December 20, 2016
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in my house. Mainly because over the weekend I continued my tradition of taking over the kitchen with Christmas baking. Luckily my house mate is away, as our kitchen is a lot smaller than what I’m used to working with, so as a result I literally took over all the bench space! But my Christmas baking meant the apartment was filled with the smell of gingerbread, which took me back to this time last year when I was baking gingerbread houses back in Queensland.
This year I decided to try something different to my usual gingerbread houses. This was for a few reasons, but mainly because I now walk to work and logistically I needed something I could carry. But also I didn’t have as much time this year, and gingerbread houses are no easy or quick thing to make. Luckily there are plenty of options out there for people like me who need new Christmas baking ideas!
Anyone who knows me knows how much I love Christmas baking. Seriously, if Pinterest is an internet hole for baking in general, Christmas baking takes this to a whole new level. I spent hours just looking through and generated far too many options, resulting in me having a lot of difficulty deciding what to make for my work mates. But in the end I found a recipe that was too cute to pass up.
I found a recipe for gingerbread cookies with a twist. Rather than being classic gingerbread, they are more like snickerdoodles. In my experience, everyone loves snickerdoodles, and gingerbread ones I felt would be no exception. But the reason I wanted to try these cookies so much was the creative way they were decorated. I felt this took them from being cookies to something really special and Christmassy. What better way to spread Christmas cheer than with adorable cookies that also taste amazing?
These cookies were actually quite easy to make in terms of the cookies themselves. Because you didn’t have to use cookie cutters it meant they were quicker to make than normal gingerbread, which was quite good. It meant I could pump them out really quickly.
I was also pleasantly surprised because the decoration element seemed quite complicated, and I always get a bit anxious about decorating things with chocolate. But it ended up being easier than expected, and worked a treat! These cookies use white chocolate as a part of the decoration, which means you have to dip the cookies in melted chocolate and wait for them to set. Coming from Queensland where setting things just doesn’t happen because its 40 degrees, I was a little worried. But because the Melbourne weather is still so cold, these set super quickly and easily. Honestly I could not fault this recipe, it worked a treat!
- 2 ¼ cups of plain flour
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- ½ teaspoon of salt
- 2 teaspoons of ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon of mixed spice
- ¼ teaspoon of ground nutmeg
- ¾ cup of unsalted butter softened
- ½ cup and 3 tablespoons of caster sugar
- ½ cup of packed brown sugar
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup of molasses
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
- 2 cups of white chocolate melts preferably the ones that have shortening or vegetable oil in them to make them set better
- 2 tablespoons of coconut oil
- Brown red, green and yellow icing writing pens
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In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, mixed spice and nutmeg and set aside.
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In a large bowl, cream together the butter, ½ cup of caster sugar and brown sugar using an electric mixer until light and well blended. Mix in the egg, and then add the molasses and vanilla.
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With the electric mixer on low, add the dry ingredients in batches, ensuring each time they are fully combined before adding more.
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Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for 1 hour. In the meantime, preheat your oven to 180C (350F).
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Line a baking tray with baking paper and get your dough out of the fridge. Put the remaining 3 tablespoons of caster sugar in a bowl and set aside.
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Scoop the dough out about 1 ½ tablespoons at a time and shape into a ball. Roll in the caster sugar and set on the baking tray, leaving a few centimetres between each cookie. Once you have a whole baking sheet completed, flatten the top of each cookie slightly. Complete this until you have no dough left, ensuring you return unused dough to the fridge between batches.
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Bake the cookies in the oven for 10 minutes, or until browned slightly. Cool on the baking sheet for several minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
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When you are ready to decorate, place all the cookies out on baking paper.
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In a microwave safe bowl, melt 1 cup of white chocolate melts with 1 tablespoon of coconut oil in the microwave using 10 second intervals. Stir between to ensure the chocolate doesn’t burn. Do this until the chocolate is completely melted, smooth and runny.
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Dip half of each cookie in the melted white chocolate, running the bottom of each cookie along the edge of the bowl to remove excess. Return to the baking paper and allow to set completely at room temperature.
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Continue this process until all cookies have been dipped in white chocolate. If you need more white chocolate, melt the remaining cup of white chocolate melts with another tablespoon of coconut oil using the above steps.
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Once the white chocolate is completely set, decorate using icing pens. You can do any design you like, but I opted for holly, a reindeer and a Christmas tree. Once you have decorated the cookies, allow to set at room temperature.
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To make these into gifts, get some little party bags and place one of each design in the bag. Finish off with some ribbon, a little gift tag and a mini candy cane for a super special Christmas gift!
My team absolutely loved getting these little gifts, and some of them had eaten their bag of cookies before 10.30! The feedback was that the cookies were absolutely delicious, and that the white chocolate really took them to the next level. They also absolutely loved the decorations, which I was worried about as it really tested my artistic ability!
You can do any design you want, there are plenty of Christmas related things to choose from! I chose three different ones but you could just as easily make every cookie the same, or pick something entirely different! I thought a wreath could also be cute, or little stockings. It’s completely up to you, and you don’t have to do the decorations if you don’t want to, I just wanted to take the cookies up a notch.
If you’re looking for a great gift idea, these are a winner. They were relatively simple to make, and really delicious. But I think the best thing is that they look really cute when you give them to people, and so they end up being quite a special gift. They look like they are a lot harder to make than they actually are, so you come off as quite the baking extraordinaire!
These could be used as gifts, or you could take them to a Christmas party! I’m sure they’d look perfect next to all the Christmas desserts, and are nice and easy for people to pick up and eat as they are catching up with family and friends.
What is your go to holiday recipe for gifts? I’m always on the hunt for new recipes, even if I need to wait until next Christmas to use them!
Until next time, happy eating!
Ella xx
