These Grinch Cookies are a twist on the traditional Austrian Linzer cookie. The cookie gets its green hue from added matcha, is filled with raspberry jam, and dusted with matcha powdered sugar. They’re rich, sweet, and the perfect holiday treat for a night watching the iconic Grinch movie!
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I might be a vegan cook, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love my sweets, especially during the holiday season. I’m a big fan of passing out Christmas cookies to my family and friends, and this year, I’ve added these Grinch cookies made with matcha.
Adding matcha gives these cookies a green Grinch color that’s perfect with the red color of the raspberry jam and creates a holiday cookie that’s a vegan alternative to traditional Linzer cookies.
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Why You’ll Love These Grinch Cookies
Simple Ingredients: You likely have most of these ingredients in your pantry, and if you’re anything like me, you also keep a stash of matcha available for when the mood hits to indulge in a matcha latte.
Easy: While these cookies have several steps, they’re all simple and easy to do. The entire recipe is far easier than you would think! The most important step is to refrigerate the dough and not overbake!
Delicious: These cookies are sweet, with a subtle earthy note from the matcha that’s balanced perfectly with the sweetness of the raspberry jam.
Festive: The green cookies and red raspberry jam create a festive Grinch color and a small heart cut out that will make everyone’s heart grow three sizes!
Ingredients and Notes
Almond and All-Purpose Flour: I mix these flour varieties to achieve that nutty flavor of traditional Linzer cookies.
Matcha Powder: A little matcha powder gives the cookies a fantastic green color without overpowering the flavor of the other ingredients.
Cane Sugar: Cane sugar adds sweetness and is less refined than white sugar.
Vegan Butter: Vegan butter gives the cookies a buttery flavor. If you are not vegan, you can use traditional unsalted butter.
Unsweetened Almond Milk: Almond milk adds the perfect amount of liquid to bring the dough together.
Raspberry Jam: Raspberry jam adds sweetness, classic fruit flavor, and a red color to complete the Grinch look.
Green Food Coloring: This is completely optional, but if you think the matcha isn’t giving your cookies a dark enough green hue, you can add a few drops of liquid food coloring. I prefer to use Watkins All-Natural Food Coloring.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for a full list of ingredients and their exact amounts.
Substitutions and Variations
Red Jam: Any red fruit jam will work for this recipe. You could even use cranberry sauce! If you prefer, you can also add a few red heart sprinkles to the cookie dough tops.
No Matcha: If you prefer a more traditional Linzer flavor, omit the matcha powder and add more natural green food coloring to achieve your desired green color.
Gluten-Free: Use a 1:1 gluten-free flour instead of the all-purpose flour for gluten-free Grinch cookies.
How to Make Grinch Cookies
- Whisk the dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.
- Beat the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy in a large bowl. Then, scrape down the bowl, add the remaining wet ingredients, and beat until combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until combined. It should hold together when pinched. If not, add a tablespoon of water.
- Divide the dough evenly and shape both halves into discs. Then, flatten them, wrap them in plastic wrap, and refrigerate them for at least an hour.
- Remove one disc of dough from the refrigerator, place it on a floured surface, and knead it until pliable. Then, sprinkle it with flour and roll it out to about ¼-inch thickness.
- Cut out your cookies with a round scalloped 2 ½-inch cookie cutter. Then, use a smaller heart-shaped cookie cutter to make a heart cutout in the center of each cookie.
- Knead and roll out the remaining dough until you’ve cut out as many cookies as possible. Then, place them about ½-inch apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Place the cookies in the refrigerator and remove the other dough disc from the fridge.
- Repeat the process with the other disc, but don’t cut a heart shape out of the second batch. Chill the cookies for at least 30 minutes.
- Bake the cookies on the center rack at 350°F until the bottoms are light brown. Then, transfer them to a wire rack to cool.
- Once cooled, dust the matcha powdered sugar on the tops of the heart cookies only.
- Spread raspberry jam over each cookie without a heart cutout. Then, top with the heart cookies. Enjoy!
FAQ
Linzer cookies are an Austrian sandwich with a buttery, nutty crumb and sweet jam. They’re known for their cutout tops, which reveal the jam inside.
Matcha has a naturally sweet nuttiness with mellow, grassy notes.
