There’s only three days till Christmas, and I’m so excited!
Our Christmas tree is up, all our presents have been bought and wrapped and all that’s left to do is some more Christmas baking today.
One of my favourite things to do around Christmas time is to spend time in the kitchen baking with my mum. With carols playing in the background, of course.
That’s exactly how I spent this past Sunday afternoon, and it took me back to my childhood. My mum always cooked and baked Polish dishes and desserts around the holidays, and these are the Christmas cookies I grew up with.
I asked her if we could make them together again this year, partly because it’s tradition, and partly because this recipe is something I want to make sure that I have forever.
It’s such an easy recipe, and makes such a yummy cookie.
Everything just gets mixed together in a bowl with your hands, and then gets rolled out, cut and baked straight away. There’s no resting time or refrigeration, no messing about. Just easy baking.
And the result is a buttery, flaky, melt-in-your-mouth cookie. It reminds me of a beautiful galette dough. The crust created by the egg white and sugar on top adds a lovely crunch, and some nice sweetness too, as there’s no sugar inside the dough.
I’m working right up until Christmas, baking hundreds and hundreds of fruit mince pies, and then we have a busy few days planned with family over the Christmas period. I’m very excited. I hope you all have a really lovely Christmas, filled with laughter, joy, love and delicious Christmas treats. Merry Christmas! X
- 200g plain flour
- 40g unsalted butter, softened
- 40g margarine
- 40g lard
- 16g fresh yeast
- 50g heavy cream
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 egg white, for topping, lightly whisked
- Caster (superfine) sugar, for topping
- Preheat the oven to 180 C (350 F) and line 2 trays with baking paper.
- Place the flour, butter, margarine, lard and yeast in a large bowl and use your fingertips to crumble everything together until you have a mixture that resembles wet sand.
- Add the cream and the egg yolk and bring everything together with your hands until you have a smooth ball of dough.
- Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface, until it is just under 1 cm thick (1/3 inch).
- Use a cookie cutter to cut cookies out of the dough.
- Dip one side of each cookie first in the egg white, then in the sugar. Place them on the prepared trays.
- Bring together the leftover dough and re-roll it to repeat the process.
- Bake for 10 - 15 minutes, until lightly golden. Allow to cool on trays. Makes 30 - 40 cookies.
- Happy baking, and merry christmas!