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These snowflakes are a variation of the viennese delicate cookies. They are not so light and crisp as the viennese snowflakes, resemble a texture of simple sugar cookies, but with less density. Creaming method is used for making these, which develops the gluten in the flour and that is why they do not keep  perfectly their shape during baking. The snowflakes winter cookies are easier to make compared to the viennese ones.  Winter was quite generous to us this year. Not very many super cold days.  I love winter though, and I miss the real snowfalls that last for days, the super cold temperatures afterwords, that almost stop my breath, the bright sun rays that play with the blindingly white snow and bounce straight back into the pupils, making me see colourful circles. This is the time when you can see the true structure of a snowflake - just hold your hands open until a crispy lacy snowflake lays down and explore ... It is a magical moment! It ...

The whole house smells like Christmas - wood burning and spices.  The signature Christmas cookies are served - some hanging on the tree, some in a nicely decorated box. What I love the most about these cookies is not so much preparing them, not even baking them, although the heat helps all the aroma to gently fill every corner of the house. The strongest tease to all my senses is opening the cookie box. After few days of aging in the air tightly closed container, the cookies exude the most perfect aroma - the combination of the spices blooms the nicest smell. No need to have a bite even - so satisfying!  I kept the old tradition this year of making the old-fashioned Lebkuchen cookies . I am on a journey to make it a family tradition of baking these for every Christmas. While I was growing up in Bulgaria, they were simply called honey cookies. In North America a variation of these is popular under the name of gingerbread, or 'spicy bread' in France, but everywhere ...

for the cookies: 180 g unsalted butter 70 g vegetable shortening grated zest from two lemons 310 g sugar 5 g salt 1 large egg 8 g vanilla extract 60 ml lemon juice, freshly squeezed  625 g flour 18 g baking powder prepare the cookies: 1. Cream the butter, shortening and the zest together. Add the sugar and beat until creamy fluffy. Add the salt. 2. Add the egg. Beat until well combined. Add the vanilla extract and half the lemon juice. Mix lightly. 3. Incorporate half of the flour, alternating with the other half of the lemon juice and the rest of the flour. Mix until the dough is formed. 4. Divide the dough in two. Roll it out between two pieces of wrapping foil. Place on a flat surface and refrigerate for 2-3 hours. 5. With a round cookie cutter, cut out cookies. 6. Using a cookie cutter with a smaller diameter, cut the centre of half of the cookies to form a ring. Make the cut out centres into button cookies. 7. Place all the coo...

for the cookies: 230 g butter 150 g sugar 1 egg 1 tsp pure vanilla extract 300 g flour 5 g baking powder 110 g hazelnuts, finely ground for the filling: apricot jelly Nutella prepare the cookies: 1. Toast the hazelnuts for 3-5 min in a hot oven (160C). 2. While hot, rub the hazelnuts in a towel to remove the skin. Let them cool completely. 3. Grind the hazelnuts in a blender with one third of the sugar. 4. Sift the flour and baking powder in a bowl. 5. Add the hazelnut mixture. Stir. 6. Beat the butter until creamy. 7. Add the rest of the sugar. Beat until very light. 8. Add the egg. Beat until well combined. Add the vanilla extract. 9. Add the whole quantity of the dry ingredients. Beat very slowly for 1-2 min. 10. Divide the dough in two. Roll each part between sheets of parchment paper or wrapping foil. Refrigerate for two hours. 11. Flatten the dough more. Cut out cookies in the desired shape. Cut out the centres of half of the cookies. 12. Ba...

Traditions are sculpted by the memories of the people. For some traditions is particularly easy to cross time and geographical borders, because of the taste. The well known gingerbread houses today are the young ancestors of the lebkuchen houses, born in Germany two hundred years ago, when Brothers Grimm wrote "Hansel and Gretel". German bakers were inspired by the descriptive story and freed their imagination into baking differently shaped and coloured small and big delicious houses.  Decorated with candies, small cookies, chocolate pieces and lots of icing, the houses are extremely appealing not only because of their whimsical appearance, but because of the heavenly aroma of the spices as well. Make this in advance and you will have Christmas feeling all season long.  I chose to bake lebkuchen houses because of the variety of spices used in the recipe . My houses are gently decorated with white royal icing and I did not use any candies. I like this way of decor...

