Homemade Christmas cookies

Christmas gastronomy has innumerable traditions and all of them are endearing and perfectly adaptable to our tables. At these parties we cook Christmas cookies .

There are multiple recipes, some of my favorites are the famous very typical gingerbread cookies in Germany or Belgium, or the delicious Spritz butter cookies , which are also made in Germany, the Roscón de Reyes cookies , we can even decorate our own cookies. Christmas as I show you on the blog. The truth is that globalization has also reached our kitchens and these delicious customs well deserve our warmest welcome.

I have opted for a variety that is very close to our tastes. As in Spain we are very used to almond polvorones , I offer you a cookie that represents the flavors of our wonderful gastronomy.

These cookies are made with many of the ingredients that we use to prepare the polvorones, so you can take advantage of them for another recipe that I propose for this Christmas, the hazelnut polvorones   or some homemade marzipan .  So you can cook and surprise the family with two delicious sweets, saving a lot on the shopping list, which always comes in handy.

It is a very simple preparation. Although in the time of preparation I have indicated “30 minutes”, the truth is that you have to prepare the dough for the cookies the day before you are going to bake them and keep them in the fridge wrapped in film until then.

Of course, you have to remove the dough about 15 minutes before the refrigerator, so that you can handle it without problems.

The baking time is what I give my cookies, but you can leave a few minutes or so, depending on how crisp you like at home. Be careful, the final texture of the cookie is not defined until you take them out of the oven and let them cool, so I recommend that when the edges begin to brown, remove them from the oven, but I leave it to your choice.

A recipe that will give us about 25 cookies that in addition to being great to the little ones at home will freak out.

Preparation of Christmas cookies

1. We remove the butter from the refrigerator about 15 minutes before starting to prepare the dough so that it softens. We prepare a large bowl to mix all the ingredients.
2. In the bowl we sift (or go through the strainer) the flour and the cornstarch. Add the sugar and the ground almonds.
3. We beat the eggs and incorporate them into the previous mixture. Mix well with a wooden spoon or a regular spoon.
4. Now we incorporate the butter and mix. You can use the wooden spoon or, as I do, knead with your hands, very clean, so the ingredients will be better integrated. Finally we add a teaspoon coffee size, with vanilla essence. We mix it well kneading.
5. We make a ball, wrap it in transparent film and put it in the fridge for 24 hours. It can be in the fridge for up to 48 hours before baking. After the indicated time we remove the dough and spread it on a smooth surface and put film under the dough, as long as the measurement of a sheet of baking paper.
6. We flatten the dough with our hands and cover it with film. This helps us to keep the dough from sticking to the rolling pin when smoothing and defining the thickness of the cookies. We use the rolling pin to smooth the dough, the thickness can be between 0.5 cm and 1 cm.
7. To shape the cookies we can use molds with Christmas shapes, or simply a glass to leave them round.
8. I have used pine nuts to decorate, but you can use some cheaper ingredient or the one you have in your pantry or leave them as they are.
9. We preheat the oven to 180 ° C with heat up and down. We put parchment paper on the baking sheet and then place the cookies. We put the tray in the oven maintaining position and temperature for 12 or 15 minutes, when the time has passed, remove them and let cool.
10. Finally sprinkle the icing sugar to decorate.

Christmas is a time that seems to invite you to always have on hand a sweet snack to put in your mouth. I recommend these cookies, a great option other than nougat, to finish your Christmas meals. A perfect sweet to accompany Christmas desserts or for any snack you offer to your family or friends during these holidays. Success guaranteed with the little ones at home, cooking and having fun at the same time. Enjoy them in good company!

We will have to let these Christmas star cookies dry for a few hours before we can pack them in hermetic jars or cellophane bags. They stay fresh for a few days and are a great gift to take home to anyone this holiday season.

Be sure to enjoy all these homemade Christmas cookies that we have in our dessert recipes   and in the special Christmas recipes , I assure you that you will find a lot of ideas to make yours much happier.