Christmas Cookies

visiongirl

Hey

I wanna make some cookies with cut out shapes. I am looking for a good recipe I mite add some chocolate chips to them as well.
Anyone have a good recipe?

Thanks

dublingal80

go to www.recipezaar.com I have been looking at the recipes there and there are some great ones, just trying to figure out what shortening is first!

BrigR

I'm adding a traditional recipe for Christmas biscuits from the south of Germany. They are quite rich and I don't think they require extra chocolate chips.

Swabian Biscuits

Ingredients:
200 g soft butter
200 g sugar (you can cut that down by about 50 g)
Lemon or vanilla essence
1 egg
200 g ground almonds or any kind of nuts
200 g flour

Cream butter, sugar and flavourings until it is really soft and fluffy. Add the egg and whisk it in. Then add the nuts and flour, knead well. The dough is right when it stops sticking to your hands, if it is still sticky, add a little more flour. Cool for about an hour, it will be easier to roll.
Roll the dough with a bit of flour and cut out shapes.

If you want to decorate the biscuits, glaze them with a mixture of egg yolk with a little milk and sprinkle with a mixture of sugar and cinnamon or flaked almonds

Bake at 160 degrees for about 10 to 15 min. (Depends on cooker and how thick the biscuits are!)

Eviledna

I'm just after getting my Ikea Christmas Cookie Cutters in the post, can't wait to use them!

I've done some extensive research on the best cut out sugar cookies and I've decided on this recipe, simply because of the rave reviews it gets.

But if you are in the mood for the best gingerbread, Possum66's recipe is yer only man.

Any tips and hints for decorating these cookies, anyone?

Eviledna

dublingal80 wrote: »

go to www.recipezaar.com I have been looking at the recipes there and there are some great ones, just trying to figure out what shortening is first!

Cookeen, available in any supermarket, is shortening.

Possum66

Eviledna wrote: »

I'm just after getting my Ikea Christmas Cookie Cutters in the post, can't wait to use them!

I've done some extensive research on the best cut out sugar cookies and I've decided on this recipe, simply because of the rave reviews it gets.

But if you are in the mood for the best gingerbread, Possum66's recipe is yer only man.

Any tips and hints for decorating these cookies, anyone?

Oooh, I am happy that the recipe works well for you.

About decorating the cookies: this is my method: I whisk 1 egg white with 150 g of icing sugar and a couple of drops of lemon juice on high speed till it is thick. (It is done when it doesn't drop off the whisk.) Then I mix two tablespoonfuls of icing with a drop of food colouring (or a very small amount of paste - which is the best imho), stir it till the colour is even. Then put the icing into a Glad sandwich bag (the make is important ), close the bag, cut a tiny hole on the tip of one corner of the bag, and start "drawing" on the biscuit. Just hold the bag like a fat pen in your hand, and gently press it while you decorate.

The biscuit looks even better, if you "paint" it first with some icing. Thin the icing with a few drops of water, and use a fine brush.

(Apologies for my English...)

Oleander

I made these a couple of weeks ago, and also this week. They are christmassy because of the spices used. Once covered, they are even fresh and crunchy after a few days. I just noticed that you mention that you want to cut out some shapes, you could just flour the dough and roll out and cut away instead of shaping with your hands as mentioned below. And obviously, you can add what you want to the dough, like chopped nuts or dates or chocolate chips. It's a good recipe.

INGREDIENTS (MAKES ABOUT 26 BISCUITS)
125g (4.5oz) butter, softened
110g (4oz) caster sugar, plus 1 desertspoon extra, for rolling
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
250g (9oz) plain flour
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 desertspoon ground cinnamon

METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.

Cream the butter in a large bowl or in a food mixer until soft. Add the 110g caster sugar and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract until combined.

Sift in the flour, nutmeg, baking powder and salt and gently mix together to form a dough.

Mix the desertspoon of sugar and the cinnamon together in a medium sized bowl. Using your hands, roll the dough into walnut shaped balls then roll in the sugar and cinnamon mixture and flatten before placing on two baking trays (I would put some greaseproof paper down first), space each ball 1&1/4 inch apart.

Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes or until they feel firm around the edges.

Allow to stand for 2 minutes on the trays then carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool.

I like to melt some chocolate and coat the cooled biscuits in it.

Eviledna

Possum66 wrote: »

Oooh, I am happy that the recipe works well for you.

About decorating the cookies: this is my method: I whisk 1 egg white with 150 g of icing sugar and a couple of drops of lemon juice on high speed till it is thick. (It is done when it doesn't drop off the whisk.) Then I mix two tablespoonfuls of icing with a drop of food colouring (or a very small amount of paste - which is the best imho), stir it till the colour is even. Then put the icing into a Glad sandwich bag (the make is important ), close the bag, cut a tiny hole on the tip of one corner of the bag, and start "drawing" on the biscuit. Just hold the bag like a fat pen in your hand, and gently press it while you decorate.

The biscuit looks even better, if you "paint" it first with some icing. Thin the icing with a few drops of water, and use a fine brush.

(Apologies for my English...)

Your English, as usual, is fantastic:)

Thank you so much, I'm really looking forward to spending some quality time with the new food colouring pastes I bought yesterday...does anyone know can you mix them like paint i.e. can you make other colours from the primaries?

Possum66

Yes you can mix them - you can easily achieve some lovely shades. But first colour the icing with one colour and then add the other one.

CombatCow

Oleander wrote: »

I made these a couple of weeks ago, and also this week. They are christmassy because of the spices used. Once covered, they are even fresh and crunchy after a few days. I just noticed that you mention that you want to cut out some shapes, you could just flour the dough and roll out and cut away instead of shaping with your hands as mentioned below. And obviously, you can add what you want to the dough, like chopped nuts or dates or chocolate chips. It's a good recipe.

INGREDIENTS (MAKES ABOUT 26 BISCUITS)
125g (4.5oz) butter, softened
110g (4oz) caster sugar, plus 1 desertspoon extra, for rolling
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
250g (9oz) plain flour
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 desertspoon ground cinnamon

METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.

Cream the butter in a large bowl or in a food mixer until soft. Add the 110g caster sugar and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract until combined.

Sift in the flour, nutmeg, baking powder and salt and gently mix together to form a dough.

Mix the desertspoon of sugar and the cinnamon together in a medium sized bowl. Using your hands, roll the dough into walnut shaped balls then roll in the sugar and cinnamon mixture and flatten before placing on two baking trays (I would put some greaseproof paper down first), space each ball 1&1/4 inch apart.

Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes or until they feel firm around the edges.

Allow to stand for 2 minutes on the trays then carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool.

I like to melt some chocolate and coat the cooled biscuits in it.

I was gonna make some more of Possum66's gingerbread today ( awesome btw,thanks for sharing ) but I think i'll try these


..and here they are, very tasty




CC

Possum66

Wow, they are so nice and puffed up - how did you do it? Mine were tasty but much flatter.

CombatCow

Well I made them about the size of a golf ball, and rolled them in the cinnamon/sugar, and didn't flatten them down when they were on the baking tray. They came out really really nice, kinda like a soft cookie/cake'y texture.


CC

Possum66

I see... Mine were smaller in size, and I flattened them because the recipe told me to do so... Won't do it next ime!