Today you will get a “how to” article. The main question this article answers is how to bake many different cookies for a cookie box. The short answer is, best is if you have a large freezer. If you don’t, you will need a lot of cookie boxes to store them airtight. It also helps to pick cookie recipes that keep for a while. If you want to ship a cookie box, check out this article, but that aside, let’s get started.
Are you in a rush and simply don’t have time to make ten different Christmas cookies? Then I have the solution for you. Just make one basic dough that can be transformed to five very different cookies. Nobody will notice that you saved a lot of time with this, but are able to present different cookies to your guests. There are additional bonus points: you can make the dough up to one week in advance so that your cookies are extra fresh and can be baked one the day they are eaten. Also, you can chill many of the cut-out cookies as an additional time-saver. The first recipe is simple cut-out sugar cookies with royal icing, the second super cute santas, the third black and white cookies, which are super popular in Germany, the fourth are stained-glass cookies, and the last Linzer cookies. I recommend picking two to three different recipes before you start. Below you will find the instructions for all five recipes, of course.
This is the most traditional way of making sugar cookies. If you don’t want to decorate with royal icing, I can also recommend glueing on sprinkles with some lemon icing, they also look very festive.
Warning, rolling out all the different parts of these santas requires a bit of work, so this recipe takes a while. I made the eyes and buttons with some chopped chocolate, you may use pearls for the nose. I find these santas super cute for December 6, which is Nikolaus in Germany.
Half of the dough is mixed with cocoa powder and a dash of milk. The idea is that you have cookie cutters of different sizes and then swap the inner cut-out shape so that you always get one part regular vanilla sugar cookie and one part chocolate. So adorable and so many shapes possible.
You will need a smaller and a larger cookie cutter of the shape for these stained-glass cookies. Basically the glass is created by crushing candies . I find these super pretty, they are definitely a cute giveaway.
You will add some processed almonds to the dough and some spices. Later on two cookies are sandwiched together with some jam. One of my favorite Christmas cookies.
From one dough we will create five different cookies, all recipes can be found below. For the basic dough mix flour and sugar in a large bowl. Cut cold butter in smaller pieces and rub everything to crumbs the size of peas. Then add the egg and work into a ball. If needed, add water. Divide into two or three parts. Add additional ingredients if the recipe requires and chill for at least half an hour or up to a week. For the sugar cookies roll out dough on a floured surface. Cut out desired shapes. You can chill cut-out but unbaked cookies for a few days if tightly covered. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Bake between 8-10 minutes, depending on size. For the icing beat the egg white with the icing sugar until you get the consistency of toothpaste. Depending on the environment you may need to add further icing sugar or need to thin it out with water. Brush cookies with it and decorate with sprinkles or transfer to a piping bag and decorate as desired. For the santas more details and pictures can be found here. Color half of the dough in red and then chill both parts. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. You will need six red balls and six white balls of dough per each santa. Make two larger balls from the red dough, which are going to be the main body and hat, from the white dough only make one larger, which is going to be the face. The face is a rectangle, as well as the arms and legs, the hands and feet are circles. The hat is a triangle. See photo for visual. Gently press together once you transferred them to a baking sheet so the parts stick together. Cut small parts of chocolate to represent the buttons and eyes and press into dough before baking. Bake for 7-12 minutes, depending on size. Let cool. For the icing beat the egg white with the icing sugar until you get the consistency of toothpaste. Depending on the environment, you may need to add further icing sugar or need to thin it out with water. Transfer to a piping bag or cut off one corner of a plastic bag and make hair, bread, etc. of the santas with the icing. Glue on noses. For the black and white cookies knead in the cocoa powder into half of the dough, you may wish to add a little milk if it is very dry. Chill dough divided. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll out dough on a floured surface. Cut out larger pieces and then smaller pieces, which are inside the larger piece. Swap out the small pieces so that you always have alternating colors. Cut-out, but unbaked cookies can be chilled for a few days if covered tightly. Bake between 8-12 minutes, depending on size. Let cool. For the stained-glass cookies you will find further details and pictures here. Roll out dough on a floured surface. Cut out larger pieces first and then transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cut out the inner part then and create holes with a toothpick so that you can hang the cookies. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and prebake cookies for about 4-5 minutes. Meanwhile finely porcess the candies with a strong machine. Take out the cookies and fill the centers with the candy crumbs, use a toothpick to move the crumbs into the corners. Bake for another two minutes. You can again use a toothpick to move everything where it goes and bake for another two to four minutes, depending on size. Let cool on baking sheet before transferring and hanging. For the Linzer find further details and pictures here. Knead almonds and spices into the dough and then chill. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll out dough on a floured surface. Cut out circles, half of them should have either a smaller circle or similar cut out, there are special cookie cutters available for Linzer, but if you don't have, just look for a small shape and cut out with the bottom of a glass if there is nothing else. Bake between 8-12min and let cool. Fill the full circles with about one teaspoon of slightly heated jam, sprinkle the other half with icing sugar and then sandwich the cookies together.
