Christmas Cookies
These delightful little biscuits (from 2016’s bestselling cookbook, Scrumptious) are bound to make even the surliest of Grinches come alight with a little festive cheer. Well, just look at them – absolutely delicious and rather adorable – what more could you ask for in a Christmas cookie? I prefer to use Gregg’s spices for this recipe – buy them fresh if you can!
Makes approx. 25-30 cookies
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time:15 minutes
Ingredients
75g butter
2/3 cup golden syrup
½ cup brown sugar
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
Pinch salt
1 free-range egg, separated
Silver cachous
Icing
1 egg white (from the above egg)
1 ½ cups icing sugar
1-2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla essence
Method
Add the butter, golden syrup and brown sugar to a saucepan over a medium heat. Stir until melted, then turn up the heat to high and let it just come to a boil. Remove from the heat immediately, set aside and let it cool for 15 minutes or until just warm. Whisk in the egg yolk.
Sift the flour, baking soda, ginger, mixed spice, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt into a mixing bowl and stir to combine with a whisk. Add to the melted butter mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until evenly combined.
Lay a couple of sheets of clingfilm slightly overlapping on the bench and tip the mixture out on to it. Shape into a disc and wrap it up. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour, or until needed.
Preheat oven to 160c regular bake and line a baking tray with baking paper.
Divide the dough into four even pieces, then divide each of those pieces into eight, so you’re left without about 32 pieces. Roll into balls and place on the baking tray about 5cm apart, as they will increase in size while they cook.
Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Set aside on a cooling tray and repeat with the remaining balls if you need to.
When you’re finished, reduce the oven temperature to 100c.
Icing
Add the egg white to a mixing bowl and beat lightly. Add 1 tsp the lemon juice and vanilla essence, and sift in the icing sugar. Stir to combine. If it needs more liquid, add more lemon juice – you don’t want it too runny though.
Add all the biscuits back on to the tray, then spoon or pipe a blob of the icing on to the centre of the the biscuits. You don’t need to spread it on, it will naturally spread out after a while. These don’t have to look perfect – some of it will end up running off on to the tray. Sprinkle on a few cachous on each biscuit, then return them to the oven for another 30 – 60 seconds to set the icing. Remove and allow to cool completely.
I like these better the day after when they go a little soft!