I make Rumtorchen every Christmas all month long. My mom grew up in Beilngreis Bavaria and we use red plum jam inside with powdered sugar all over the top.

16:28 -- you're welcome! I'd probably go with the Linzer cookie, one because I like them better personally, two because hazelnut/raspberry sounds like a fantastic flavor profile, and three because I have usually had great results with Serious Eats recipes and I don't know how good a recipe the Lecker site is.

But if you try either one, let us know how it goes!

OP here, Thank you to the previous poster. this translation is very helpful.

Linzer cookies aren't hard -- it's a basic sandwich cookie with a jam filling. These cutters make it easy to make fancy cookies with a cutout to let the jam show through:

http://a.co/hhFiB8Y

Serious Eats is my go-to recipe site, and has a number of Linzer cookie recipes, including this one:

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/12/linzer-cookies-hazelnut-jam-recipe.html

The rumtoertchen don't look too hard either, but are going to have a different flavor profile (rum-cherry).

The Lecker recipe:

300 g (plus extra) flour
150 g sugar
1 package vanilla sugar (Dr. Oetker is the brand I know of)
salt
1 medium egg
150 g cold butter
150 g cherry jam (I'd use a smooth one, not a chunky one)
6-7 tablespoons rum
250 g powdered sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Loose translation with my annotations:

1) Mix 300 g flour, sugar, vanilla sugar, 1 pinch salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. {I would sift them together}. Add flaked butter {small pieces} and egg {I would beat first}. Mix with the dough hook until the dough comes together, then use your hands to finish kneading quickly into a smooth dough. {Use a light hand; knead with the machine and your hands just until the dough comes together. Don't overknead as you don't want the gluten to become over-developed; it will make your cookies tough.}

2) Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour.

3) Preheat oven to 390 F {I'd probably do 350-375}. Set out three baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Roll out the dough to a thickness of 2 mm, using a little flour on the counter to keep it from sticking. {A Silpat works really well for this, and the less flour you add the more tender your cookies will be.} Use a 5 cm round cookie cutter to cut out ~70 cookies. You will need to pick up the dough scraps, re-knead {gently!} and re-roll to get as many cookies as possible.

4) Place the cookies on the prepared sheets and bake 7-9 minutes. Let cool. {I'd transfer them to cookie racks to cool.}

5) Stir the jam and 2 tablespoons of rum together until smooth. Cover half the cookies with jam; top with the remaining cookies to make sandwiches.

6) Whisk together the powdered sugar, 4-5 tablespoons of rum {start with the lower quantity}, and lemon juice together until smooth. Using a pastry brush, apply glaze to cookies and let dry.

Linzer cookies are labor intensive, but not hard. I love them!

I can't read the German, but from the ingredient list (can sort of understand what everything is if you compare to the picture) it looks like a basic sugar cookie (like pate sucre) with cherry jam pressed between two cookies and then topped with royal icing. I don't think that would be hard.

Anonymous wrote:I was intrigued by the name rumtorchen but google doesn’t bring up anything! Do you have a recipe? I bake a lot of cookies and haven’t heard of this one.

rumtortchen (with umlaut over the o)

http://www.lecker.de/rumtoertchen-66842.html

Wondering if you mean lebkuchen?

Linzer cookies are pretty simple and basic. Not sure why the op says they are hard.

Are rumtorchen rum balls? If so, those are do-able but you need the right rum. Linzer cookies are crazy hard. My MIL is an amazing German baker and she makes both. I really want to try linzer and she even gave me the recipe, but I am intimidated.

I was intrigued by the name rumtorchen but google doesn’t bring up anything! Do you have a recipe? I bake a lot of cookies and haven’t heard of this one.

Im attempting german cookies as a surprise for my husband. Any bakers on here who have made either Linzer or rumtorchen? They seem very similar to me. I haven't had either. Is one tastier or easier to make than the other?