Five Different Cookies with Sugar Cookies
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Today you will get a recipe for spritz cookies that will melt in your mouth. Bear with me, yes, it does contain mayonnaise as the secret ingredient, but think about it, mayonnaise consists of eggs and oil, these are typical ingredients in baking. If you can’t wrap your head around it, I have another spritz cookie without a cookie press on my blog. What I like about this particular recipe I am going to introduce here? That you can easily use it with a piping bag, no extra tricks necessary, no cookie press, nothing. I believe the secret for it to be pipable is that you are going to use oil (from the mayonnaise) AND butter. You will be rewarded with a soft and melt-it-your mouth kind of version. If you want to, you can dunk the cookies in chocolate and sprinkle with nuts and/or sprinkles.
Have you every tried to stamp your cookies or use fancy cookies cutters? I know that many don’t go through the hassle because it doesn’t work. But look no further, with below tips I am sure your cookies will look amazing. Pictured here are speculoos cookies, however, this is only one option. Below I give you the basic recipe that works really well for cookies with intricate designs, or a stamp. And as I have been asked, I got the cookie cutters from here. So let’s get started.
Millionaire’s shortbread, this can be described as a layer of shortbread, a layer of caramel and topped off with chocolate. It is originally from Scotland and is a very decadent dessert. You may wonder why I am introducing it during my cookie week. Well, if cut into small pieces, this can be considered a cookie, at least in the sense that it is a wonderful surprise in any cookie box. I also like the fact that you can easily freeze it. Pictured here is the normal size (about 4x4cm), however, as stated you can cut into smaller pieces.
Today I am introducing a very old and very German recipe: quince paste. In its basic form it only contains quinces and sugar. This means it requires a lot of time and patience. You may not need to do much and there is a lot of waiting involved, but this is something that is done over the course of several days. First you will need to cook the quinces so that they become soft. Then they will sit with sugar overnight and on the next day you are going to cook them with sugar for at least an hour. Once you managed to make the paste, you need to wait until it is dry and can be cut into squares or cubes. Yes, this is some commitment. All I can tell you is that every time I gifted these, e.g. in a cookie box, I was instantly asked what this is and inquired about the recipe. In my opinion this is a wonderful contrast to all the Christmas cookies and a nice twist to a cookie.
I am going to teach you all things gingerbread today. This means a lot of tips to make your gingerbread dough a success, and of course lots of tips on royal icing and how to successfully glue the gingerbread pieces together as well as decorate them. By the way, gingerbread that is only used for decoration can be stored for several years, check number 6 below for my success tips. Finally, there are various recipes with gingerbread, I hope there is something for you. Let’s get started right away and see how to go about this!
For this hard toffee you will only need to invest about 10-15 minutes. Seriously, in my opinion there is nothing nicer than a quick and satisfying recipe. Bonus point, you don’t even have to turn on the oven. So if you are looking for a last-minute gift, something to bring to an event, this toffee is for you. I already published a softer caramel, which the Scots call tablet and which is traditionally cut in small squares. In comparison it takes ages to make tablet, but this toffee is really done rather quickly. If you are worried about cleaning your pot afterwards check this blog post. But let’s get back to this toffee. I love the combination of sweet and savory. The sprinkled salt on top is optional. I personally find it takes it to the next level. 
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These lemon crescents are bursting of lemon flavor as they contain lemon zest in the dough as well as in the sugar dusting. They are a relative of the famous German vanilla crescents especially popular during Christmas time. I am already starting my Christmas cookie baking and I am going to publish a total of seven cookie recipes and some more articles dealing with typical problems. Usually people already know which Christmas cookies they are going to bake every year, maybe this one will also go on the list. I intentially am going to introduce not the traditional Christmas cookies here, but more unusual ones, such as these lemon crescents. As far as I understand, people like to stick to their list, but are open to try one or two new cookie recipes. So let’s get started.
Tada, today I’m introducing a specialty that actually comes from Spain and has been adapted in Latin America with local products: turrón. In Germany, we would probably call this nougat. Turrón traditionally consists of a honey-sugar syrup that is mixed with egg whites and almonds. This “paste” is then pressed into relatively flat bars and then cut into pieces or cubes. I use the version with peanuts (maní), which are much cheaper to buy in Uruguay and are also native to the country. The Uruguayans have simply replaced almonds with a local product: peanuts. Turrón basically comes in two varieties: “duro”, i.e. hard turrón, or “blando”, i.e. the softer verrsion. I opted for the hard version. You should definitely be prepared to take at least 45 minutes to make this delicacy and you will need some arm muscle. However, I think it’s well worth the effort.
