Get ready to make the cutest Vegan Blood Orange Curd Linzer Cookies! These heart-shaped Linzer cookies are so delicate, made with almond flour, perfectly sweet, and filled with the most delicious homemade vegan blood orange curd.
It's finally February which means I am baking all things PINK and heart-shaped in preparation for Valentine's Day. If I'm being honest with you all... I LOVE Valentine's Day!
Growing up it was a chance to write Valentine's Day cards to everyone in school and maybe JUST MAYBE get that special note from your crush. Then, when I was older and single it was a day filled with a night in (or out) with my girls, some wine, baking, and lots of chocolate.
Now that I'm in a relationship, it's a nice excuse for us to cook something special like Homemade Vegan Gnocchi or treat ourselves to a fancy meal out. I know there's a lot of commercial hype around the Holiday, but to me, it's always just a good reminder to tell everyone you care about how much they mean to you. Plus, it's a great excuse to eat some eggless & dairy-free linzer cookies while you're at it!
How to make vegan linzer cookies
Making linzer heart cookies looks more complicated than it really is! I've included a few process shots that should help you while making these cookies.
Make the blood orange curd
The first step is to make sure to make the blood orange curd 4-24 hours before baking these cookies. Personally, I wait for the full 24 hours because the curd really has time to "set" and become super thick and creamy during this time in the fridge.
Ingredients:
- Blood Oranges
- Sugar
- Arrowroot powder (this binds the curd together for the right consistency and is the key ingredient!)
- Vegan Butter
- Coconut Cream (not the milk, just the cream!)
Once you've assembled the ingredients, add the blood orange, coconut cream, sugar, and arrowroot to a small saucepan and whisk to combine. Then, you'll simmer the curd for about 5 minutes before removing from the heat and adding in the vegan butter. After that, it's time to put the blood orange curd into the fridge to set.
Tips for Making Vegan Blood Orange Curd:
- Make sure not to overcook the curd. As soon as it starts thickening you'll want to remove from the heat. Believe me, it WILL get thicker over time and cooking it longer doesn't help.
- Don't add too much sugar. Since blood oranges are pretty sweet, I only included 2 Tbsp of sugar in this recipe, however, that amount is definitely adjustable if you want a sweeter or more tart curd.
- Make sure to add in your arrowroot powder and mix BEFORE cooking. Otherwise, the arrowroot won't mix in properly and you will end up with a rather disgusting chunky curd.
It's also worth mentioning that these cookies can also be filled with my super popular Vegan Lemon Curd.
Next, make the linzer cookie dough
Once the curd has set, making the linzer cookies is actually super easy!
First, cream your vegan butter and sugar. I use organic powdered sugar in this recipe vs. granulated because it creates a really delicate and soft cookie. Plus, creaming these ingredients together incorporates air into the dough and helps create the structure that will hold these cookies together.
Once the butter is creamed, add in the rest of the ingredients until a thick cookie dough forms.
Roll The Dough Between Parchment Paper So It Doesn't Stick. Though the dough isn't too sticky, I HIGHLY suggest rolling it between two pieces of unbleached parchment paper. It makes it really easy to get the dough even in height which is super important to create uniform cookies.
Then, you'll use a heart-shaped Linzer Cookie Cutter to cut out the dough. To make the cookie bottoms and tops, cut half the cookies without the insert and half with the insert of a heart inside. While baking the leftover small hearts isn't necessary, I like to bake them up anyways as I think they are fun and cute!
Then, right before baking, stick the cookies on a baking tray and place them in the fridge for at least 10 minutes.
This step is CRUCIAL so the vegan heart-shaped sugar cookies hold their shape while baking. The dough will get warm from all the rolling and handling so doing this step helps to prevent the cookies from spreading. Then, it's time to bake!
Once the linzer cookies are cooked, use a mesh strainer or sifter to sift an additional 2 Tbsp of powdered sugar onto the top cookies with a heart cut out of them.
Then, spoon about 1 tsp of vegan blood orange cookies onto the bottom cookies. As a final step, sandwich the cookies together for the best linzer heart sandwich cookies!
How to store vegan linzer cookies
Since these sugar cookies are made with powdered sugar and almond flour, they actually get soft if stored for too long. Plus, if they have blood orange curd inside they may get soggy. That's why I recommend eating these cookies the day you bake them.
