/ Christmas Cookie Recipes
16 Nov 2015

No gift says you care more, than the one you can lovingly make yourself, and better still, something that can be shared with friends and family.

Cookies make the perfect Christmas gifts because they’re not only tasty, you can decorate them with your very own toppings and wrap them up to make it a truly joyful festive treat. Plus, they also make superb stocking stuffers!

Try your hand at baking some of these fantastic, festive cookies to add some colours and flavours to your Christmas gift list.


STRAWBERRY-CANDY SUGAR COOKIES

Ingredients
2 cups of all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup fine sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup flat round strawberry candies

Method
  1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
  2. Beat the butter with fine sugar in a mixer on medium speed for about 2 min until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg while scraping down the sides of bowl.
  3. Reduce speed to low and beat in the flour mixture. Refrigerate dough for about 1 hour until firm.
  4. Place the candy in a resealable plastic bag and crush with a mallet till fine.
  5. Take the dough and use a teaspoon to form balls of dough for small cookies. For large cookies, use a tablespoon.
  6. Bake, rotating sheets once, until the edges are starting to brown (around 11 min for small cookies, 14 min for large ones). Remove from oven and cool on parchment-lined wire racks. Break off any bits of melted candy from the edges of the cookies, if necessary. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container, between sheets of parchment or waxed paper, for up to 1 week.


CINNAMON-ALMOND STARS

Ingredients

For The Cookies
1 cup almonds
11/2 cup brown sugar
21/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg, lightly beaten

For The Icing
2 cups icing sugar
2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
Gold pearlised sugar 
(available at baking-supply stores)

Method
  1. For the cookies: Pulse the almonds with 1/4 cup brown sugar in a food processor until fine.
    Whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.
  2. Beat the butter with the remaining 11/4 cups of brown sugar with a mixer on medium speed until fluffy (about 4 min). Beat in the egg. Reduce speed to low and add the almond and flour mixtures to form a dough.
  3. Divide dough in half and shape each half into a disc. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to overnight.
  4. Preheat oven to 160 degrees. Let dough stand at room temperature until soft, then roll out each dough disc on a lightly floured surface until 1/4 inch thick. Use a cookie cutter to cut out as many stars as possible, rerolling scraps once. Arrange stars 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets.
  5. Bake, rotating sheets once, until the edges are golden (9 to 11 min). Allow to cool for 1 min, then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.
  6. For the icing: Whisk the icing ingredients with a mixer on medium speed until smooth. Use a pastry bag fitted with a small writing tip or a resealable plastic bag with a corner snipped off to decorate the cookies with the icing. Sprinkle with pearlised sugar and allow to set (about 30 min). Cookies can be stored in an airtight container, between sheets of parchment or waxed paper, for up to 1 week.
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