The Twelve Cookies of Christmas: Orange Cardamom Cookies

 

The Twelve Cookies of Christmas: Orange Cardamom Cookies 

This amazing recipe comes from Maman's Homesick Pie cookbook. I don't feel comfortable writing out the recipe since I don't have permission, but I did find it online here from somebody who either had permission or felt more comfortable.

As you can see, it's a pretty small list of ingredients, but they make a big impact! Two oranges zested makes a lot of zest!

Here's the creamed butter mixture with the zest mixed in. It smells amazing.

The dry ingredients. I had poppy seeds on hand for a previous recipe, so this was nice to not have to buy them just for this! If you do ever need them, they're in the spice aisle, just fyi.

It looks pretty dry, but don't worry, it does come together with enough kneading.

Here it is, fully incorporated.

And rolled out to chill. These are slice-and-bake cookies that are essentially shortbreads. The dough can be frozen and thawed before baking. But you can also bake them all and freeze and thaw the finished cookies.

The pre-baked cookies ready for the oven.

And the final product. I broke one open to show the texture. As you can see, they don't spread out really, so you can put a ton of them on a baking sheet to bake and not worry about them sticking together.

These are buttery and orangey and amazing! I don't think the cardamom comes through very strongly, so I might increase it next time. These are really fast and easy to make. They're perfect for holiday bakers who are short on time. Definitely give these a try.

Happy Baking!

The Twelve Cookies of Christmas: Moravian Spice Cookie Wafers

 

The Twelve Cookies of Christmas-Moravian Spice Cookie Wafers

Today's cookie recipe is from this website. I love a good spice cookie and these did not disappoint! I made a half batch of this one and the recipe divides really easily. This is one of those spice cookies that calls for savory spices like pepper and mustard, but it all blends together really well. Don't be grossed out by the thought, I promise it's delicious!

I finally remembered to do a gathered ingredients shot!

Here are all the dried ingredients. You can see it's a lot of spices!

The very important creaming step. There's not a lot of fat in this recipe for the amount of cookies it makes. The crisper the cookie, the less fat is in it. That's a good rule of thumb to keep in mind when trying to eat a little healthier.

Mixing in the molasses.

You can see it's pretty dry when you mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. It's discouraging at first and you might think it's not going to work, but just keep kneading it. I had to turn it out and knead it by hand, but it eventually incorporated properly.

Here's what it will eventually look like, so don't give up!

I've never really tried rolling out the dough between waxed paper before, but it worked pretty well. It stuck a little so I might flour it first next time, but otherwise it worked really well.

Here they are ready for the oven!

And here they are out of the oven!

These cookies are really crispy, and really spicy. Not spicy hot, but just spiced. It's the kind of spice that sticks with you. You should eat them on a really cold day and it'll warm you up from the inside out. This is one of the most wintery ones I've made so far. They really scream Christmas. I highly recommend these!

Happy Baking!

The Twelve Cookies of Christmas: Danish Shortbread

 

The Twelve Cookies of Christmas: Danish Shortbread

This recipe seems very simple. Deceptively simple. You see the list of ingredients and think, "How can this possible be delicious?" Let me tell you, though, it's a really good shortbread cookie recipe! This recipe came from this book:

I can't type out the recipe since I don't own the rights to this book, but I highly recommend it!

Here is the entire set of ingredients for the cookies! That's it!!

The creaming stage, I just don't bother with the mixer anymore. By hand does just fine!

Post creaming, pre-egg.

All the ingredients, I ended up using a pastry blender to mix the butter in better.

It seems like it's really dry, and I found it easier to turn it out onto the counter and knead it there. It takes a bit.

This is what it looks like when you finish kneading it. It comes together really nicely. I was not sure about the recipe saying you don't need to chill the dough, because you always chill shortbread dough, but I followed what the recipe said, and I was very pleased with the results!

I cut them into diamonds, and they ended up being a lot of sizes, but it's good for variety!

The recipe says you can top them with sugar and crushed almonds, if you wanted to. I didn't have the right kind of almonds, so I tried something else. I took regular sugar and added a little almond extract to it. It makes a wet mixture, but I was able to sprinkle it over the cookies, as you can see above.

Here is the finished product. The sugar is good but I don't know that the almond flavor comes through very strongly. The cookies are shockingly addicting. I don't know why shortbread is so simple but so good. It's a great cookies for the holidays, because they are low maintenance and quick to make. It wouldn't be Christmas without them!

Definitely try this cookbook and this recipe. It's well worth it! Happy Baking!