Recipe: Linzer Cookies (vegan)

One of those biscuit basics you need in your recipe file – to be enjoyed with your tea or coffee!

Makes about 18 sandwich cookies

Ingredients

• 6 tbsp margarine (dairy-free)
• 65g sugar
• few drops of vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• 130g plain flour

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160°C.
2. In a medium bowl, sift the flour and salt.
3. Use an electric mixer to beat the margarine, sugar and vanilla until just combined.
4. Slowly beat the dry into the butter/sugar until the dough starts to come together.
5. Turn out onto a floured surface and gently knead until it forms a dough.
6. Flatten into a disc and refrigerate for about 30 mins (40 if you can).
7. Roll out thinly (~5mm thick) and cut out ~50mm fluted rounds – stamp out a star/heart/whatever-shaped cutter you have from half of these.
8. Place on greaseproof paper on a couple of trays and refrigerate briefly for 15 minutes.
9. Bake for 15-20 mins until golden (turn around/swap trays half way through and check them at 15 – they brown quite quickly if they were rolled out thinly!)
10. Allow to cool and sift icing sugar over the star stamped rounds.
11. Sandwich together with jam, curd or dairy-free alternative of Nutella.

Recipe notes:

• For an alternative zingy filling, I’ve included my first attempt at dairy-free lemon curd below!
• Dairy-free Nutella can be quite sweet so sandwich with a sharp-flavoured jam (blackcurrant goes well) or reduce the sugar in the biscuit recipe.
• Cover tightly with cling film once you’re done – otherwise they soften quickly!

Dairy free lemon curd

• 1.5 lemons (juice)
• 50g cornflour
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• few drops of vanilla
• small knob of margarine

Whisk together all the ingredients except the margarine in a small saucepan continuously (it can thicken quickly so keep an eye on it, but even if it does start looking like a gloopy mess, take it off the heat and whisk together and it’ll become smooth.) Whisk in the margarine and leave to cool. (Taste-test the mixture before it thickens and adjust the sweetness by adding sugar or more lemon)