Cranberry Linzer Cookies

Ingredients

• 0.75 cup butter, softened
• 0.75 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
• 0.5 cup cornmeal
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 0.375 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1.5 cups finely chopped cranberries
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup water
• 1.5 tablespoons butter
• 1.5 tablespoons lemon juice

Steps

1. Gather all ingredients.
2. To make the cookies: Beat butter and sugar together in a large bowl with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in egg until well combined.
3. Whisk flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.
4. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture; stir until incorporated. Beat vanilla into butter mixture.
5. Form dough into a ball, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.
6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease baking sheets.
7. Roll dough out onto a lightly floured surface to 1/8-inch thick. Cut dough with a round or Linzer cookie cutter. Use a smaller cutter to cut the center from the tops.
8. Place cookie bottoms and tops 1-inch apart on the prepared baking sheets.
9. Bake in the preheated oven until edges are lightly golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
10. To make the filling: Stir cranberries, brown sugar, and water together in a small saucepan over medium-high heat; cook until cranberries are soft, about 10 minutes. Stir butter and lemon juice into cranberry mixture; remove from heat and cool.
11. Spread a small amount of filling onto one side of the bottom half of a cookie.
12. Place the top half of the cookie on top of filling. Repeat assembly process with remaining cookies and filling.