I’m kicking off December with a parade of holiday cookie recipes. And of course, I did not forget the glitter. The glitter is optional (I used lime green edible disco dust on these) and way too much for most people.
Sparkle aside, the co-stars of this recipe are the raw marzipan and the chopped fresh rosemary needles mixed into the dough. Both give the cookies gorgeous seasonal flavor. Marzipan is dead easy to make yourself and takes less than 10 minutes. I’ve included a recipe below.
I encourage you to get creative this season with your cookie shapes. Find some unusual ones to use. I found this one in a bag of miscellaneous cookie cutters at a local Goodwill store.
You can always mix up several different cutters for one batch of cookie dough. I know that sounds like remedial advice but even though I own what seems like thousands of cutters, I always seem to forget to change up my cutter game.
Tip: After cutting out the cookies and arranging them on the baking sheets, place the entire baking sheet in the freezer for 10 minutes before baking. This will help alleviate the dreaded cookie spread – when your lovely cutout cookies become deformed while baking. Freezing the unbaked cookies before baking helps them retain the original shape of the cutter.
Christmas Cookies
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Chill Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup cornstarch, sifted
- 2 cups all purpose flour sifted
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 sticks (1 cup) butter
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2/3 cup raw marzipan (see recipe below for homemade), cut into small pieces
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary needles
Directions:
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the sifted cornstarch, flour, and baking powder. Set aside.
- Beat the butter and sugar together creamy cream (about 3 minutes)
- Mix in the marzipan, egg and vanilla extract.
- Beat until the dough come together.
- Add the dry ingredients and fold them in until thoroughly combined.
- Mix in the chopped rosemary.
- Wrap the dough in plastic cling film and refrigerate for 1 hour
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Roll out the dough on a floured surface. Use the cookie cutter shape of your choice to create shapes. Transfer them to the baking sheets.
- Place the baking sheets with the cutout cookies on them in the freezer for 10 minutes
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Place in the oven and bake for 8 minutes or until the edges of the cookies start to turn slightly golden.
- Remove from oven and transfer to a baking rack to cool completely.
- 1+1/2 cups almond flour
- 1+1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure almond extract
- 1 large egg white
Directions:
- Place the almond flour and powdered sugar in a food processor and pulse to combine.
- Add the extract and the egg white. Process on high until the marzipan forms.
- If the marzipan is too sticky to hold a shape, add more powdered sugar, a tablespoon at a time until you get the right consistency.
- If you are not using the marzipan right away, wrap it tightly in plastic cling film. Otherwise, it will dry out pretty quickly.