If you can't eat them all in one day, simply freeze the fills cookies. They will keep in the freezer for up to 2 weeks to truly be their best. Plus, they taste really great right out of the freezer without much defrosting time needed!
A delicious Vegan Blood Orange Linzer Cookie awaits! Just remember, you can make this recipe with virtually any jam, curd, or filling you can think of. Plus, if you love this vegan blood orange recipe, make sure to check out my Vegan Blood Orange Chocolate Cake next!
-TSG
More Vegan Cookie Recipes You Will Love:
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Vegan Blood Orange Curd Linzer Cookies
Ingredients
Vegan Blood Orange Curd
- ½ cup fresh blood orange juice about 2 small blood oranges, juiced
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
- 2 tablespoon organic sugar
- ¼ cup coconut cream
- 2 tablespoon vegan butter
Vegan Linzer Cookie Ingredients
- ¼ cup vegan butter
- ½ cup organic powdered sugar
- 1 flax egg mix 1 Tbsp (8 grams) ground flaxseed with 3 Tbsp water and let sit 5 minutes
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste/extract
- 1 ¼ cup pastry/cake flour
- ¼ cup finely ground almond flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Topping
- 2 tablespoon organic powdered sugar
Instructions
Making the Vegan Blood Orange Curd
- Add your blood orange juice, sugar, and arrowroot powder to a small saucepan and whisk to combine. Place the saucepan over low heat and then add in the coconut cream. Whisk the mixture continuously until the coconut cream has completely melted.
- Bring the curd to a simmer and cook about 5 minutes until thick. Don't let the curd bubble too hard and continue to whisk frequently during this 5 minute time period. You will know the curd is done if you lift the whisk from the saucepan and the curd very slowly drips off the whisk.
- Remove the blood orange curd from the heat and immediately stir in the vegan butter. Let the curd cool to room temperature and then add to a closed container. Place the container of curd in the fridge to "set" for 4-24 hours before eating!
Make the Vegan Linzer Cookies
- Sift your pastry flour, almond flour, salt, and cinnamon into a mixing bowl and set aside.
- Next, add your butter and powdered sugar to a separate mixing bowl and cream together until light and fluffy. This should take about 2-3 minutes in a standing mixer. Once creamed, add in your flax egg, vanilla, and sifted dry ingredients and mix until a thick dough is formed.
- Remove the dough from the mixing bowl and use your hands to form into a large ball. Then, roll the dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper until about ¼" thick in height.
- Next, use your Linzer cookie cutter to cut out an even amount of top and bottom cookies (with and without the heart-shaped insert). Each time you cut out cookies, form the scraps into a ball and roll out again until no dough is left.
- Add the cookies to a lightly greased baking sheet or a baking sheet covered in parchment paper and place into the fridge for at least 10 minutes. This step is important so the cookies don't spread much while baking.
- Preheat the oven to 350F while the cookies are in the fridge. Take the cookies out of the fridge and bake for 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking tray for 2 minutes. Then, move to a cookie cooling rack to cool to room temperature.
Assembling the Cookies
- Once cooled, take the heart shaped top cookies and dust with an additional 2 Tbsp powdered sugar.
- Top each bottom cookie with about 1 tsp of blood orange curd. Then, sandwich the cookies together and enjoy!
Notes
- Note: You will want to make your blood orange curd at least 4 hours and ideally 24 hours before baking your cookies. Also, you will have extra blood orange curd after filling the cookies, so don't be alarmed if you don't use it all. You can store leftover curd in the fridge for 2 weeks in a closed container.
- If you don't have time to make curd or want to try a different filling, you can make the cookie part of the recipe and fill with any jam/curd/other fillings you can think of!
Daryl says
Great Recipe! Very Easy to make. Resulting cookies were as yummy as they were pretty. I made some slight modifications including chilling the dough after rolling but before cutting to maintain the cookie shape, used to different size heart cutters to create the inner and outer shapes, and applied the curd to warm to touch cookies.
Daryl says
Great Recipe! Very Easy to make. Resulting cookies were as yummy as they were pretty. I made some slight modifications including chilling the dough after rolling but before cutting to maintain the cookie shape, used to different size heart cutters to create the inner and outer shapes, and applied the curd to warm to touch cookies.
ShortGirlTallOrder says
Thank you Daryl! That's great to know chilling the dough before cutting the heart shapes helped too!