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Copyright, 2015
December 17, 2013
Rob
Cookies and brownies
3

Traditional Christmas cookies with cinnamon

Ho, ho, ho! If you’ve been naughty this year, you’ll probably get no presents.

But nothing prevents your from having these delicious traditional Christmas cookies!!! 😀

Traditional-Christmas-cookies-21
They are very easy to make and they taste so… Christmassy!!! Just a teaspoon of ground cinnamon and anise can boost up the flavour of these cookies, but of course you can add all the spices and flavourings you want (e.g. ground ginger! That’s Christmassy as well)!

Recipe-Traditional-Christmas-cookies-01
These Christmas cookies by Christophe Felder are not so different from a shortbread tart dough where the cold butter is mixed by hand with the dry ingredients to obtain a sandy mixture that is then moistened with eggs and kneaded just as needed.

Traditional-Christmas-cookies-04
They are “cut-out cookies“, so you can also have fun with all the cookie cutters you have (I have an Austrian friend who made cookies the shape of Austria!) 😛

Traditional-Christmas-cookies-19
P.S: this step-by-step recipe is for about 50 cookies… if you don’t want to eat them all, remember that they also make a perfect, tasty Christmas present!

Traditional-Christmas-cookies-18

 

Traditional Christmas cookies

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Ingredients

250gPastry flour
125gGranulated sugar
65gAlmond flour
125gUnsalted butter
1/4Orange zest
1/4Lemon zest
1 teaspoonGround cinnamon
1/2 teaspoonBaking powder
1/2 teaspoonGround anise
1Egg
1Egg yolk
1 teaspoonKirsch liqueur
1/2 pinchSalt

Directions

1
Place the sifted flour, sugar, ground almonds, baking powder, cinnamon, anise, the fruit zests and the cold, diced butter in a bowl
2
Work the ingredients quickly with the tip of your fingers until they are all mixed and of a sandy texture
3
Incorporate the eggs and the liqueur with your hands or (better) with a spatula
4
Try to make a ball and then knead twice by crushing the dough in small pieces with a dough-cutter or the palm of your hand. This will allow to give consistence to the dough without overkneading it.
5
Wrap in plastic, flatten and refrigerate for at least 2 hours
6
When the dough is cold, roll it out to a 4mm height on your slightly floured work surface. Cut the cookies in different shapes with cookie cutters or with a sharp knife...
7
... and place them in a buttered and floured pan.
8
Brush with eggwash (optional) and bake at 180° for 13-15 minutes

Note

You can make a ball of dough scraps and roll it out again to obtain more cookies but be careful because:

  • Overworking the dough will have a negative impact on the flakiness of the cookies (i.e. more gluten will develop so the cookies will be harder)
  • It might be necessary to store the dough for some more time in the fridge if the butter becomes too soft

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August 10, 2013

Recipe: Breton shortbread (Sablé breton)

May 10, 2014

Recipe: Rich shortbread

September 5, 2013
AniseChristmasCinnamonCookiesCut-out cookiesEasyShortbreadTraditional
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3 Comments General

3 Comments

  • Gigi
    December 21, 2013 5:01 pm

    Crazy friend you have!

    Reply
    • Rob
      December 22, 2013 11:39 am

      Ahahaha I was waiting for your comment!!! 😀

      Reply

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WELCOME

Hi, my name is Rob, I work in IT but I love baking and I also got a pastry diploma. I created this blog to keep track of my journey from complete beginner to world pastry champion (I'm not there yet).

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