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Caroline Saunders developed this climate-friendly recipe while catering for a happy hour event hosted by the climate magazine Grist. Read more about her catering gig here.
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RECIPE: Vegan Parmesan Linzer Cookies With Pepper Jelly and Ricotta
- Yield: Makes 32 cookies 1x
Description
This savory, vegan spin on a Linzer cookie makes an elegant party appetizer. Crisp, slightly cheesy shortbread cookies sandwich a store-bought savory jam and are topped with a piped dab of vegan ricotta and a jaunty piece or two of chive. I decided to omit the small portion of proso millet flour I used when making these cookies for a catering gig, because it makes the cookies more delicate. Using all all-purpose flour makes them slightly less delicate and easier to work with.
Ingredients
The cookies
- 1 1/4 cup (160g) all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup (64g) almond flour
- 2 tsps cornstarch
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 cup (170g) unsalted cultured vegan butter, at room temperature
- 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 Tbsp unsweetened vegan milk
- 3/4 cup (30g) freshly grated vegan Parmesan cheese
The vegan ricotta spread
- 1/2 cup vegan ricotta cheese
- 1/4 cup (10g) freshly grated vegan Parmesan cheese
- 2 tsp (10g) lemon juice
- Salt and pepper to taste
The filling and garnish
- Store-bought savory jam, such as pepper or onion
- Chives
- Freshly ground black pepper (optional)
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, almond flour, cornstarch, kosher salt, onion powder, and ground black pepper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the vegan butter and sugar and beat on low-medium speed until fluffy. Add the vegan milk and vegan Parmesan and mix again until combined. Add the dry ingredients and mix just until combined (don’t overmix). Shape the dough into a thin disc, wrap it in plastic wrap, and freeze until firm.
- As the dough chills, make the ricotta spread by adding all of the ingredients to a small bowl and mixing until combined. Adjust seasonings as needed.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Roll out the chilled cookie dough between two sheets of parchment paper to a thickness between 1/8 and 1/4 inch. Using a 2-inch round cookie cutter, stamp out 64 cookies, re-rolling the scraps as needed to get to that number. Out of half the cookies (32), stamp small windows using the wide end of a pastry tip. Return the dough and pans to the freezer as needed to keep the dough cold as you work with it.
- Transfer cookies to two baking sheets lined with silicone baking mats. Before baking the cookies, chill them in the freezer long enough that the dough is completely firm; this will help them hold their shape during baking. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, or until the bottom of the cookies have just begun to turn lightly golden. Remove them from the oven, and allow the cookies to cool to room temperature on the pans.
- To assemble, spread about 3/4 tsp of savory jam gently on the bottom cookie, affixing the top cookie so the jam peeks through. Transfer the ricotta spread to a piping bag and pipe an off-centered dab onto each cookie. Place small pieces of chive on top to decorate and optionally sprinkle a few grinds of black pepper over the batch for extra savory flavor.
Notes
- For cookies that keep their crispness rather than softening, it’s best to assemble the cookies no more than a few hours before you intend to serve them.
- The ricotta spread can be made up to four days ahead and stored in the fridge.
- The cookies can be baked up to a day ahead and stored at room temperature in an airtight container until ready to assemble.
- To cut charmingly small windows into the top of your Linzer cookies, use the wide end of a metal pastry tip.
- Feel free to choose your favorite savory jelly. I also like caramelized onion.
Grams Versus Measuring Cups
We do our best to present recipes without grams for the ease of our audience, but some baking recipes have less margin of error. These cookies are intended to have a delicate texture for max crunch, which also means that using a bit too much flour or too little butter could make them break, which is why we recommend using a scale.
