Christmas cookies, gingerbread houses, funny gingerbread men … Such items can be seen on sale on the eve of New Year's holidays. However, they are very easy to bake yourself. Read this article and learn how to cook them.
Recipe content:
- How to make Christmas cookies - subtleties and nuances
- Christmas cookies with protein glaze
- Christmas gingerbread cookie
- Christmas cookies - a simple recipe
- Christmas shortbread cookies
- How to decorate Christmas cookies
- Video recipes
Christmas is a beautiful, soulful and family Christian holiday. One of the essential attributes is a festive tree, a divine service and a feast, to which they began to serve Christmas cookies. This pastry is delicious for both adults and children. In addition, it serves as an original toy for a New Year tree and a great gift for relatives. And the simplicity of preparation, excellent taste and an abundance of delicious fillings turn the manufacturing process into a sheer pleasure.
It should be said that there is no single recipe for Christmas cookies. Each housewife will always add something of her own, but in almost any recipe, cinnamon, vanilla, ginger, nutmeg, honey, nuts or chocolate appear among the products. Try the recipes below for baking Christmas cookies. They turn out to be tender, light and great in taste.
How to make Christmas cookies - subtleties and nuances
On New Year's Eve, it is cozy and home-like to make gifts with the whole family with their own hands. Felting felt beads and knitting a sweater takes a lot of time, but you can make holiday cookies in one evening. In addition, flour, butter and eggs are always available in every refrigerator.
- Christmas cookies are fragrant, rich and original baked goods. Usually shortbread dough is taken as its basis.
- The peculiarity of cookies is the addition of all kinds of additives, spices and seasonings: ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom, star anise and even black pepper. Raisins, honey, nuts are added to improve the taste.
- The dough is rolled out into thin sheets, on which various figures are cut out with molds. Balls are also formed from the dough.
- Cookies are placed on a baking sheet and baked in a preheated oven to 180 degrees for the specified time in the recipe.
- After cooling, the cookies are decorated with chocolate or sugar icing. They also use powdered sugar, jam, fondant and confetti for decoration.
- The difference between Christmas cookies is their design. To do this, use food colors, melted chocolate or icing sugar. They fill the surface of the product completely or apply various patterns using a confectionery syringe.
- Decorate chilled cookies only. Glaze and chocolate will not stick to hot blanks, but will begin to melt.
- Sometimes the blanks are glued together with sugar glaze.
- Such sweets can be baked in advance. Brownies and coconut balls have the shortest shelf life, they dry a week after baking. Butter biscuits can last for two weeks, fudge and gingerbread can be stored in a cupboard or refrigerator.
- If you want to use Christmas cookies as Christmas decorations, then pick up a beautiful ribbon or braid. Spicy flavored biscuits do not stale.
Christmas cookies with protein glaze
Christmas cookies are an edible Christmas tree decoration that, hanging on the tree for several days, gains magical power. Make such amazing decorations with your own hands and decorate the tree with unique toys.
- Caloric content per 100 g - 417 kcal.
- Servings - 20-25 pcs.
- Cooking time - 40 minutes
Ingredients:
- Flour - 600 g
- Sugar - 180 g
- Butter - 200 g
- Dry ginger - 1 tsp
- Ground cloves - 2 tsp
- Ground cinnamon - 2 tsp
- Honey - 4 tablespoons
- Baking powder - 1 tsp
- Eggs - 3 pcs. in dough, 2 for icing
- Cornstarch - 1 tablespoon
- Lemon juice - 1 tsp
- Powdered sugar - 200 g
Step by step cooking:
- Grate the frozen butter on a coarse grater. Add eggs and flour to it. Pour baking powder, sugar, honey and spices (ginger, cloves, cinnamon) there.
- Knead the dough so that it falls away from the hands and sides of the dishes, and send it to the refrigerator in a wrapped plastic bag.
- After half an hour, roll out the dough with a layer of 3 mm and use the molds to cut out the figures. Make a hole on top of each figurine so that the cookies can be strung onto the ribbon.
- Arrange the figures on parchment and bake in a hot oven at 180 degrees for 10 minutes until golden brown.
- Cool the finished cookies.
- Sift the icing sugar and starch.
- Whisk the whites until soft foam.
