star cookies

Sweet buttery linzer cookies are a classic Christmas cookie with flaky shortbread and fruit jam. The perfect festive holiday treat that melts in your mouth.

Linzer Cookies

butter, softened

Confectioner's sugar (icing sugar)

vanilla extract

salt

all-purpose flour

confectioners' sugar

raspberry jam (or strawberry jam)

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together using a hand mixer or stand mixer until soft and fluffy, about 2 minutes on medium speed.

Add vanilla and salt and continue to beat until fully incorporated. Gradually add flour, and mix until your mixture forms into a dough mass.

Use your hands to form the dough into a ball, and then shape into a flat disc. Cover tightly in plastic cling wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 350 F, and line a half sheet baking pan with parchment paper or a silicone mat.

Once the dough is chilled, lightly dust a clean surface with flour, and place the dough on top. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough until it is 1/4-inch thick. Use linzer cookie cutters to cut out the cookies. On half of the cookies, use a smaller cookie cutter to cut shapes in the center of the cookie. Remove the smaller cookie shapes and bake them as separate little shortbread cookies, or roll them together with the scraps to cut out more cookies. 

Place the cookies half-inch apart on the lined baking sheet, and chill in the refrigerator for another 10 minutes, while the oven is preheating.

Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes, or until edges just start to brown. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely to room temperature.

Then, dust confectioners' sugar on the cookies that have the center cut out. Then, spread some raspberry jam on the bottom halves of each cookie (the cookies that do not have the center cut out), leaving a small 1/8-inch border around each of the cookies. You can use a knife or use a piping bag with a round piping tip to pipe the jam onto the cookies.

Carefully place the tops of the cookies on the jammy bottoms. Be careful not to smudge the sugar on top. You can fill the open centers with more jam, if desired.

Flavorful maple cinnamon star cookies are made from a basic and easy sugar cookie dough. Dunk in white chocolate for an extra special treat!

Maple Cinnamon Star Cookies

cinnamon

baking powder

(150 grams) granulated sugar

egg,

maple extract*

gold sprinkles and/or edible glitter stars

white chocolate,

Whisk the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.

In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until creamy and smooth, about 1 minute. Add the sugar and beat on high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the egg, maple extract, and vanilla extract then beat on high until fully combined, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.

Turn the mixer down to low and add about half of the flour mixture, beating until just barely combined. Add the rest of the flour and continue mixing until just combined. If the dough still seems too soft, you can add 1 Tablespoon more flour until it is a better consistency for rolling.

Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Roll each portion out onto a piece of parchment (or a silicone baking mat, what I prefer!) to about 1/4″ thickness. Stack the pieces, with parchment paper between the two, onto a baking sheet and refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours and up to 1 day. Chilling is mandatory. If chilling for more than a couple hours, cover the top dough piece with a single piece of parchment paper.

Once chilled, preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line 2-3 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Remove one of the dough pieces from the refrigerator and using a cookie cutter, cut into star shapes. Transfer the cut cookie dough to the prepared baking sheet. Re-roll the remaining dough and continue cutting until all is used.

Before baking, top with sprinkles. Use a spoon to press the sprinkles into the cookies so they stay secure on top.

Bake for 10-11 minutes, until lightly browned around the edges. Make sure you rotate the baking sheet halfway through bake time. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before dipping into chocolate.

If using, melt the chopped white chocolate in the microwave in 20 second increments, stirring after each until completely melted. Dip the cookies into the white chocolate and allow chocolate to set completely at room temperature or in the refrigerator.

I saw a beautiful fall leaves cookie wreath on another site but the recipes were vegan.  I used this recipe to make the leaves and they were perfect and delicious.  I did end up cooking almost 14 min before the edges began to brown slightly.  I also made the royal icing per your recipe.   It never completely hardened.  Is that the way it's supposed to be?  It was firm but I couldn't stack cookies without "smooshing" the icing.
Love your recipes.  I've made your pumpkin streusel bars several years now and everyone loves them.

