Is there anything more christmasy than cookies? I loooove the smell that comes out of the oven when they’re ready and the way they make the perfect company for a coffee or hot chocolate. It’s also great to share them with our family and the people we love. This time I made shortbread style cookies which are really buttery and melt in your mouth, but I also added some spices to them for some extra Christmas flavour.
Of course if you don’t like spices in your christmas cookies you can just ignore them and the recipe will still work wonderfully ;).
I chose to make stars with a hole in the centre because I find it to be different and more interesting, but of course you can use any cutter or even a knife to make your own.
Also, if you want to make the traditional decorated christmas cookies, you can find that recipe here. And by all means you can also decorate these.
Christmas Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 225 g unsalted butter
- 65 g icing sugar, sifted + more to decorate
- 2 tsp salt
- 250 g flour
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
Instructions
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Mix the butter, icing sugar, salt and spices in a stand mixer or using a hand-held mixer until nice and fluffy. Remember to use a spatula to scrape down the sides and mix the bottom so it's a uniform mix.
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Add the vanilla essence and mix some more.
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Mix in the flour using a spatula.
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Let rest for at least 30min wrapped in cling film in the fridge. It will cool faster if you wrap it flat rather than in a ball.
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Roll it to 5mm thickness on a floured surface making sure it doesn't stick.
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Use cutters or knives to shape the cookies and then take them into a preheated oven at 180C on a baking tray with a silpat or baking paper.
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Take them out when they're just starting to gain some colour. More than that dries them out. Mine took 13min but I recommend to check at 10min and then keep an eye on them all the way to 15min. Then for the next batch you know exactly how much time they take.
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Wait for them to cool down and dust with icing sugar.
