How do you make yours ?

I make nice walnut cookies. It's a long work to crush the walnut, but it's so good.

I make small cookies and glue them together with some marmalade. It's absolutely delicious !!!!

These sound good! Could you please share the recipe?

I enjoy baking and baking christmas cookies with the family really put me into the christmas mood.
But, I haven't baked since I moved to Swiss, since I go home over Christmas anyway...so no Christmas mood...

My favorite cookies for christmas are very nice sugar cookies cut into trees, stars, gingerbread men, etc. (recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/The-Bes...es/Detail.aspx ) I make them almost once every 2 weeks and take half of them into work. The recipe is great. Thick, soft cookies that are not too sweet, and can be decorated however.

I also recommend ginger cookies: ( http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Big-Sof...es/Detail.aspx ) Pumpkin cookies: ( http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Iced-Pu...es/Detail.aspx ) **make sure to use fresh pumpkins here as they are in season right now** Both have a nice amount of spice to them that will make the flat smell very nice while baking. Also these oatmeal cookies have turned out very nicely: ( http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Beths-S...es/Detail.aspx )

Everything traditional from my family is found in this 1963 classic that was out of print, but brought back:

Soft, chewy gingerbread cookies and frosted cut-out cookies:

http://www.recipezaar.com/The-Most-W...-Cookies-80156

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Michell...es/Detail.aspx
(I sub the margarine with butter though.)

Grrrrr......

For an event in Zürich I need to get 3-5 kilos Christmas cookies!!
Who wants to do them for me for 40.--Fr./per kilo (date of event: 18december 09) ? Pl contact me. Athos

Here we go...

175 gr. butter
150 gr. sugar
1 egg + 1 egg's yolk
100 gr. of thin grated walnuts
300 gr of flour (I use white flour)
1 "coffee spoon" of baking powder (it's small spoon we use for coffee)

Mix butter egg and sugar, add flour (to sift ?) with baking powder and grated walnuts
quickly knead.

Lower the pastry to 2 1/2 - 3 cm.
Cut nice round shape, use the egg's yolk to *paint them* and cook them until you've got a nice *bright brown* color.

Baking temperature about 180 - 200 degrees

Once they have cooled, put them together (body to body) with some marmelade. (this part depends of your taste...)

You can keep them some times in a closed box, they become more soft.


I hope I haven't made translation mistakes.....

I must say, I usually cheat at this time of the year with ready-made doughs, because we're so busy . I don't want to miss out on the cutting out and decorating with the boys, though.

Here are last year's "Stern-Buben" made with "Mürbeteig" and raspberry jam filling, dusted with icing sugar. Easy and effective!

Thanks for the recipe, Bertrand! When you say "Lower the pastry ...", do you mean to roll it (with a rolling pin)? One of these:

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--> bad joke removed on the demand of a member who didn't appreciate it.

Thanks! I'll try making a gluten-free version of these this weekend. Could you give us the baking temperature?

Ooups. Sorry. It's about 180 - 200 degrees (centigrades)

I tend to stick with the cookies my grandma used to make - soft molasses crinkles, scotch cookies with a nice hunk of icing, and iced sugar cookies.

Other treats that are big in my family around the holidays are peanut butter balls and cherry cheesecake tarts.

200 degrees C is kind of high. Probably 180 is better?

I have also already started the cookie thing Shall stop now though, as I ended up eating many many many of the first batch of cookies myself and I know where this will end... not a good ending...

One tip though, for those who really like Lebkuchen (if you don't know what this is, this doesn't apply to you) Schmidt Lebkuchen in Nürenberg, Germany are the very very very best producers and it is worth buying the best. They also deliver to Switzerland and even the Zoll didn't do anything

www.lebkuchen-schmidt.com

Mine has just arrived, I treat myself to a small selection every year and a cup of tea just becomes a glorious treat

fan assisted is normally 180, if conventional then low level at 200.

An oven thermometer is useful here. i.e. a separate one you stick in there with the cookies. Dials on ovens are often not that accurate.

Do you mean for this kind of cookie or in general?

If I use 'fan assisted', I'd turn it down to 160 degrees C for cookies, or else the outside would be burnt while the centre remains slightly uncooked.