It’s the night before christmas, and while the rest of the city has massive plans for bringing in the beloved holiday, my elaborate plans revolve around icing these cookies, patiently, lovingly, and most importantly, with tons of colour and glitter! After all, what’s Christmas without the pomp, glitter and mistletoe?!
What appealed to me about these cookies are that fundamentally, they are cookies. Don’t expect to end up with those versions that are sold in bakeries worldwide this time of year- they are not thin or biscuity, they are cookies. Think chewy centres with tons of spices, each bite bursting with the flavours of Christmas. These cookies get their colour from the deep black molasses. I tried these last year without the molasses, and the resultant cookie catastrophe was reason enough that the Christmas baking of 2012 never made it here! Merry Christmas everyone! I am prepping for my Christmas lunch tomorrow, what about you?
Makes approximately 18 cookies, depending on the size of your cookie cutter
Ingredients:
- 1/3 cup canola oil
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1/4 cup milk
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ground clove
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger powder
For the Icing:
- 4 cups powdered/confectioners sugar, sifted
- 4 tbs milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Method:
- Combine the oil and the sugar, and whisk (by hand is ok, you don’t need the heavy machinery for this one), till almost combined. Add in the molasses and the milk, and mix till combined.
- Sift in the balance ingredients, and mix till the dough comes together into a ball. Flatten and wrap in cling film for an hour.
- Preheat the oven to 175*c and line 2 baking trays with silpat or parchment paper.
- Roll out the dough into desired thickness, cut out shapes using cookie cutters, and bake for 8 minutes.
- Leave to cool for 5 minutes before moving to wire rack. Ice only once completely chilled.
- For the icing, use a wire whisk and mix together the ingredients. Separate in small bowls and add a drop of colouring into each. Go crazy!
If you liked this post, you may also enjoy:
- Try to keep the icing as thin as possible, to avoid over-sweetening the cookies.
- If you want a crisper cookie, roll your dough out thinner, more like a biscuit than a cookie.
- Get some crazy colours, glitter and piping bags out, or simply leave plain. Either ways these cookies are amazing for Christmas, and even better all year round with a cup of steaming hot tea.
