TO Christmas, at least in the Nordic world, it is a ritual. The biscuits are prepared in the familyon a Sunday afternoon all together, adults and children. If they turn out well, they can become an affectionate gift. Five or six in a bag? This time we prefer the “single portion” box, made of high-quality cardboard.
In Germany they prepare themselves Lebkuchen biscuits with honey, nuts and a mixture of spices such as cinnamon, ginger and cloves. they are usually embellished with a sugar or chocolate glaze.
Typical biscuits Swedes to ginger which we know well they are called Pepparkakor: thin and crunchy, they are cut using molds with typical Christmas shapes. They are often decorated with icing and hung on the Christmas tree or around the house. THE Berlinerkranser they are Norwegian Christmas cookies: small sugar-coated rings made from egg yolk, cooked and raw.
THE Piparkakut they are the typical Christmas cookies in Finland. These are gingerbread biscuits, but the main ingredient is actually Jamaican pepper, maustepippuri. THE Brunkager they are the most popular brown sweets for the holidays in Denmark, made with ginger, they are covered with chopped almonds.
INGREDIENTS – 300 g 00 flour, 100 g sugar, 250 g softened butter, 1 egg, 1 pinch of salt, vanilla icing sugar. Sift the flour into a bowl, add the sugar, then the butter cut into pieces and the egg yolk. Mix well. Wrap the dough in baking paper and let it rest in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Then roll it out with a rolling pin on a floured pastry board to a thickness of 1 cm, and cut out the canestrelli with the appropriate daisy cutter (or make donuts using the pastry bag). Place them on a buttered baking tray and brush them with egg white. Cook in the oven at 150° for 20/25 minutes, let cool and dust with icing sugar.
Chocolate and cinnamon
INGREDIENTS – 200 g 00 flour, 50 g potato starch, 200 g chopped dark chocolate, 2 egg yolks, 120 g of cold butter, 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, 1 level teaspoon of baking powder, 1 pinch of salt. Melt the chocolate over low heat in a bain-marie. Let it cool. In a bowl, collect the sifted flours, the diced butter and the salt: knead quickly, the mixture should be sandy. Add the sugar, cinnamon, yeast, warm chocolate and beaten egg yolks. Knead quickly again and leave to rest in the fridge, in cling film, for 30 minutes. Then flatten the dough to a thickness of 1 cm between two sheets of baking paper, cut out the biscuits with a mold and bake them. in the oven at 180° for 12/15 minutes. Decorate them when cold with a drop of jam. You can pair them with a layer of strawberry jam.
Chocolate and vanilla
INGREDIENTS – vanilla dough: 180 g flour, 50 g sugar, 1 sachet of vanillin, 60 g butter, 1 egg, 1 pinch of salt. Chocolate dough: 150 g flour, 30 g bitter cocoa, 60 g sugar, 60 g butter, 1 egg, 1 pinch of salt. Prepare the shortcrust pastry by kneading the different ingredients together two separate bowlsthen wrap the two pieces of dough in cling film and keep them in the fridge for 30 minutes. Then roll them both out with a rolling pin, on a floured surface, to a thickness of a few millimetres. Overlap them and roll them up delicately, wrap everything again in cling film and transfer to the fridge.. He has to stay there for an hour. Slice the roll with a sharp knife and place the two-tone discs on a baking tray on baking paper. Do bake in the oven at 180° for 10/15 minutes.
Spelled and ginger
INGREDIENTS – 200 g wholemeal spelled flour, 70 g cane sugar, 50 ml water, 60 ml sunflower seed oil, the grated zest of 1 orange, 30 g chopped candied ginger, 1/2 sachet of yeast, salt. In a bowl mix the sugar with the flour, then with the yeast, water and oil and start kneading. Then incorporate the ginger, salt and orange zest: you must obtain a compact mixture. Transfer it to the fridge for half an hour wrapped in cling film and then roll it out with a rolling pin, using a pastry cutter to create rectangles which you place on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Bake in the oven at 180° for 15 minutes. Leave to cool and sprinkle with strawberry or raspberry powder (blend a little granulated sugar with dehydrated red fruits).
Lemon biscuits
INGREDIENTS – 180 g flour, 1 large egg yolk, 80 g sugar, 130 g diced butter, 1 sachet of vanillin, 1 organic lemon, 1 pinch of salt. In a bowl, sift the flour with the yeast and vanilla, then add the sugar and salt. Add the butter and work with your fingertips to obtain a sandy mixture. Add the grated lemon zest and the beaten egg yolk. Knead on the fly, wrap the dough in cling film and keep in the fridge for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180°. Roll out the dough, cut out the biscuits with a round cutter, place them on the baking tray lined with baking paper. Decorate them with icing sugar and, if you like, with drops of icing. Finally, cook them in the oven for 10/13 minutes.
Savory biscuits
INGREDIENTS – 50 g rice flour, 100 g 00 flour, 100 g soft salted butter, 50 g caster sugar, 1 egg, grated organic lemon zest. Heat the oven to 160°. In a bowl, cream the butter with the sugar and lemon zest. Add the sifted flours and the eggknead and compact: wrap the dough obtained in cling film and place it in the fridge for 30 minutes. Then roll it out with a rolling pin, and use a pastry cutter to cut out the biscuits which you place on a baking tray on baking paper. Cook for approximately 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool and decorate, if you like, with colored icing. You can combine two biscuits at a time, binding them with cherry jam.
Almond pastes
INGREDIENTS – 150 g almond flour, 100 g sugar, 1 egg white, 5 drops of almond essence (or organic lemon zest or a pinch of vanillin), flaked almonds. Pour the flour into a bowl and add the sugar, mix well, then add the lightly beaten egg white (with a pinch of salt). Add the almond essence and knead until you obtain a homogeneous dough, just barely sticky. Take some dough in your hands and shape it into a croissant shape. Place the croissants on a baking tray on baking paper, decorate them with almond flakes and a little icing sugar. Cook at 160° for approximately 10 minutes (the pastes must not colour).
Christmas cookies
At Christmas, at least in the Nordic world, it is a ritual. The biscuits are prepared in the familyon a Sunday afternoon all together, adults and children. If they turn out well, they become an affectionate gift. Five or six in a bag? This time we prefer the “single portion” box, made of high-quality cardboard.