Linzer Cookies with SugarBee® Apple Butter Filling

Linzer cookies are the perfect treat for the holiday season. This version cleverly uses SugarBee® apples for an apple butter filling that brings out SugarBee’s flavor notes of honey, caramel and molasses.

Yield: About 15 cookies
Created by: Anna @feed.annna

Ingredients

Linzer cookies:

• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup almond flour
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• Powdered sugar, for dusting

Apple butter:

• 6 pounds apples, peeled & chopped into small pieces 
• 1 cup granulated sugar 
• 1 cup light brown sugar 
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon 
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 1 vanilla bean (or 1 tbsp vanilla extract)

Instructions

Linzer cookies:

1. Beat butter, sugar, & cinnamon until light & fluffy. 
2. Add yolk & extracts, beat until combined. 
3. Add flours and salt. Mix to combine.
4. Divide dough in half, flatten into discs & wrap in plastic. Place in fridge to chill for 1 hr.
5. Take dough out of fridge. Slightly flour working surface then roll out dough to 1/8 in. thickness. 
6. Use a cookie cutter to cut dough into cookies. With a smaller cookie cutter, make a hole in the center of half of the cookies.
7. Place cookies onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Put back in fridge for 15 minutes.
8. Preheat oven to 350 F and bake cookies for about 12 minutes.
9. Let cool completely before filling with apple butter.

Apple butter:

1. Place apples in a slow cooker.
2. Combine sugars, salt & spices in a bowl and pour evenly over apples, mix well. 
3. Cook in slow cooker for 10 hours, stirring occasionally.
4. After 10 hours, scrape vanilla bean into the pot. Use an immersion blender to puree & mix everything together. Cook for another 2 hours.
5. Let cool and store in an airtight container.