german chocolate linzer cookies

These cookies are basically little tarts and so delicious with the rich, chocolatey dough sandwiched with a caramelly coconut & pecan filling inspired by a German chocolate cake. They’re drizzled with a little dark chocolate and toasted pecans. They are decadent.

*Hint, this cookie recipe is delicious decorated with royal icing as well, skipping the filling and topping.

ingredients you’ll need

• butter– I always use unsalted butter in my recipes so I can accurately tell you how much salt to add, but the truth is that when I’m just baking personally, I use salted butter and nothing is ever too salty. Use what you have, but make sure that it has come to room temperature, about 66-70 degrees. Butter straight out of the fridge will not cream as well, which will either require too much creaming (creating too aerated of a mixture) or the final dough will have little pebbles of butter that will melt in the oven, causing uneven cookies. Make sure the butter hasn’t softened too much and become melty or squishy. 
• sugar– I use granulated sugar and brown sugar in this cookie recipe. Granulated sugar gives a nice crisp edge, but brown sugar gives great chewiness and flavor.
• salt– Diamond Crystal kosher salt is the best for baking, so I recommend grabbing a box if you can. It will last you for a long time if you just use it for baking! If you don’t have this type of salt, swap for regular table salt and use half the amount called for.
• egg– An egg will give the cookie structure and tenderness. I like to use just the yolk in chocolate cookies to aid in tenderness.
• vanilla– Vanilla is essential for flavor in this recipe, and I recommend using vanilla bean paste instead of extract if you can. I love to use vanilla bean paste because the flavor is more intense, but vanilla extract is great as well. I love The Spice House, Heilala, and Nielsen-Massey. (Make sure to check your local Costco store for big jars of Nielsen-Massey at an amazing price!)
• flour–  Flour provides the structure for this cookie, and this recipe has the perfect amount for the dough to both hold its shape, yet not be too floury and hard once baked.
• baking powder– for a little lift, but optional
• cocoa powder– for the chocolate flavor (It will replace some of the flour.)
• sweetened coconut– a mix-in (You can use unsweetened if you prefer.)
• toasted pecans– a mix-in
• dark chocolate– Choose your favorite to eat, because we’ll be drizzling it over the top of the cookies; I use Ghirardelli 60% most of the time.

*You can use my code EMILYLOGGANS for 10% off at The Spice House. I love to get my vanilla, almond extract, salt, and spices from there!

supplies you’ll need

• hand mixer or stand mixer– A stand mixer makes this process so incredibly easy, but a hand mixer works just fine, especially if you’re just making a single batch.
• spatula– A spatula is essential to scrape down the bowl throughout the process. Without scraping, you’ll end up with an unevenly mixed dough and cookies that are inconsistent. 
• scale– If there’s one thing I can convince you of, please let it be a kitchen scale. 🙏🏻Using a scale makes everything easier with baking, and it ensures you get the same results every time. Flour is so easy to over-add with volume measurements, and a scale solves that problem.
• parchment paper– I always roll my dough between two sheets of pre-cut parchment paper, which is by far the best way to roll out dough.
• guided rolling pin– Rolling dough evenly is tricky with a regular rolling pin, but with a guided rolling pin, dough comes out evenly every time. It’s such a time saver and one of my favorite kitchen tools.
• baking sheets– I use these cookie sheets for years, and they are amazing.
• cookie cutters– Since this is a linzer cookie, you’ll need a larger round cutter and a smaller round cutter to make the window.

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