Anyway, if you want to try your hand at making Christmas cookies, here are 2 recipes for you. Before you start, here are a few baking tips:
- When you roll out the dough to cut into the different shapes, make sure it is not too thick. I would say about 2mm thick is okay. The thinner it is, the crunchier. Plus. it'll cook faster too.
- Don't have to mix the ingredients too long. I remember the baking workshop I went to, they said over-mixing will allow gluten to form (like bread dough). You don't want chewy cookies.
- Don't have to wait until the cookies are brown before taking them out of the oven. You may have to experiment in the beginning how long your cookies take to cook in your oven. Mine is a small one and I had to take the cookies out after 5 minutes. But I believe the normal practice is 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees.
- Refrigerate your dough for 2 hours or more before you start working on them. You could also make them today, and bake tomorrow.
- Put your cookies on a baking sheet when you bake. If not they will stick to your tray. I used aluminum foil. That works too.
- Before you start to cut your dough into shapes, get ready a bowl of flour. You'll need to sprinkle some on your cutting board and dust your roller. You'll also need to dust your hands too so the dough don't stick.
- You can use frosting to decorate the cookies. But I find it easier to just decorate it with different sprinkles before popping it into the oven.
BUTTER COOKIES (SUGAR COOKIES)
Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt together. Then add this dry ingredients into the mixture. Put dough into the fridge before cutting it.
- 1 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup butter (soften)
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt (if you want to reduce this a bit also can)
Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt together. Then add this dry ingredients into the mixture. Put dough into the fridge before cutting it.
SPICE COOKIES
- 3/4 cup butter
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 cups flour
- 4 tsp ginger powder
- 4 tsp cinnamon powder
- 2 tsp nutmeg powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
And so, after collapsing from exhaustion (it took me almost 4 hours to finish 2 batches of cookie dough -- I need a bigger oven!), they are ready to be given away as Christmas gifts. Of course I left some for the kids to eat. Every time I burnt some cookies they were happy coz' they get to eat those. Hahaha. Anyway, my packaging not so fancy. Just a plain plastic bag with a green ribbon. I think I'll improve on that next year.
Well, if you have the energy, make some Christmas cookies to giveaway. It's a great Christmas activity to do with the kids, BUT just expect to do most of the work :)
Christmas Gift Ideas:
Well, if you have the energy, make some Christmas cookies to giveaway. It's a great Christmas activity to do with the kids, BUT just expect to do most of the work :)
Christmas Gift Ideas:
Lian, your tips just arrive in time as I am planning to make all my CNY cookies this year :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. It all looks great!!
ReplyDeleteYum...I love cookies way to much...
ReplyDeleteWishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas!! :)
Mummy to QiQi:
ReplyDeleteLooks like you'll be very busy next month. Making some for me too?
vickylow and Tiffiney:
Merry Christmas to you all too!
Oh ... you can bake too? Wow! Lovely cookies. Happy New Year to you & your family.
ReplyDelete