- Add lemon juice to powdered sugar and gradually introduce this mass into proteins, whisking all the time.
- Beat the frosting on high speed until thickened.
- Use a piping bag or paintbrush to paint patterns on the cookies.
- Dry the cookies in the oven at 100 degrees for 10 minutes and store them in a container with a lid for a month.
Christmas gingerbread cookie
The original recipe is gingerbread. But after going through a series of experiments, gingerbread cookies appeared in the confectionery business. By adding ginger and a large amount of spices, the product is spicy and aromatic.
Ingredients:
- Flour - 3 tbsp.
- Ground cloves - 1/2 tsp
- Ground nutmeg - 1/2 tsp
- Ground ginger - 2 tsp
- Soda - 1 tsp
- Citric acid - 1 tsp
- Salt - a pinch
- Brown sugar - 1/2 tbsp.
- White sugar - 2 tbsp.
Step by step cooking:
- Combine flour, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Whisk butter with brown sugar until fluffy. Pour in the egg and molasses.
- Pour loose ingredients into the butter mass and knead the dough until smooth.
- Divide the finished dough into parts, flatten a small crust, cover with cling film and put in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
- Roll out the dough with a cake layer 3 mm thick.
- Cut out the Christmas men with special tins, put them on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and send them to preheat the oven to 200 ° C for 10 minutes, for a crispy consistency for 12 minutes. Turn the cookies over when baking.
- Put the finished product on a wire rack to cool.
- For the icing, whisk dry egg white, sugar and - glasses of water in a deep bowl.
- Decorate the baked goods with the finished icing.
Christmas cookies - a simple recipe
A simple recipe for New Year's and Christmas cookies is especially interesting to bake and decorate with children, and then decorate the Christmas tree with original Christmas decorations.
Ingredients:
- Flour - 600 g
- Butter - 200 g
- Dry ginger - 1 tsp
- Ground cloves - 2 tsp
- Ground cinnamon - 2 tsp
- Baking powder - 1 tsp
- Sugar - 180 g
- Eggs - 3 pcs.
- Honey - 4 tablespoons
Step by step cooking:
- Melt the honey in a water bath. Add ground spices (cinnamon, ginger, cloves). Steam for 5 minutes, stirring continuously.
- Cool the honey mixture and add softened butter. Mix well.
- Beat eggs with sugar.
- Add the sugar and egg mixture to the honey mass.
- Pour the sifted flour with baking powder there. Knead the dough until elastic.
- Wrap it with cling film and refrigerate for 2 hours.
- Roll out the finished dough in a layer 3-5 mm thick and cut out the cookies in the form of a New Year's attribute.
- Spread it on a baking sheet and place in a hot oven at 180 ° C for 10-12 minutes until golden brown.
- Cool the finished cookies.
Christmas shortbread cookies
Christmas cookies are a great way to get active with your kids. In addition, shortbread cookies are one of the most beloved products. The cooking process does not require extreme accuracy and takes little time.
Ingredients:
- Flour - 500 g
- Butter - 250 g
- Sugar - 200 g
- Eggs - 2 pcs.
- Vanillin - 10 g
- Baking powder - 10 g
Step by step cooking:
- Remove the oil from the refrigerator in advance and cut into small pieces. Mix with sugar.
- Add eggs and vanilla sugar one at a time. Stir the food.
- Add baking powder.
- Add the sifted flour and knead the dough.
- Make a ball, wrap with cling film and refrigerate.
- After 2 hours, roll out the dough with a thickness of 0.5 cm and make curly products with molds.
- Bake the treat in a preheated oven to 160 degrees for 10-15 minutes.
How to decorate Christmas cookies?
There are many ways to decorate cookies. To do this, use sugar or egg icing, mastic or melted chocolate. Good food colorings are also used. There are little tricks to decorating cookies, but they are all known and not particularly difficult.
- Classic protein glaze: egg white (1 pc.) And powdered sugar (250 g) are whipped with a mixer at high speeds until smooth.
- Fluffy glaze: egg white (1 pc.), Sifted icing sugar (180 g), starch (1 tablespoon), lemon juice (a few drops). All products are whipped with a blender or mixer until fluffy, and at the end lemon juice is added.
Video recipes:
