Along with balls and garlands, one of the important New Year attributes is cookies. The house becomes especially cozy when the aroma of vanilla and fresh baked goods fills it on the eve of the holidays. Cookies can be used as a Christmas tree decoration or put in a gift bag for New Year and Christmas. Five ideas for holiday cookies are on our list.
1: Peppermint Cookies for Christmas
From the simplest products you can make such cookies, which are perfect as a gift to friends and family, or will please the whole family over tea during cozy winter evenings. Such cookies do not require much expense and effort, are prepared quickly and simply according to the principle of cheesecake, the basis of which is crushed shortbread cookies. Quick, simple and delicious!
Ingredients
- any baked cookies - 400 g
- butter - 140 gr.
- white and milk chocolate - 400 gr.
- brightly colored mint candies (lollipops) - 300 g.
- mint essence - 0.5 tsp.
Method of preparation
- Crush the cookies and mix with butter. Grind the mixture well and place on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. The future cake on the roasting pan should be dense. Bake in a preheated oven at 170 degrees for 15-20 minutes, until the cake is slightly browned.
- While the cake is in the oven, melt the chocolate in a water bath. You can also use a microwave: chop the chocolate bar into pieces, put it in a bowl, and turn on the heating for 30 seconds, then stir with a spatula and add mint essence. Mix well.
- Remove the finished cake from the oven and let it cool slightly. Pour the chocolate-mint mixture on top and smooth it out with a spatula.
- Place the mint candies in a thick plastic bag and break them into small pieces with a rolling pin, but not crumbs.
- Sprinkle the chocolate layer with candy shards when it sets a little. After that, the future cookies can be put out in the cold until completely cooled.
- The finished cooled masterpiece is left to be cut into pieces and packed into wax paper bags, decorated with bright ribbons or a bow. A fragrant gift for family and friends is ready!
2: New Year's Gingerbread Men
The recipe is borrowed from the best American traditions for New Year and Christmas. The specialty of these cookies is the orange glaze. Cookies of this type can be used as a Christmas tree decoration or put in gift boxes and presented as a gift to guests or colleagues. To your taste and preferences, you can add raisins or marmalade, as well as your favorite spices, such as kritsa or anise.
Ingredients
- wheat flour – 355 g
- baking soda – 1 tsp.
- ground ginger – 2 tsp.
- ground cinnamon – 1 tsp.
- butter – 130 g
- chicken egg – 1 pc.
- brown sugar – 175 g
- honey (liquid) – 4 tbsp.
- powdered sugar – ¾ cup
- orange juice – 4 tbsp.
Method of preparation
- Sift ground ginger and cinnamon, wheat flour. Mix the resulting mixture with softened butter. Using a mixer, bring the mass to the state of large crumbs. Add granulated sugar.
- Break the chicken egg and beat it lightly with a fork, pour in the honey (you can melt it in a water bath), mix and pour into the dough. Knead the thick dough, roll out a spherical shape, wrap it in cling film and refrigerate for 15-20 minutes.
- After cooling, roll out the dough to a thickness of 5-7 mm, cut out little people with a mold, place on a baking sheet lined with paper. Bake in a preheated oven at 185 degrees for 10-15 minutes.
- Place the cookies along with the paper on a wire rack and let cool.
- Let's prepare orange syrup: pour the fresh juice into a saucepan, heat it up, but do not boil it, and gradually pour in the powdered sugar, stirring thoroughly. Let it cool.
- You can use classic protein glaze or add food coloring.
3: Berlin Cookies for Christmas
Ingredients
• butter - 115 g
• eggs - 2 pcs.
• brown sugar - 170 g
• dark chocolate - 70 g
• flour - 200 g
• baking powder - 1 tsp.
• rum - 1 tbsp.
• cinnamon - 1.5 tsp.
• almonds - 100 g
• proteins - 1 pc.
• powdered sugar - 100 g
• water - 3 tbsp.
Method of preparation
1. Beat butter, eggs and sugar until fluffy. Pour in rum. Mix flour with baking powder, cinnamon and grated chocolate. Combine both mixtures and mix well. Add chopped almonds.
2. Grease the baking tray with oil, pour the dough, grease the top with beaten egg mixture. Bake at 180 degrees for 20-25 minutes. You can check the readiness with a toothpick. Remove from the oven.
3. Soak the warm cake in a mixture of powdered sugar and water and cut into diamonds or squares. Let cool.
4. After the glaze has hardened, place it in boxes, placing parchment paper between each layer.
4: Fortune Cookies
New Year is the most magical time for predictions. After all, each of us at least once in our lives wanted to look behind the curtain of the future or at least believe that something good awaits there. Who said that cooking is boring? Combine messages from the future with baking!
Ingredients
- wheat flour – ½ cup
- milk – ½ cup
- Toffee candies – 110 g
- Amaretto liqueur – 1 tsp.
- vanillin – ¼ tsp
- ground cinnamon – 1/2 tsp.
- brown sugar – 55 g
- corn starch – 1 tbsp.
- sunflower oil – 45 ml
- chicken egg white – 3 pcs.
- nutmeg (ground) - on the tip of a knife
Method of preparation
- Print out wishes and predictions in advance on thin strips of paper.
- Sift flour, mix with granulated sugar, cornstarch. Add cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix everything thoroughly.
- Soften the butter and mix it with three egg whites using a blender. Pour it into the flour mixture gradually, stirring thoroughly. Add vanilla and liqueur.
- Line the baking tray with paper, pour the dough with a tablespoon with a diameter of 7-8 centimeters. Place the roasting pan in a preheated oven for 6-7 minutes at 180 degrees.
- It is better to bake the cookies one at a time and not to over-bake them, otherwise the dough will lose its elasticity and will crumble.
- After baking, take out the circles and place a fortune telling strip in the center. Fold each circle in half and roll it twice into a voluminous bundle.
- Melt the toffees in a water bath and dip each cookie in sweet glaze and decorate with colorful sweet sprinkles.
- Serve laid out on a flat dish.
5: Gingerbread tree
Ingredients
- flour - 250 g
- eggs - 1 pc.
- brown sugar - 2 tbsp.
- honey - 2 tbsp.
- milk - 2 tbsp.
- butter - 20 g.
- ginger - 0.5 tsp.
- baking powder - 0.5 tsp.
- cloves - 1 tsp.
- salt - 1 tsp
For the glaze:
- powdered sugar - 225 g.
- proteins - 1 pc.
- lemon juice - 1 tbsp.
Method of preparation
1. For this recipe you will need a saucepan in which you need to mix sugar, honey, milk, butter. Heat until the sugar is completely dissolved. Separately take the sifted flour and baking powder, mix with ginger, cloves, and a little salt. Mix everything well. Add the beaten egg and the liquid mixture from the saucepan.
2. Gather the dough into a ball and place it on a floured table. Print out 9-11 star stencils of different diameters and cut them out.
3. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
4. Meanwhile, roll out the dough to a thickness of half a centimeter. Using pastry molds of different sizes, cut out stars from the dough and place them on a baking sheet covered with paper. The gap between the cookies should not be less than 2-3 centimeters, otherwise they will stick together. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Then let cool on a rack without a baking sheet.
5. Combine the glaze ingredients in a bowl and beat with a mixer until smooth. Let sit for 10 minutes. Transfer to a pastry bag with a nozzle.
6. The tree is assembled from the largest star and smoothly moving to the top, where the smallest one will be. To fasten the stars, use the icing from a pastry bag. Decorate the "branches" of the tree with the remaining cream.
Happy holidays and may your dreams come true!
