Recipes for festive cookies

Amy Beh | The Star | Tue Aug 17 2010

Malaysia, August 19, 2010

Almond Butter Cookie

Ingredients

175g butter
85g castor sugar
½ tsp vanilla essence
200g plain flour
½ tsp baking powder
35g milk powder
40g ground almonds

Glaze

1 tbsp egg white
30g almond nips

Method

Lightly grease baking trays with butter and preheat oven to 170°C.

Beat butter, sugar and essence with an electric mixer until creamy. Sift in flour and baking powder. Add milk powder and ground almonds to mix.

Place dough in between two plastic sheets and roll out to 0.4cm thickness. Cut into 4cm rounds with a fluted ring cutter. Lightly brush the rings with beaten egg white. Sprinkle sparingly with almond nibs.

Bake cookies for 15-16 minutes or until golden. Leave the cookies to cool completely on a wire rack before storing in airtight containers.

Pineapple Blossoms

Ingredients

200g superfine flour
1/8 tsp salt
75g castor sugar
90g butter
1½ tbsp chilled evaporated milk

Pineapple filling
(make 1-2 days ahead)

1 medium-sized pineapple
120g castor sugar
2 cloves
30g golden syrup

Method

Sift superfine flour into a mixing bowl. Add salt and sugar to mix. Rub butter lightly into the flour with the tip of your fingers till mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add evaporated milk and mix with both hands to form a pastry dough.

Roll out dough between two plastic sheets to 0.3cm thickness. Cut pastry with a floral design cutter. Place the cutout pastry pieces into non-stick mini pie tin cases. Make a small dent in the centre with the tip of your finger. Fill each hollow with a tiny ball of filling. Top with a tiny piece of pastry.

Bake in preheated oven at 170°C for 18-20 minutes or until pastry is light golden in colour. Cool on wire racks before storing in airtight container.

For the pineapple filling

Remove skin and "eyes" from the pineapple, then grate coarsely. Use a piece of muslin cloth to squeeze out the juice (do not squeeze until too dry.)

Place pineapple, sugar and cloves in a heavy-based saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring frequently for 25-30 minutes. Stir in golden syrup and continue to cook for 20-25 minutes or until jam is thick.

Cool thoroughly until jam is dry. Take small bits of pineapple jam and form into small balls (to be used for the cookies).

Tip: Any remaining pineapple jam can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for at least 2 weeks.

Chocolate Coffee Hazelnut Cookies

Ingredients

200g butter
120g soft brown sugar
½ tsp vanilla essence
1 egg yolk
1 tsp instant coffee granules
1½ tbsp evaporated milk
350g plain flour, sifted
50g hot chocolate flakes (this can be replaced with cocoa powder)

Topping

100g hazelnuts
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten

Method

Toast hazelnuts in preheated oven at 160°C for 6-7 minutes. Remove, leave to cool slightly then remove the skin. Preheat oven to 170°C and grease baking trays.

Combine evaporated milk with instant coffee granules in a small bowl. Stir to dissolve the coffee granules and leave aside.

Beat butter, sugar, essence and egg yolk until creamy. Add coffee and milk mixture.

Fold in sifted flour and add hot chocolate flakes to mix into a soft dough. Roll out dough in batches in between two plastic sheets with a rolling pin. Use cookie cutters to stamp out shapes of your choice. Place cookies on prepared baking trays.

Dip the base of a hazelnut into egg yolk and press lightly onto a cookie. Bake the cookies for 15 minutes. Leave in the tray for 3-4 minutes before removing onto a wire rack to cool completely. Store in airtight containers.