Christmas cookies

On a rainy Wednesday evening, Aishling and I decided it was time for some Christmas cheer so out came the cookie cutters and the greatest Christmas hits. These are just a few of what we made and to be honest not many made it to the icing stage. Aishling made some using fondant icing and I went for the piping bag.

Basic cookie recipe

 

Ingredients

• 200g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 150g caster sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 300g plain flour, sifted

 

Instructions

1. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and egg, then add the flour. Beat until smooth.
2. Remove from the bowl, halve and shape into discs. Wrap with clingfilm and chill for about an hour until firm. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
3. Dust your work top and roll out your dough to 3mm approx and cut whatever you wish.
4. Line your baking sheets with non-stick paper and place your cookies on top. Chill for ten minutes or so and bake for 10-12 minutes, until just turning golden at the edges. Cool on wire rack.

This was Aishling's first time ever working with fondant so these are her pride and joy :)

I always make an extra batch of this dough and leave it in the freezer. Its soooo handy to have for a cookie emergency :)

Shirley x