Cashew Vanilla Bean Linzer Valentine’s Cookies with Pink Grapefruit Curd Filling

by Lora Wiley-Lennartz

The idea for these Valentine’s inspired Linzer cookies came last year, the week after Valentine’s Day and then I forgot about it even though I wrote it down, somewhere….

When unpacking my Valentine’s cookie cutters recently, I found my Valentine’s Linzer cookie cutter set. It triggered the memory of the recipe idea so here they are and oh my are they amazing.

Instead of the traditional almond meal used in Linzer cookie recipes, I added cashew flour purchased at Trader Joe’s to experiment making French macarons with. Those results were superb and will be posted next week. The cashew flour worked just as well for the Linzers.

 

Sneaking in some vanilla bean for the cookie part amped up the taste even more. homemade pink grapefruit curd added the perfect sour/sweet balance to the lush cookie flavors.

 

These are some of the best cookies I’ve ever made. Definitely in the top five. Everything came together perfectly to create a perfect Linzer melt in your mouth experience.  Even though I styled them for Valentine’s Day I’ll be making these way past then.

 

Cashew Vanilla Bean Linzer Valentine’s Cookies with Pink Grapefruit Curd Filling

 

For the Vanilla Bean Linzer Cookies:Ingredients:

  • 2 cups AP flour
  • 3/4 cup cashew meal
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 2 sticks butter (1 cup)
  • Seeds of 1 vanilla bean
  • 3/4 cups granulated sugar
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1/2 – 3/4 cup powdered sugar for dusting





















Directions:
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  • Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  • Mix together flours and salt and set aside.
  • Cream together the butter and sugar.
  • Add vanilla bean seeds and then egg yolks one at a time.
  • Mix in flour/salt mixture until just combined.
  • Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least a half hour.
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  • Roll out dough on floured surface. The dough will be crumbly but stick with it.
  • Using the Linzer cutter (without the insert) cut approximately 20 shapes for the backs or bottoms of the cookie.
  • Insert the cutout shape into the cookie cutter and cut out several, switch and repeat using the insert shapes you like.
  • If you don’t have inserts you can use a fluted or plain round cutter and cut all your cookies at once and then use a small cookies cutter, round, heart, etc. to cut out the remaining cookie halves with inserts.
  • Bake for 10-12 minutes.
  • Remove from oven and transfer to wire rack to cool completely.


For the Pink Grapefruit Curd:
Ingredients:
  • 1 cup freshly squeezed pink grapefruit juice, strained (about 1 whole)
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1/4 cup white granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons corn starch
  • 1 tablespoon flour
  • A smidge of pink food coloring (optional)



Directions:

  • Heat grapefruit juice in a saucepan until it comes to a boil and remove from heat.
  • Beat egg yolks and sugar together until pale yellow.
  • Beat in the corn starch and flour.
  • Add the hot juice to the yolks, a little at a time while beating to temper the yolks.
  • If you want to add food coloring, now is the time.
  • Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and heat until bubbling.
  • Remove from stove and transfer to a heat proof bowl.
  • Cover the curd with plastic wrap making sure the wrap touches the curd.
  • Place in fridge to cool completely.

 

Assemble the Cookies
  • Using a small spatula or butter knife spread a thin layer of  the pink grapefruit curd on the plain bottom part of a cookie half.
  • Dip a cutout cookie half into the powdered sugar, shake off the excess and place on top.
  • Repeat until you have a pretty and luscious plate of cookies to admire and enjoy.

 

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7 comments

Angie Schneider February 6, 2014 - 3:46 pm

These linzer cookies look terrific, Lora. The pinky grapefruit cream sounds perfect for the V-day!

Reply
Shrey Patel February 6, 2014 - 7:42 am

I adore this!
I love your Decoration.
I love the choices you picked and I would be happy to make any one of them.

Reply
Paula February 6, 2014 - 1:31 am

Grapefruit curd for a Linzer cookie filling has to be a first, but then again, cashew vanilla bean most likely is too. As always, the treats coming from your kitchen are original and wonderful!

Reply
Deborah Mitchell February 5, 2014 - 5:34 pm

These look good! I've never had cashew flour and since I like cashews I might need to check it out.
Happy V. day!

Reply
Deborah Mitchell February 5, 2014 - 5:33 pm

These look good! I've never had cashew flour. I love cashews so I might need to check them out.
Happy V. Day!

Reply
Anonymous February 5, 2014 - 9:24 pm

These look amazing and linzer cookies are one of my favorite – can only image what the mix of grapefruit curd is like with vanilla – yumm!!

Reply
Mark Lipinski February 5, 2014 - 9:23 pm

OMGosh! These sound luscious! xoxom

Reply

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