christmas time is cookie time

Just one more night... and it's Christmas! I am really looking forward to all the family celebrations... the only thing that's missing is snow (but I'm still crossing my thumbs!). 

Within all the Christmas preparations, the last minute shopping, and the wrapping of all the presents I still found some free minutes for cookie baking. I usually try to do the 'classics', which for Switzerland would be Mailänderli (THE Swiss cookie if you like), Zimtsterne (star-shaped cinnamon cookies) and Brunsli (Basel chocolate balls). But this year, I wanted to try something new... So I just opened my cookie recipe book on a random page and went for that recipe: walnut chocolate cookies.

Challenge accepted!

This is what you need for the walnut chocolate cookies:

150 gr walnut kernels

100 gr flour

1 egg

1 pinch of salt

50 gr cold butter

50 gr sugar

1 sachet of vanilla sugar

100 gr chocolate (dark or whole milk or mixed)

Cookie cutters (I only used my snowman, moose and penguin cutters)

Step 1
Reduce the walnut kernels to small pieces, mix with flour and heap on your work surface with a small depression in the middle. Add egg and salt. Spread sugar, vanilla sugar and flakes of butter on the margin. 

Okay, now it's time to admit it: I didn't read the instructions properly! I thought the chocolate belonged into the dough... whereas the chocolate in this recipe was actually thought to be used for the decoration. Well, I had already melted the chocolate and added it to the batter when I realised my mistake. So I had to improvise! But let's continue with the instructions now slightly changed by my humble self.

 

Mix everything and knead it together to a smooth dough. Cover in cling film and store in fridge for min. 2 hours.

Step 2

Preheat oven to 160°C (air circulation), cover cookie sheet with parchment. Roll out dough to 5mm on a floury surface. Cut out the cookies and put on the tray. Bake for 10-12 minutes in the middle. 

(This is where I had to improvise... I had no idea how long these cookies would take in the oven having changed the original recipe. Seems like I left them in the oven for a minute or two too long...). Then, let cool!

 

Step 3

Now it's time for decoration (to make up for the taste - in my case only of course!). Melt white chocolate cake glaze. Cut off a tiny edge and start beautifying :) You can obviously add all kinds of toppings. 

 

 

So hey, everyone makes mistakes... it just depends on what you can make out of it! And sometimes, look is more important than taste :) although all my friends assured me that they tasted great... and the fact that they were all gone in 3 days seems to accentuate that. 

 

 

Now off off to bed! Santa Clause is coming to town :) 

 

xoxo linskaya