February 10, 2014
(last updated September 3, 2020) 
Oh hey: a sweet treat in time for February 14th! Given how routine my eats have been lately (soup, salad, grain, repeat), it was fun to create something a little festive this past weekend. In spite of being no bake, these raw, vegan linzer heart cookies certainly demand a little more time and effort than the desserts I usually make. But they’re so darn cute, it’s hard not to relish breaking out the cookie cutters anyway.
The first step to creating these cookies is, if you like, to make the raspberry chia jam I filled them with. I say “if you like” because it would be totally fine to use your favorite store bought (or regular homemade) jam instead. I got a kick out of making this jam, and pleased to find that it was easier than I expected, but it’s definitely more tart, and a little less thick, than traditional jam. Give it a try, though, if you’re so inclined; I think it would be great on toast, or stirred into a bowl of hot oats.
Raw, Vegan Linzer Heart Cookies
Author -Ingredients
- 1 cup hazelnuts
- 1 cup almond flour
- Pinch sea salt
- 1 1/2 cups pitted medjool dates
- 2 teaspoons maple syrup
- Oat flour for rolling
- 2/3 cup raw raspberry chia jam
Instructions
- 1. Using a food processor fitted with the S blade, grind hazelnuts into a coarse flour.
- 2. Add the almond flour, sea salt, and dates. Process until mixture is finely ground, even, and sticking together slightly. Add the maple syrup. When you can squeeze a bit of the mix in your hand and it sticks easily, it's ready. If you find that it's too crumbly, add a few more dates or syrup.
- 3. Divide the mixture in half. Lightly dust a dry surface with oat flour. Roll one half of the mixture out till it's about 1/4 inch thick (or a little less). Cut it into circles or squares with a cookie cutter.
- Repeat with the other half, and then use a heart cutter to cut hearts out of the center of those cookies. Transfer all of the cookies--the ones with and without heart cutouts--to the fridge and let them chill for 30 minutes.
- 4. Spread a dollop of raspberry jam into the center of each cookie that doesn't have a heart cutout, and then top it with a cookie that does. Repeat till you've used up all of the dough. Store cookies in the fridge till you're ready to enjoy them.
Once you’ve got this part out of the way, you just need to prep the raw “cookie dough.” Like most of my raw desserts, I used a base of nuts and dates, including hazelnuts for authenticity. But I added some almond flour, too, which worked nicely for the recipe. If you don’t have it, you can substitute whole almonds, and grind them in in step one all the same.
Raw, Vegan Linzer Heart Cookies
Author -Ingredients
- 1 cup hazelnuts
- 1 cup almond flour
- Pinch sea salt
- 1 1/2 cups pitted medjool dates
- 2 teaspoons maple syrup
- Oat flour for rolling
- 2/3 cup raw raspberry chia jam
Instructions
- 1. Using a food processor fitted with the S blade, grind hazelnuts into a coarse flour.
- 2. Add the almond flour, sea salt, and dates. Process until mixture is finely ground, even, and sticking together slightly. Add the maple syrup. When you can squeeze a bit of the mix in your hand and it sticks easily, it's ready. If you find that it's too crumbly, add a few more dates or syrup.
- 3. Divide the mixture in half. Lightly dust a dry surface with oat flour. Roll one half of the mixture out till it's about 1/4 inch thick (or a little less). Cut it into circles or squares with a cookie cutter.
- Repeat with the other half, and then use a heart cutter to cut hearts out of the center of those cookies. Transfer all of the cookies--the ones with and without heart cutouts--to the fridge and let them chill for 30 minutes.
- 4. Spread a dollop of raspberry jam into the center of each cookie that doesn't have a heart cutout, and then top it with a cookie that does. Repeat till you've used up all of the dough. Store cookies in the fridge till you're ready to enjoy them.
Are they a dead ringer for the traditional cookie? Not quite. But they’re still pretty adorable:
Hope the cookies will brighten your day (or the day of whomever you share them with). I suspect there will be at least one more sweet treat in store this week. If you’re looking for a dessert or two in the meantime, feel free to try last year’s no bake tartelettes with raw chocolate ganache filling:
Or the year before’s ten minute, raw chocolate covered strawberries:
For now, it’s bedtime, and I’ve got an easy meal idea to share with you tomorrow. Night all.
xo
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Hi! This recipe looks delicious, but I was wondering if you could substitute walnuts or almonds for the hazel nuts in it.
Hey Emily! Either will work well, though my vote would be for almonds. Enjoy!
I can’t believe all you guys know these cookies! I’m from Austria and my aunt lives in Linz 🙂 The original name is “Linzer Augen” which can be translated as Linzer eyes since the original cookies have 3 round shaped holes instead of the heart you did 🙂 I have to make these at Christmas since we always bake those (but not vegan ones, so I need to present those raw ones to my family!!) thanks a lot for the recipe <3
How would these fair in the freezer????
I think they’d do well!
Marry me please. This second.
just made these for a potluck i attended, and they were a HUGE hit!
i made these for valentine’s day and they were a HUGE hit!! so so so easy to make, too! thanks for another awesome recipe — i bet it’s easily adaptable to other nuts/dried fruits/jam flavors!
