Tantamount to the Christmas decoration is the exorbitant pre-Christmas cooking for friends and family that in recent years has been taken on by my sisters and I. This is because my mothers’s occupation means she is often working up until the final few days before Christmas. We take this time to make traditional English, German and rather than our native Greek desserts as they are saved for Christmas Day.
However we don’t do things in halves! For every (extremely lucky) family we know, they receive a tray of several varieties of biscuits and cookies, kind of like those Arnott’s assorted biscuit packets…what an Australian analogy.
the ‘Classic Assorted’ biscuits for international readers! i promise our presentation is less sterile.
Last year we made:
stained-glass cookies
lessons learnt: keep the inner hole for the ‘stained glass’ small or else they are likely to break. evenly spread the boiled lolly powder to ensure there are no holes when the lolly melts down.
tradtional shortbread wedges
lessons learnt: PLEASE PLEASE freeze the shortbread overnight before baking. we used to leave the dough to cool for the recommended 2-hour time but this is never enough and you get these sad sloppy flat rounds. not nice at all!
and gingerbreads
well they are just awesome. no problems, and probably the most suited to our skill level (over-ambitious, inexperienced cooks)
Stained-glass Biscuits – recipe credit to Sarah Hobbs, taste.com.au
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 50 minutes
Makes: 30
Ingredients
- 300g pkt boiled lollies
- 200g butter, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup (70g) caster sugar
- 1/3 cup (80ml) golden syrup
- 2 cups (300g) plain flour
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
Method
- Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 5 oven trays with baking paper.
- Separate lollies into colours. Place the different colours into separate plastic bags. Place a tea towel over the lollies. Use a rolling pin or meat mallet to pound until the lollies are finely crushed.
- Use an electric mixer to beat the butter, sugar, vanilla bean paste and golden syrup together until pale and creamy. Add the flour and stir with a round-bladed knife in a cutting motion until the dough comes together. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead until smooth. Divide into 2 portions and cover with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.
- Roll 1 dough portion out on a floured surface to a 4mm-thick disc. Use an 8cm star-shaped biscuit cutter to cut stars from the dough. Place 6 biscuits on 1 lined tray. Use a 4cm star-shaped cutter to cut the centre from each biscuit. Use a thin straw to cut a small hole in the top of each biscuit.
- Bake for 4-5 minutes. Spread the crushed lollies into the star-shaped hole in each biscuit. Bake for a further 4-5 minutes or until biscuits are golden and lollies have melted. Set aside on tray to cool. Repeat with remaining dough portions and lollies.
- Thread coloured ribbon through the hole in each biscuit to decorate.
how i wanted my cookies to turn out
Credit: http://www.slowtrav.com/blog/palma/2008/12/stained_glass_cookies.html
not my own; but how they looked IN REAL LIFE. damn you food photographers!!
Credit: http://www.bakingbrainy.com/?p=235
If you’re feeling like the above recipe is too pedestrian, EpicMealTime’s Bacon Tree may provide you with somewhat of a challenge. apologies to my Jewish readers in advance.
Credit: EpicMealTime
a white-hot christmas 
