Double Earl Grey Linzer Cookies

Yeeeessssss, you read it right, attention Earl Grey lovers because double Earl Grey Linzer cookies are here to blow your mind! These delicious cookies are made with Earl Grey tea leaves and filled with a low-calorie Earl Grey jelly. An Earl Grey lover’s dream! They are perfect for gifting, for tea parties, for holidays and any time, really.

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These delicious cookies came to life after I first made my popular DIY Earl Grey jelly. I was looking for creative ways to use this amazing low-calorie Earl Grey jelly and of course, I did a bit of cheese pairing and I absolutely loved it with Manchego. I also gifted some and with what I had left, I decided to make cookies, and why not double Earl Grey Linzer cookies? It sounded like a brilliant idea (and trust me, it was!).

What are Linzer Cookies?

These cookies are originally from Linz, Austria, thus their name. The original recipe was the Linzertorte (the world’s oldest written recipe still in existence), a tart with a crust made of almonds (because nuts were easier to get than flour sometimes) filled with black currant preserves and topped with a latticework crust.

Bakers came up with a cookie version and cut shapes like stars, hearts, etc. Half of the shapes would get center cutouts and were called Linzer eyes. Once baked, they would construct sandwich cookies using black or red currant preserves just like the tart. Finally, the top cookies were dusted with powdered sugar. It became a holiday tradition to see these lovely treats in the frosty windows.

I use this set to create cookies with different cutout shapes, and like alternating between a circle and textured cookie edge.

Nowadays, you can find multitudes of recipes in cookbooks and online, each with slight variations and different fillings, but what hasn’t changed is that they are still a tradition during the holidays.

Can I bake with Tea?

Absolutely! Besides drinking it, tea can also be used as an ingredient to incorporate flavor into preparations, sweet or savory. It is becoming more and more present and trendy among chefs and mixologists. It is an excellent alternative to provide flavor without adding calories.

There are several ways to incorporate tea in food preparations. It can be added in the form of a liquid concentrate, previously infusing some of the wet ingredients with it (like milk, water, or even butter), or by adding ground leaves directly to the preparation. Different recipes will have a different method of incorporating tea into them.

To learn more about baking with tea and to try more recipes, check these out:

Homemade Earl Grey Irish Cream
Blood Orange and Rooibos Sorbet
Tea Mimosa
Masala Chai Milk Spread
Tea Shortbread Cookies
Pu-Erh Tea-ramisu

Earl Grey Jelly

I can’t recommend this jelly enough. I mean, it is SO-GOOD! It has a pronounced flavor and most of all, I love that it has virtually zero calories!

There was a lot of recipe testing involved until I got to the right one, and tried different pectin brands until I ran into the perfect one. The best thing about the one I chose was that it didn’t need sugar to gel, so I used a sugar alternative, Monkfruit to make it, resulting in a super low-calorie jelly. What is not to love about that!?

Check out my Earl Grey Jelly recipe, because you’ll need this to fill the Earl Grey Linzer cookies.

Recipe Notes

It is key to refrigerate the dough after making it. Don’t skip this step, because the result of chilling cookie dough before baking solidifies the butter, and as they bake, the butter in the chilled cookie dough takes longer to melt than room-temperature fat, meaning that cookies will spread less. Also the chilling redistributes the moist in the dough and will make cookies that bake and brown more evenly.

The easiest way to make beautiful Linzer cookies is by using a Linzer cookie cutter, otherwise you can try to find things in your kitchen and still make it work.

These cookies are slightly fragile, so the best way to bake and handle them is by using a silicone baking mat or parchment paper (I looooove these precut sheets), and wait until they have completely cooled down to remove them from the baking tray.

Remember to only dust the tops (or Linzer eyes) with powdered sugar using a sieve before mounting the Earl Grey Linzer cookies.

If you have food grade bergamot oil, adding it will ‘boost’ the Earl Grey flavor in these cookies, it’s delicious! But remember that it needs to be food grade because not all oils are created equal.

I often like to replace granulated sugar with Monkfruit. It is a zero-calorie, zero-glycemic index, and keto-friendly sweetener. It is replaced 1:1 with sugar and it works great for baking (it only doesn’t caramelize). Learn more about it here.

FAQs

What is Earl Grey?

Simply put, it is a Black tea blend that has been flavored with bergamot oil. Bergamot oranges are a special type of orange with a very fragrant, flavorful peel. Its base may vary from Ceylon to Assam or even be a blend of Black teas.

Although the classic and original Earl Grey consisted of Black tea and bergamot oil, lots of variations have popped since and some include blue cornflower blossoms, lavender, and even cream flavoring.

Does Earl Grey have caffeine?

Yes, it is a Black tea, so it does have caffeine.

Which Earl Grey should I use?

For baking, I recommend using tea bags, they are usually lower quality tea than loose leaf teas, but they fulfill the purpose. They are finely ground and cheaper, so that’s all you need (for drinking, that’s another story, always choose loose leaf tea!).

I use Taylors of Harrogate teabags for baking and making cocktails. Its flavor is pronounced and its only ingredients are black tea and bergamot oil, no other inclusions.

If you choose to use loose leaf tea, try Harney and Sons or Numi‘s Earl Grey and use a spice/coffee grinder to break it down into smaller bits that can be used in this recipe.

Can you eat tea leaves?

It is safe to eat tea leaves that in this case have been added to the cookie dough. In Asia there are common preparations that include steeped tea leaves. Matcha is an example of consumption of unsteeped tea leaves since it is made of ground Tencha leaves.

Can I use loose leaf Earl Grey tea?

Yes! You definitely can, but in order to use loose leaf tea in this recipe, you’ll need to grind them into smaller bits. Use a spice/coffee grinder to do so.

Can I freeze the dough? And the cookies once they’re baked?

Absolutely! The raw dough can be frozen for up to 3 months and thawed by leaving it on the countertop until it just becomes easy to manipulate and stretch (don’t let it get to room temperature).

Once the cookies are baked, you can freeze them, before sprinkling powdered sugar and without mounting. To mount them, thaw them overnight in the refrigerator, then for a few hours at room temperature. You need to make sure they have no moisture before you sprinkle them with powdered sugar. Follow the mounting instructions from the recipe and serve immediately.

How do I store them?

You can keep them at room temperature in a container with a tight lid for 3-4 days or (my preferred way) store them in the fridge for up to a week.

I hope you enjoy this recipe and I’m looking forward to seeing if you make it! Please leave a comment and tag me on Instagram to see if you did, I’d love to share it too.

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