Hey everyone?

It’s Christmas!

Seriously, how did that happen so fast?!

It’s Christmas Eve here today.

I spent the entire afternoon baking various Christmassy and non-Christmassy baked goods for, well, Christmas.

There are homemade Baci chocolates, espresso ice cream, a ridiculously amazing new version of this cake and the best passionfruit tart ever.

All of those recipes will be coming to you in the new year!

But today, I have a gorgeously simple (but delicious) Christmas cookie for you.

I’m loving the depth of flavour the brown sugar adds to this buttery, crumbly, melt-in-your-mouth shortbread.

And I’ve added some traditional Christmas flavours, which result in an easy, Christmas spiced cookie you can whip up last minute, so more time can be spent drinking eggnog!

I hope you have a Merry Christmas everyone. Filled with joy and laughter, good food and drink, great friends and family, and lots of love and cookies.

Enjoy

CHRISTMAS SPICED BROWN SUGAR SHORTBREAD
Adapted from the amazing Bakergirl.

225g unsalted butter, softened (1 cup)
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
2 cups plain flour
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 170 C (325 F) and line 2 trays with baking paper.

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy using an electric mixer.

Add the flour, spices and salt and mix on a low speed until just incorporated.

Bring the dough together into a ball. Roll out between two sheets of baking paper until the dough is 1/2 inch thick.

Refrigerate the rolled out dough for about 15  minutes. This allows for easy cutting and prevents spreading in the oven.

Cut the dough into 3 x 1 inch rectangles.

Place on lined baking trays, allowing room for spreading. Prick each a few times with a fork.

Bake for 15 – 20 minutes, until lightly golden. Makes 35 shortbread cookies.