These cookies use matcha to add a subtle flavor, but they don’t taste overpoweringly like matcha. Instead, they accentuate the cookies’ nuttiness and the jam’s sweetness while balancing them with a subtle earthy flavor.
These matcha Linzer Grinch cookies are certainly not a healthy food, and I don’t recommend eating them daily. That being said, they’re a better-for-you version of classic Linzer cookies with less refined sugar.
Expert Tips
- Your Linzer dough will be a bit dry. That’s okay. It’s supposed to be. As long as it holds together when you pinch it, it’s perfect!
- Your vegan butter should be at room temperature before creaming. This allows it to be fully incorporated into the cookie dough. For a relatively dry dough like this one, that’s even more important.
- Cool the cookies completely before adding the jam. Like frosting, jam will thin a bit if the cookies are warm, making it harder to assemble them.
Serving Suggestions
Lavender tea is an excellent complement to these cookies’ buttery, sweet flavor. As is a warm latte or even some hot chocolate.
Of course, I recommend adding these to a holiday cookie tray with other festive treats like ginger cookies, chocolate-dipped shortbread cookies, and cranberry cookies.
Storage
Room Temperature: Store in an airtight container for up to five days.
Freezer: Place the cookies in single layers separated by parchment paper in an airtight, freezer-safe container and store for up to two months.
Defrost: Bring the cookies to room temperature in a covered container on the counter and enjoy!
More Christmas Cookies!
Recipe
Grinch Cookies (Vegan Matcha Linzer Cookies)
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Ingredients
- 1 ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- ⅔ cup almond flour blanched
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon matcha powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ cup cane sugar
- ¾ cup vegan butter at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened almond milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3-5 drops green food coloring optional
- ½ cup raspberry jam
Powdered Sugar Topping
- 3 tablespoon powdered sugar
- 1 tsp matcha powder
Instructions
Add the all-purpose flour, almond flour, cornstarch, matcha powder, and salt to a medium mixing bowl and whisk to combine.
- Add the sugar and butter to a large mixing bowl and beat at low speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Scrape the sides of the bowl. Add the almond milk, vanilla extract, and food coloring, and beat together for another minute.
- Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and mix until the cookie dough comes together. It will be a bit dry, but you should be able to pinch it and have it come together. If the dough is too dry, add a tablespoon of water.
- Divide the dough evenly into two parts. Bring together to form a disc, flatten, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Lightly flour a cutting board and rolling pin. Remove one disc of dough from the fridge, unwrap, and knead it on the cutting board for 30 seconds – 1 minute until it is pliable.
- Sprinkle the top of the dough with more flour and roll it out until it is about ¼" thick.
- Use a round 2 ½” cookie cutter to cut out your cookies, then use a smaller “heart” cookie cutter to cut out the center “window” of each cookie.
- Transfer each cookie to the baking sheet, leaving at least ½" of space between each cookie. Repeat with the remaining dough, dusting with more flour if necessary. Each disc of dough should make about 15 cookies.
- Place the cookie sheet back in the refrigerator to chill for another 30 minutes.
- Remove the second disc of dough, and repeat steps 7 and 8. Cut out the dough using the circular 2 ½ inch cookie cutter, but do not cut out the center, these will be the bottom of the sandwich cookie. Place these cookies in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake each baking sheet on the middle rack for 8-10 minutes, until the bottoms of the cookies are light brown.
- Cool the cookies on a wire rack. While the cookies are cooling. Whisk together the powdered sugar and remaining matcha powder.
- Dust the top of the cookies with the hearts with the matcha powdered sugar.
- Assemble the cookies. Spread ½ to 1 teaspoon of raspberry jam on the bottom cookie. Top with the cutout heart cookie.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Video
Notes
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- Your Linzer dough will be a bit dry. That’s okay. It’s supposed to be. As long as it holds together when you pinch it, it’s perfect!
-
- Your vegan butter should be at room temperature before creaming. This allows it to be fully incorporated into the cookie dough. For a relatively dry dough like this one, that’s even more important.
-
- Cool the cookies completely before adding the jam. Like frosting, jam will thin a bit if the cookies are warm, making it harder to assemble them.
- Keep at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- Refrigerate for up to a week.
- Freeze for up to 2 months.
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