Crispy cut-out cookies that are made with molasses. That is how they have the signature dark colour and are perfect canvas for decorating in snow motives with a contrastingly white royal icing. These spicy cookies are perfumed similarly to the Lebkuchen , but because of their high fat quantity, they are harder and able to keep their crispiness even after stored for months. These should be rolled out very thinly. I rolled mine to 3 mm (even less on one batch) and produced more than hundred.  for the cookies: 140 g unsalted butter 110 g molasses 125 g custard sugar 250 g all purpose flour 70 g cornstarch 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1 Tbsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp ground cloves 1/8 tsp nutmeg 1/8 tsp cardamom grated rind of one lemon 1/4 cup ground almonds 5.5 cm 6-point star cookie cutter prepare the cookies: 1. In a heavy-bottomed pan, warm the butter, sugar and molasses, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Do not bring to boil. Leave to ...

This is the classic recipe for Christmas Cookies from old Germany, or Switzerland (if you'd prefer). A recipe, I was hoping to find for a long time. Thanks to Sara Kelly Iaia and her fine memories, collected in the book "Festive Baking", I am happy to bake the first cookies for this Christmas. The honey and the quantity of the fragrant spices make these cookies unique. I would advise not to skip any of the spices or to change their quantity. I am pretty conservative when it comes to perfumed spices. I think the simpler ingredients make one dish tastier. But here, the spices are in perfect unison.   for the cookies: 490 g all purpose flour 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp baking powder 1 Tbsp cinnamon 1 tsp cardamom 1/2 tsp ground cloves 1/2 tsp powdered anise 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg 1/2 tsp ginger 225 g honey 160 g light brown sugar 134 g unsalted butter 1 large egg 1. Sift the flour in a bowl. 2. In another bowl, sift all...

for the cookies: 130 g butter 40 g vegetable shortening * 1 Tsp orange zest (freshly greater from 2 oranges) 85 g brown sugar 1 egg yolk 1 tsp vanilla extract 140 g roasted butternut squash 310 g flour 1/4 tsp cinnamon pinch of nutmeg powder pinch of salt * you could use one part of butter and one part of vegetable shortening, or you could use 170 g butter Note: Roast your own pumpkin. The canned pumpkin purée is soggy and has lost all the flavours. Roasting the pumpkin on your own will give you control over the stage at which you would like to bake it - just until is soft enough to mash it, or until the sugars caramelize on top. I caramelized the squash, scrape it out from its skin and add it to the mixer bowl, whiteout any further treatment. I kept the caramelized top, although it added slight dark colouring here and there into the baked cookies.  1. In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients: the flour, cinnam...

These mini lemon pies are amazing. They are an artistic assembly of lemon wafers, topped with swirls of meringue with lemon curd centres. The combination is incredibly fresh. The lemon cookies could be made a day ahead. They are filled with lemon aroma and flavour and have soft texture. The recipe is for at least 36 - 40 lemon wafers. The recipes for lemon curd and white meringue are for 12 lemon pies. The rest of the lemon wafers could be used as a great breakfast addition to hot chocolate, garnish to ice creams, bases for other confections, or enjoyed on their own. for the lemon wafers: (5.5 - 6 cm large) 250 g butter at room temperature 180 g sugar 12 g freshly grated lemon zest 60 g egg (or one extra large egg) 30 g milk 15 g freshly squeezed lemon juice 370 g flour 1/2 g baking soda 1/4 tsp salt In a bowl, scale the dry ingredients - the flour, salt and soda.  In a stainless steal bowl, with a paddle attach...