These Christmas cookie recipes from Bonne Maman will well and truly put you in a festive mood! From Chocolate Cherry Crinkles, to Linzer Cookies, to the beautifully wintery Spiced Sugar Snowflakes – take your pick!
Chocolate Cherry Crinkles
A spoonful of luscious cherry conserve moulded into the dough, gives these fudgy, crinkly cookies an irresistible brownie-textured centre… (Makes about 15 -18 mini mouthfuls) Ingredients · 85g granulated sugar · 2 tbsp (30ml) vegetable oil · ½ tsp vanilla extract · 1egg · 75g plain flour · 30g cocoa · ½ tsp baking powder · Large pinch salt · 45g icing sugar · About 3 tbsp Bonne Maman Black Cherry Conserve Method 1. Put the sugar, oil and vanilla extract in the bowl of a stand mixer and, using the paddle attachment, beat for 2-3 minutes until combined. Alternatively, beat well with a wooden spoon. 2. Add the egg and beat again for 2-3 minutes. 3. Slowly beat in the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. The mixture will look like raw cake mix at this stage but that’s ok. Cover with clingfilm and chill for at least 2 hours, but preferably overnight, to firm up. 4. When ready to bake, heat the oven to 180C, 160C fan oven, gas mark 4. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking parchment and put the icing sugar in a small bowl. 5. With fingers dusted with icing sugar, pinch off small pieces of dough and roll into walnut-sized balls. Press the balls into flat discs and put a generous ½ tsp of conserve in the middle. Bring up the edges of the dough and pinch together to seal in the conserve. Roll again lightly into a ball and drop into the icing sugar. Roll around in the sugar until thoroughly coated and drop, seam side down, onto the lined tray. 6. Bake the cookies for 7-10 minutes or until they have risen and crinkled. Leave to cool then store in an airtight jar. Cook’s tips Make sure that there is plenty of icing sugar on the cookies before baking as some will melt into the dough, but the excess forms the powdered effect on the outside. Don’t worry if a little conserve is showing before baking. The mixture will make 6-8 larger cookies, just bake for 3-4 minutes longer. The cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Linzer Cookies
You can never have too many Christmas cookies, especially when they’re as good as these ones… (Makes about 16-20 mini cookies or 8-10 standard size) Ingredients · 115g unsalted butter, softened · 115g golden caster sugar · 1 large egg, beaten · ½ tsp vanilla extract · Large pinch salt · 50g cornflour · 225g plain flour · About 100g Bonne Maman Conserve · 2 tbsp icing sugar Method 1. Heat the oven to 180C, 160C fan oven, gas mark 4. Line two baking sheets with non-stick baking parchment. 2. Put the butter and sugar in a stand mixer and beat together until smooth and fluffy. Alternatively, beat well with a wooden spoon. 3. Add the egg, a little at a time, then stir in the vanilla, salt and cornflour. Finally, add the flour, a little at a time. 4. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to about the thickness of a pound coin. Use a round (preferably fluted) cutter to cut circles then use a smaller cutter (stars, hearts, trees whatever you have), to cut little windows in half of the rounds. 5. Transfer to the baking sheets and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until barely coloured. Cool completely. 6. Spread the whole cookie rounds with conserve and top with a windowed cookie. Sift with icing sugar and store in an airtight jar. Cook’s tips Vary the flavour and colour of conserve for a stunning festive look. Use apricot, raspberry and blueberry for example.
Spiced Sugar Snowflakes
These spice-laden biscuits are full of festive flavours and undeniably moreish. Stamp out the dough into a variety of shapes and sizes; whatever cutters you may have... (Makes about 20 cookies) Ingredients · 50g unsalted butter, diced, plus extra for greasing · 50g Demerara sugar · 75g golden syrup · 25g Bonne Maman Salted Caramel · 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda · 1 tsp mixed spice · 1 large egg yolk · 250g plain flour Method 1. Heat the oven to 170C, 150C fan oven, gas mark 3. Lightly grease two baking sheets. 2. Put the butter into a medium bowl. In a small pan, gently heat together the sugar, syrup, caramel, bicarbonate of soda and mixed spice, until smooth. Bring to the boil and pour over the butter. Stir until all the butter has melted. 3. Beat in the egg yolk and flour and knead lightly on a floured surface to a smooth dough. Roll out the dough to about the thickness of a pound coin. Use a variety of cutters to cut out the cookies; we used large and small snowflake-shaped ones. 4. Transfer to the baking sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool completely then store in airtight jars. Cook’s tips The thinner the dough, the crisper the biscuits will bake. If possible, roll out the dough between sheets of non-stick baking parchment. For tree decorations, make a hole in the top with a skewer when the biscuits are hot out the oven and thread with fine ribbon when cold. The biscuits will store for 2-3 weeks in an airtight container or for 1-2 months in the freezer.
Recipe development by Moyra Fraser.
Image copyright, Bonne Maman UK.
