.

Upon filling a sheet tray, you will continue cutting out hearts with your large cutter, then use your small heart-cutter to remove the center of these remaining hearts which will make up your top layer.

After cutting your two layers of hearts, you will put them in your oven for 5 minutes and bake them at 350* before turning them and baking them for another 5 minutes. Please note the precise temperature at which to bake your hearts may vary with individual ovens.

When your 10 minutes are up, you will pull your cookies and begin adding your raspberry jam to your bottom layer of hearts. Here you will take a bottom heart and spread a scoop of jam on top with one cup of jam likely being just enough for you to get every heart you have.

To finish your cookies, you will lightly sprinkle powdered sugar on your top hearts, being sure to do this before placing them atop your bottom hearts so as to not take away from the raspberry flavor on the inside.

After placing your top heart layer on the bottom layer, your Linzer Heart cookies should be ready for you and your special someone to enjoy.

Thank you for joining us here at the Coffee Hound Bakery, and, we hope you have a happy Valentine’s Day.