TOP-3 best recipes with photos of making Czech Christmas cookies. Secrets and subtleties of baking at home. Video recipes.
In the Czech Republic, as in many European countries, no Christmas is complete without Christmas cookies. Each Czech housewife makes 10 to 20 types of classic Christmas cookies. Moreover, they begin to cook from the end of November. Since many recipes involve long-term storage of products to improve taste. At the same time, the cookies will not get stale in anticipation of Christmas. To get a feel for the spirit of Christmas in the Czech Republic, do not neglect this lovely tradition. From the great variety of various recipes offered on the Internet, this article contains the TOP-3 of the best.
Features and secrets of cooking
- One of the functions of the Czech tradition of Christmas cookies is to protect families and households from dark forces. Therefore, each type of sweets has its own purpose. For example, to protect the host's live animals, animals were cut out of the dough. Round products symbolize the sun. They were hung on the walls at home for good luck and on fruit trees for a rich harvest. A burnt cookie symbolizes bad luck.
- Today, cookies are not only a delicious dessert for Christmas. They are used as edible toys to decorate the Christmas tree. They also serve as a wonderful Christmas present for friends. To do this, finished cookies are wrapped in beautiful bags or put in boxes.
- The main ingredients for Christmas cookies of yesteryear are wholemeal flour, sugar or honey, anise, nuts and canned fruits. Later they began to add butter, milk and fine flour. Wealthy families added cocoa and chocolate.
- All recipes offer a certain amount of food that is tailored to the specific baking size and baking time, as well as the oven temperature. If using a pan larger than that specified in the recipe, increase the baking temperature. For a smaller capacity, accordingly, less heat is required in the oven, otherwise the cookies will burn. Also, when placing cookies on a baking sheet, place them a short distance from each other. Otherwise, the figures will simply stick together, because they expand during baking.
Czech Christmas cookies - Trdlo or Trdelnik
Trdlo or trdelnik is a traditional Czech delicacy that is prepared for Christmas, New Years, weddings, church holidays, given to young children during Epiphany and given to women in labor for good luck. Traditionally, real Czech Christmas cookies Trdlo or Trdelnik are baked over an open fire by winding yeast dough on large metal skewers. But at home it is made in the oven, winding it on metal or paper tubes, cardboard tubes from foil or parchment paper.
- Caloric content per 100 g - 489 kcal.
- Servings - 40
- Cooking time - 1 hour 45 minutes
Ingredients:
- Flour - 2, 5 tbsp.
- Milk - 125 ml
- Fresh yeast - 15 g
- Salt - 0.5 tsp
- Walnuts - 1 tbsp
- Sugar - 2 tablespoons in the dough, 100 g in the filling
- Egg yolks - 2 pcs.
- Butter - 70 g
- Cinnamon - 1 tsp
- Egg white - 2 pcs.
Making Czech Christmas cookies Trdlo or Trdelnik:
- In warm milk, stir yeast with sugar, pour in melted butter, add egg yolks and salt. Stir everything.
- Pour the sifted flour in portions and knead the dough so that it is tighter than regular yeast dough. Cover it with a towel and soak for 1 hour in a warm place.
- Roll out the matching dough into a layer 3-4 mm thick and cut into strips, which overlap the prepared bases.
- Beat the whites with a fork and brush over the wrapped dough.
- Chop the walnuts, mix with sugar and ground cinnamon, and sprinkle the dough tubes with the mixture.
- Place the straws on a mold so that they are overhang and drink in an oven preheated to 180 ° C for 20 minutes until golden brown, periodically scrolling to bake evenly.
Czech gingerbread
In the Czech Republic, gingerbread is baked a month before Christmas. Since the whole secret of the recipe is that the longer the baking lasts, the softer and tastier the products will become.
Ingredients:
- Flour - 500 g
- Honey - 150 g
- Butter - 50 g
- Sugar - 250 g
- Eggs - 3 pcs.
- Milk - 5 tablespoons
- Soda - 1 tsp
- Egg white - 1 pc.
- Corn starch - 1 tablespoon
- Lemon juice - 1 tsp
- Powdered sugar - 180 g
- A mixture of spices (cloves, anise, cinnamon, cardamom, allspice, star anise) - 1 tablespoon
Cooking Czech gingerbread:
- Dissolve honey with butter and sugar over low heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until smooth.
- Cool the mass, add eggs and 1 yolk, pour in milk and stir.
- Add the spiced baking soda and gradually stir in the flour.
- Knead the dough until smooth, place in plastic and refrigerate for a few days.
- Then roll out the dough to a thickness of 0.5 cm and cut out the grooves according to the template.
- Put the Czech gingerbread cookies on a baking sheet lined with paper and send to the oven preheated to 200 degrees. Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown.
- Cool the finished gingerbread cookies, and the next day paint with sugar icing. To do this, beat the protein with powdered sugar into a strong foam. Add lemon juice and starch and beat with a mixer until the icing is thick and does not drip from the whisk.
- Transfer the icing to a pastry bag and decorate with the gingerbread.
Czech Christmas cookies - Vanocni hvezda
Czech Christmas cookies Vanocni hvezda are very fragile and tender with one of the traditional Christmas flavors - nutty. Its peculiarity is that the product consists of two cakes-stars, which are layered with fruit jam or confiture. Another feature of baking is that the stars must be turned away from each other so that their rays do not coincide. Then you get a real Christmas star.
Ingredients:
- Flour - 400 g
- Walnuts - 200 g
- Butter - 250 g
- Powdered sugar - 200 g
- Confiture - 100 g
Making Czech Christmas cookies - Vanocni hvezda:
- Mash the butter with powdered sugar, flour and ground nuts.
- Roll out the smooth and elastic dough on the countertop, sprinkled with flour, in a layer 0.7 cm thick.
- Cut the stars out of the dough with a mold. Leave half of the cookies whole without holes, half with holes inside.
- Place the products on a baking sheet and bake in a heated oven up to 180 ° C for 12-15 minutes.
- Layer the finished cookies with fruit jam. Make a product with the bottom whole cookie and the top one with a hole. Wrap the two cookies in opposite directions so that the rays of the stars do not line up. Sprinkle with powdered sugar on top.
