Description
These Gingerbread Linzer Cookies with White Chocolate Ganache are a festive twist on the classic Linzer cookie, featuring warm ginger and cinnamon spices in a tender cookie sandwich filled with creamy white chocolate ganache. Perfect for holiday celebrations, this recipe combines the rich flavors of molasses and spices baked into a buttery dough, completed with a dusting of confectioners’ sugar for a charming, delicious treat.
Ingredients
Scale
Cookie Dough
- 1 cup butter, softened
- ½ cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons molasses
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and levelled
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Assembly
- 1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- ⅓ cup white chocolate chips
Instructions
- Cream Butter and Sugar: In a large bowl, use a hand mixer or stand mixer to cream the butter and brown sugar together on medium speed for about 2 minutes, until the mixture is soft and fluffy.
- Add Vanilla and Molasses: Beat in the vanilla extract and molasses until fully incorporated and the mixture is smooth.
- Combine Dry Ingredients: In a separate small bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, and salt. Gradually add the dry ingredient mixture to the wet mixture, mixing until the dough forms a cohesive mass.
- Chill Dough: Place a large piece of plastic wrap on the counter, form the slightly sticky dough into a ball, flatten it into a disc, and wrap tightly. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to overnight to firm up.
- Preheat Oven and Prepare Baking Sheets: Heat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and line two half-sheet baking pans with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Roll and Cut Cookies: Dust a clean surface lightly with flour. Roll the chilled dough to ¼-inch thickness. Use a 2-inch Linzer cookie cutter to cut out cookies. On half of these, use a smaller cutter to cut out shapes from the centers. Collect scraps, reroll, and cut more cookies as needed.
- Chill Cut Cookies: Place cookies spaced about an inch apart on baking sheets. Chill them in the refrigerator for 10 minutes while the oven preheats, to help maintain their shape during baking.
- Bake Cookies: Bake for 8-10 minutes until the edges just begin to brown. The cookies should feel slightly soft when touched. Cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Make White Chocolate Ganache: Heat the heavy cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until it simmers, but does not boil. Pour the hot cream over white chocolate chips in a bowl. Let sit for 5 minutes, then stir gently until melted and combined. Refrigerate 10-15 minutes to thicken.
- Assemble Cookies: Dust the top cookies (with cut-out centers) lightly with confectioners’ sugar. Place about 1 teaspoon of thickened white chocolate ganache on the bottom cookie (solid cookie without cut-out). Carefully sandwich the top cookie onto the ganache-covered bottom cookie. For extra indulgence, pipe additional ganache into the cut-out centers if desired.
Notes
- Store cookies in a single layer in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or refrigerated for up to 1 week.
- To freeze unassembled cookies, arrange in a single layer in an airtight container with parchment paper between layers. Freeze assembled cookies with caution as confectioners’ sugar may melt upon thawing; it is preferable to add sugar and ganache after thawing.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 cookies
- Calories: 180
- Sugar: 12g
- Sodium: 60mg
- Fat: 10g
- Saturated Fat: 6g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 22g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 2g
- Cholesterol: 30mg