These cookies are amazing!!!  I skipped the white chocolate glaze and just put sprinkles right on the cookie (gold and silver).  I wasn't sure what to expect with being a maple cookie - I haven't had much maple flavored desserts in general.  These are definitely going to be a tradition every year.  Next year, I will try different shapes.  I used snowflake cutters this time around.

I made these today with the kids since it's rainy and cold outside. They turned out delicious! We can't eat milk or eggs so I used a flax egg and dairy free butter and they still came out wonderfully. My only problem was that they stuck to the parchment when chilling (I don't usually use the brand of parchment I have now, so that may be to blame.) So I just rerolled and cut them, then chilled the pan before baking. Next time I'll try with a Silpat mat. Thanks for making our rainy day so yummy!

These cookies taste amazing!  I just made a batch and froze a second one! However, I'm wondering if I didn't mix the dough enough? Is it supposed to be super soft? After chilling for 2 hours,  had a lot of difficulty peeling the star cut cookies off my silicone mat. I used a offset spatula to try to scrape it off. The bottom is not the prettiest. I feel like I made a mistake somewhere!

These not only taste heavenly, but they smell heavenly when they are baking, too! Made these for a cookie box and I'm looking forward to giving it to the recipient. :)

I replaced the maple extract for rum extract, equal parts. They taste like eggnog cookies, therefore I just renamed when gifting them. I chilled my dough overnight, rolled 1/4” and they only baked slightly thicker than that, yeilding a thin crispy cookie with a wonderful short-bread texture. I decorated with gold sprinkles, silver sprinkles and painted some with white chocolate. 

With the rum extract, I replaced the vanilla extract with the rum extract (equal parts) in Sally’s Butterscotch Pretzel Chocolate Chip cookies... do it. The rum extract  enhances the butterscotch flavor (tie butterbeer).

Sally! First of all, I LOVE all of your recipes!! I am a relatively new baker - My foray into baking actually began with your super moist chocolate cupcake recipe (which is just incredible)  in June and am now hooked and now can't seem to go more than a week without baking something. Thank you for all your delicious recipes and pro-tips! Everything I've made has gone over really well with my friends and housemates. Specifically commenting here because I made little variety-pack holiday cookie boxes this year (in a COVID-safe way of course) and these maple cinnamon stars were particularly a HUGE hit among everyone. Happy Holidays :)

I made these for a neighborhood gathering. Several people thought the flavors were just right, while a few of us though the maple was a tad too strong. I will cut the maple by 1/2 tsp. next time. My house smelled wonderful while baking them though!

Sally you outdid yourself with this one. Such delicious cookies!!! 

This is my thorough review of the recipe: 
I’d describe the flavour as sophisticated. It’s not too sugary, or too anything. It’s got hints of warm  cinnamon and a subtle maple flavour. Texture wise it’s crunchy on the edges and softer in the center. I’m not a big fan of chocolate chip cookies or cookies with frosting as they’re all too sugary for me. But these are perfection! 

I needed to add a few extra tablespoons of flour, which is often the case for me anyway (probably because of high humidity?). Don’t be afraid to feel your cookie dough and adjust accordingly. If it’s too sticky to roll and cut, carefully add more flour.  I used the Clubhouse brand maple extract because it’s the only one available  where I live. I’d recommend adding between an extra 1/2 and 3/4 teaspoon if using that brand. As another reviewer said, the flavour isn’t as potent with that brand. 

Thank you for the lovely recipe, I’ll gift it to several friends this Christmas!

These are SO good. We always make your regular sugar cookies for Christmas but decided to try these and they will definitely be the new go-to! We all loved them, thank you for this awesome recipe!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7eqELGs0S4

These simple and elegant maple cinnamon star cookies are adorned with white chocolate, gold sprinkles, and edible glitter stars. The maple extract and cinnamon add wonderful flavor.

Get the full recipe: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/maple-cinnamon-star-cookies/

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