GINGERBREAD
These gingerbread cookies with royal icing are soft and chewy in the centre but crisp on the edges.
INGREDIENTS:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp all spice
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup molasses
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the royal icing:
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 2 tsp meringue powder
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp water
DIRECTIONS:
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, all spice, and salt. Set aside.
In another large mixing bowl with a hand mixer (or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment), cream together the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add in eggs, molasses, and vanilla, and beat until combined. Gradually add in the dry ingredients and beat on low speed until combined. The dough should easily form into a ball. If it is too dry and crumbly, add a tbsp of water.
Divide the dough in half, and form each into a ball. Gently flatten each ball into a 1” thick disc and wrap tightly with plastic cling wrap. Chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours, up to overnight.
Preheat oven to 350° F. Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.
Take one dough ball out of the fridge and place it on a lightly floured surface (If the dough was chilled overnight, let it sit for 15-20 minutes to soften up before rolling). Lightly flour a rolling pin, and roll the dough out to ¼” thick. Use a 5” gingerbread man cookie cutter and/or other Christmas cookie cutters to cut out the cookies. Transfer the cookies to the lined baking sheet. You will have to use two sheet pans or do this in batches.
Refrigerate the dough again until your first batch is cooked.
Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the cookies are crisp on the edges. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Then, transfer to a wire cooling rack and cool completely.
Make the Royal Icing:
Whisk together confectioners’ sugar and meringue powder. Add vanilla extract and water and beat with an electric hand mixer on medium-high speed until smooth. If the icing is too thin, add some more sugar. If it is too thick, add more water, a teaspoon at a time.
Transfer the icing into a piping bag with a fine round tip and pipe the icing onto the cookies.
If storing these cookies, allow the icing to set and harden before stacking the cookies on top of each other, at least 3 hours, preferably overnight. This will prevent the icing from smudging before it’s set.
SUGAR COOKIES
INGREDIENTS:
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
Royal Icing:
- 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 2 tbsp meringue powder
- ¼ cup room temperature water
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- gel food colouring (optional)
DIRECTIONS:
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together using a hand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Turn the mixer to low speed and add baking powder and salt. Gradually add flour and mix until combined.
Form the dough into a ball and wrap it tightly in plastic cling wrap. Freeze for 30 minutes or refrigerate until firm (at least 1 hour, up to overnight).
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a baking pan with parchment paper
Remove the dough from refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to ¼” thickness. Use Christmas cookie cutters to cut out the shapes you want. Transfer the cookies onto the lined baking sheet, placing them 1” apart. Re-roll any scraps and repeat to cut out more cookies.
Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes, until the edges start to turn golden brown. Take them out of the oven and leave them on the baking sheet for a couple of minutes, then transfer them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Make the Royal Icing:
See instructions under the Sugar Cookie recipe above
Add gel food colouring for desired colours.
NOTES:
Make sure the cookies are completely cool before icing, or the icing won’t set properly. Also, the icing needs at least a few hours to set and harden before storing.
PEANUT BUTTER BLOSSOMS
Soft and chewy and topped with a chocolate kiss. A classic cookie that can be enjoyed any time of year.
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 + ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- ½ cup butter, softened
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 36 chocolate kisses, unwrapped
- Coating: ⅓ cup granulated sugar
DIRECTIONS:
Whisk together flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.
In another bowl, cream together peanut butter, butter, granulated and brown sugar using a hand mixer on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add in egg and vanilla extract and continue to mix until combined.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed until combined. Cover and chill the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
Put the sugar for the coating into a small bowl. Using 1 to 2 tbsp of cookie dough, roll dough into 1” balls then roll the balls in the coating sugar and place them on the baking tray, spaced 2”.
Bake for 10 minutes, remove from the oven and immediately press a chocolate kiss gently into the centre of each cookie. Transfer cookies to a wire cooling rack to completely cool. The kisses will soften but will hold their shape and harden as the cookies cool.
SHORTBREAD
Prep: 30 min | Cook: 30 min | Yield: 3 dozen
INGREDIENTS:
- ¾ lb unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ tsp salt
- 6-7 ozs good semisweet chocolate, very finely chopped
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350° F.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the butter and 1 cup of sugar until they are just combined. Add the vanilla. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt, then add them to the butter-and-sugar mixture. Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Place onto a surface dusted with flour and shape into a flat disk, about 1” thick. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes, until firm but still pliable.
Roll the dough ½” thick on a lightly floured surface and cut with a 3-by-1” finger-shaped cutter or you can use a knife. Place the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool to room temperature.
Once cooled, place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Put 3 ozs of the chocolate in a glass bowl and microwave on high power for 30 seconds.
Stir with a wooden spoon. ontinue to heat and stir in 30 second increments until the chocolate is just melted. Add the remaining chocolate and allow it to sit at room temperature, stirring often, until it’s completely smooth. If there are still bits of unmelted chocolate after about 5 minutes, return to the microwave in 5-second intervals, stirring, until completely smooth. Stir vigorously until the chocolate is smooth and slightly cooled; stirring makes it glossier.
Dip ½ of each cookie with just enough chocolate to coat it. Place it back on the parchment-lined baking sheet and let stand at room temperature until the chocolate has firmed up, about 20 minutes.
LINZER COOKIES
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 cup butter, softened
- ½ cup Confectioner’s sugar (icing sugar)
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- For assembling:
- 1-2 tbsp confectioners’ sugar
- 3-4 tbsp raspberry jam (or strawberry jam)
DIRECTIONS:
In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together using a hand or stand mixer on medium speed until soft and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Add vanilla and salt and continue to beat until combined. Gradually add flour, and mix until your mixture forms into a dough mass. Use your hands to form the dough into a ball, and then shape into a flat disc. Cover tightly in plastic cling wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for 30 min.
Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
Once the dough is chilled, lightly dust a clean surface with flour, and place the dough on top. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough until it is ¼-inch thick. Use linzer cookie cutters to cut out the cookies. On half of the cookies, use a smaller cookie cutter to cut shapes in the center of the cookie. Remove the smaller cookie shapes and bake them as separate little shortbread cookies, or roll them together with the scraps to cut out more cookies.
Place the cookies half-inch apart on the lined baking sheet, and chill in the refrigerator for another 10 minutes, while the oven is preheating.
Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes, or until edges just start to brown. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Dust confectioners’ sugar on the cookies that have the centre cut out. Then, spread raspberry jam on the bottom halves of each cookie (the cookies that do not have the centre cut out), leaving a small border around each of the cookies. You can use a knife or piping bag with a round tip to pipe the jam onto the cookies.
Carefully place the tops of the cookies on the jammy bottoms. Be careful not to smudge the sugar on top. You can fill the open centres with more jam, if desired.
NOTES:
These cookies can be stored in a single layer in airtight containers at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to one week. If you freeze them, freeze them unassembled as the confectioners’ sugar will melt when the cookie thaw and they don’t look nice.
