Your holiday cookie recipe guide.
Lemon sugar cookies.
Cheesy walnut cookies.
Christmas Cookies
Weihnachts Plaetzchen (Christmas cookies).
With less than a month to go before Christmas, as the weather worsens and the chill sets in, there’s no better time to get creative in the kitchen. Fetch your apron, roll out the dough, and get your cookie cutters—the following recipes are sure to stave off old man winter and kickstart the holiday cheer.
LEMON SUGAR COOKIES
½ cup butter 1 cup caster sugar 3 beaten eggs 1 cup sour cream 1 tablespoon grated lemon rind 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon lemon essence 1 teaspoon vanilla essence plain flour confectioner’s sugar
Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat well. Stir in the sour cream, lemon rind, baking soda and lemon and vanilla extracts. Add, a little at a time, enough flour to this mixture to form a soft dough. Drop by the spoonful onto a buttered baking sheet. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, or until the cookies turn a pale-gold color. When cool, dust with confectioner’s sugar, sandwich with lemon curd, or do both.
CHEESY WALNUT COOKIES
8 ½ oz. grated parmesan cheese 3 oz. unsalted butter ½ cup whole milk 1 ¼ cups plain flour 1 cup walnuts, chopped 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line baking trays with parchment paper. Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix together until a dough is formed. Take teaspoonfuls of the mixture and roll into balls. Place on the trays and flatten slightly with the back of the spoon. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on trays before serving.
WEIHNACHTS PLAETZCHEN (CHRISTMAS COOKIES)
For dough: 2 ¼ sticks butter 1 cup sugar 2 eggs 4 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking powder For topping: slivered almonds, toasted 2 tablespoons butter, melted ½ cup sugar 1 tablespoon cinnamon 1 egg
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar, and mix in eggs. Mix baking powder and flour, and add bit by bit to the butter mixture. Shape the dough into 1- to 2-inch cylinders, wrap in waxed paper, and freeze until ready to bake.
Toast the slivered almonds in a 350-degree oven until golden and fragrant, about 5-7 minutes. Toss with the melted butter, sugar and cinnamon.
Before baking, allow the dough to rest at room temperature for about 20 minutes. Then, slice the dough into very thin rounds (1-2 mm thick) and place one inch apart on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Brush them with the beaten egg, top them with the almond-sugar mixture and bake until golden, about 8-10 minutes.