Chocolate Nutella Linzer Cookies

How to make Nutella Linzer cookies with this easy and delicious recipe. These little sandwich shortbread cookies are filled with a delicious Nutella spread and are perfect for any occasion.

this recipe

Make these homemade chocolate Linzer cookies, they are very delicious and much appreciated by children and adults alike with their sweet and nutty filling.

Sandwiched like Linzer cookies, these Nutella-filled shortbread cookies are made with only 2 ingredients, a soft shortbread dough, and a very flavorful hazelnut Nutella spread filling.

They are very easy to make at home, with a linzer cookie cutter set that allows you to cut out solid cookies and cookies with a hole in the center in the shape of a heart, star or flower that lets the greedy filling appear.

Nutella Linzer cookies are made for all occasions, especially during the holidays, such as Christmas, Easter, and birthday celebrations.

And you can easily replace the Nutella spread with another filling like strawberry or raspberry jam, a chocolate ganache, Biscoff butter spread, salted caramel, and more.

>> See all the shortbread and cookie recipes from the blog

Ingredients and substitutions

Here are the ingredients needed and possible substitutions to make delicious homemade Nutella-filled linzer cookies, scroll down to see the quantities in the recipe card.

Pâte sablée

• Butter: Preferably use unsalted butter, well softened, take it out in advance or warm it slightly in the microwave.
• Sugar: White powdered sugar, which can be replaced by granulated sugar or flavored sugar like brown sugar or cane sugar (but the shortbread will have a darker color)
• Eggs: at room temperature, let them rest a little in a bowl of hot water if you didn't have time to take them out in advance.
• Flour: Use white wheat all-purpose flour.
• Yeast: Optional, baking powder gives a more soft texture and makes the cookies a bit puffy.
• Vanilla and salt: Essential to flavor the recipe and bring out all the flavors.

Chocolate filling

Chocolate hazelnut Nutella spread that you can easily replace with any other spread, such as Biscoff cookie butter spread, peanut butter or strawberry jam, raspberry jam or lemon curd.

Optional

• Cocoa: To make a chocolate shortbread dough, replace ¼ of the flour with unsweetened cocoa powder.
• Nut powder: Replace ¼ of the flour with almond flour or hazelnut meal to flavor the shortbread dough.
• Spices: To flavor, the shortbread, add ground cinnamon, gingerbread spices, etc.

⚠️ You will find the quantities and complete instructions in the recipe card at the end of the page.

How to make linzer cookies filled with Nutella

1 - Dough

1. In a large bowl, place softened unsalted butter with powdered sugar and mix with an electric mixer on medium speed for about 2 minutes until creamy.
2. Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix again to incorporate.
3. Finish with the dry ingredients, flour, salt, and baking powder (optional), and continue mixing with an electric mixer until smooth.
4. Gather the dough with your hands to form a smooth ball and cover it with plastic wrap before letting it rest in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes.

Tip: To go faster you can immediately roll out the dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper and place it in the freezer for 15 minutes before cutting.

2 - Cut out the cookies

1. Roll out the shortbread dough with a rolling pin on a lightly floured work surface or between 2 sheets of parchment paper to a thickness of 3 - 4mm.
2. Cut out pieces of dough using a Linzer cookie cutter (2 cut-outs to form a shortbread sandwich)
3. Place the shortbread cutouts on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and place the baking sheet in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.

Tip: Place rolled-out dough in the freezer for 10-15 minutes before cutting with a cookie cutter to get neatly shaped pieces of dough.

3 - Baking

1. Preheat oven to 340°F / 170°C and prepare a large baking sheet lined with baking paper or silicone baking sheet (Silpat).
2. Place the cut-outs of shortbread cookies well spaced out on the prepared baking sheet to prevent them from sticking together during baking.
3. Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes until they are lightly browned on the edges.
4. Allow the shortbreads to cool slightly on the baking sheet before carefully moving them to a cooling rack.

Tip: Be careful not to overcook the shortbreads or they will be too dry in the mouth. They are ready when they are slightly golden on the sides but remain a little soft in the center, they will firm up as they cool.

4 - Chocolate Nutella filling

1. Fill a small pastry bag with the Chocolate hazelnut Nutella spread.
2. Place a small dab of spread in the center of the full shortbread cookie (without the hole in the center). 
3. Cover with the other shortbread cookie with the hole in the middle and press lightly to spread the filling evenly in the center of the shortbread.
4. Place the chocolate linzer cookies in the refrigerator for 20 minutes to firm up the filling before eating.

Tip: You can also sprinkle powdered sugar on top of the chocolate linzer cookies for decoration or coat half or all of it with melted chocolate.

Other filling ideas

Here are some sweet filling ideas to replace the spread in your Nutella cookies or to decorate them:

• Salted caramel sauce
• Chocolate ganache
• Kinder bar ganache
• Raspberry or lemon curd
• Fruit jam, strawberries, apricots, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries
• Coconut spread, Biscoff butter spread, peanut butter, almond butter, etc.
• Coat with melted chocolate
• Sprinkle powdered sugar on top

Conservation

At room temperature: You can store Nutella Shortbread sandwich cookies at room temperature, placed in an airtight container box away from humidity for about 1 week.

How do I freeze them? Store these Nutella linzer cookies in the freezer when filled, or just the cooled shortbread cookies in a storage box or plastic bag for up to 3 months.

More shortbread recipes

• Linzer cookies
• Hazelnut and white chocolate sandwich cookies
• German Spritz Cookies
• Snickerdoodle cookies
• Iced gingerbread cookies
• Gingerbread man
• Mini gingerbread house
• Christmas Snowflake Cookies
• Christmas Sugar Cookies

Nutella recipes

• Nutella Muffins
• Nutella stuffed Galette des rois
• Healthy Nutella spread

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