@Anna, I used frozen raspberries and my jam turned out just fine! Thaw them out for a little bit before using.
These cookies are super adorable. I don’t think I’ve ever had a linzer cookie, but they sound delightful.
For the chia seed jam, can I use frozen raspberries? The fresh ones are super expensive right now.
I love how simple this jam recipe is. I wonder if it would work with defrosted frozen berries?
The cookie is so cute. I couldn’t help but wonder what happened to all the little heart cutouts. I’m sure you ate them, but I’m imagining them as a cute little sandwich on their own.
I don’t usually go to the effort of making raw snacks for some reasob, however I think I’d make a special exception for these! They remind me of ‘jammy dodgers’ I used to have when I was little!
Can I use frozen raspberries for the jam? Thanks.
Hi Shirleen — sure!
inspired by your recipe, I made a butter cookie in my dehydrator- made sandwiches filled with jam and homemade chocolate. Must try your jam recipe next!
Your homemade creation sounds amazing!
Ahh! Great minds to think aline – they’re adorable. And I wish I had a heart cutter as tiny as yours.
We should share it 🙂
OH MY GOSH. I am never replying to a blog post from my phone – autocorrect be damned! I’m thinking of a chocolate version for next year – let’s do it. 🙂
I am dying over that chia jam. Such a good idea.
very pretty and sounds yummy
Ah, Gena–your sweet heart!
Would you believe, I have never had a linzer cookie! But these look just lovely. And I imagine if people are wanting more of that crispy texture, dehydrating what you have will work fine, especially if the jam is on the runny side.
Hope all’s well with you!
love
Ela
I agree about dehydrating, dear Ela. In the meantime, thanks for the comment and happy Valentine’s Day! Sending much love. <3
Pretty pretty! Thanks for inspiring me to use my chia seeds in a new way! I’ve never made chia jam before, excited to try.
I love everything about these! Simple and lovely. 🙂
Thank you so much, Julie!
Thank you for this site, can happily declare we currently have a steam shower of
our very own and we like it so much
Oh girl!! You’ve out done yourself! 😉 So yummy and so simple! Must make!!!
They look tasty, and I’m sure they taste delicious too 🙂
Gena, this is a great recipe, thanks for sharing!:) I just adore raspberries and have yet to make raspberry chia jam, though I have NO idea why. It would make such a perfect spread over so many things, or just stirred up with a little raw almond butter for a quick snack. I hope you have a wonderful Valentine’s Day!:)
Same to you, friend!
Oh those cookies are adorable!
So adorable. And that jam has got to be delicious!
Gena ~ After reading this post, I am most intrigued by that cute jam jar and lid. Did you get it online? I want one!! Hehe 😉
I did! They’re from Food52 Provisions. I gave a bunch of them out at Christmas for homemade jam and stuff, and people loved them. Here’s the link: http://www.shareasale.com/m-pr.cfm?merchantID=50379&userID=889196&productID=524748353
These are so cute! Love chia jam as well!
So cute!!!! and bet they are tasty too! I’ve just loved them!
They are tasty! Thanks, Ines.
i have not made chia jams but i should probably get on that..love this idea for cookie.
I recently started making chia seed jams and they are so good (and easy!). I haven’t tried sweetening mine with medjool dates, but I will be sure to give that a try next time.
These cookies are so pretty. I think I need to buy a little heart cookie cutter. 🙂
I love that raw jam. I’ve made a raw jam for a sandwich cookies recently but it used a dehydrator to thicken. This is so much better with the chia seeds. I will try this! And those cookies are beautiful.
These are SO cute! I’ve seen things like this and I’m just so intimidated by them that I usually just keep scrolling. But this seems simple enough with the ingredients that really the only difficulty is in the cookie part .. I think I could handle that pressure because even if I screw it up all I have to do is ball it together and eat and it will still be just as delicious!
I used to love my German grandmother’s Linzer Torte but, because it isn’t a vegan recipe, I haven’t had any in quite a while. How exciting, it would be so lovely to make these for/with her sometime!
Yay! I’m now inspired to try a torte as well.
This makes me really excited. I remember the first time I fell in love with linzer cookies and it was actually a raw version from One Lucky Duck. I’m very keen to have a quick and easy recipe for these. I did a baked version for Christmas a few years ago, and that was one time consuming cookie!
These aren’t as firm as the OLD Linzer cookies (I think those use a dehydrator, per Mizpah’s question, above), but they do taste lovely 🙂
Looking forward to making and trying out the chia jam!
These are adorable, Gena!
And, I love chia jam. 🙂
I agree, Gena. These are too cute! I am loving the linzer theme, though. I just shared an easy linzer tart!
Can’t wait to check it out, Janet!
They are definitely adorable!
One of the things I used to enjoy about Linzer cookies is the crunch. So I’m wondering how they would be in the dehydrator. I’m guessing these ones are moist and chewy?
I was thinking the same thing! Wow, that would be amazing!
They are indeed chewy – the same texture of most raw pie crusts, energy balls, cookies, etc. I’d love to have made a dehydrator version and could definitely try it at some point, but since so few readers have them, I always feel better offering non-dehydrator options if they’re just as good. I’ll ponder it 🙂