Hello lovelies,
If you’ve been a reader of mine for a while, you may recognise that this is a post I actually done last Christmas also!
Last year I shared with you 5 cookie recipes which were festive themed for you to enjoy baking with/for your loved ones. I had SO much fun baking those cookies last year that it only felt right that I did it again this year. Who knows it may become a Christmas tradition of mine every year?
I’ll be honest though, finding 5 cookies which are festive themed to bake after I done 5 very traditional ones last year was a challenge, but it was a challenge I was willing to accept! So this year, I found 5 festive cookies to bake which are totally different to last years ones. I don’t think these are as ‘traditional’ as last years cookies but i genuinely believe you’ll love these ones just as much!
I think it’s pretty obvious by now that I’m basically the Cookie Monster, I throughly enjoyed baking these (and everyone enjoyed eating them) so I know you guys will too! So if you’d like to get baking these festive themed cookies, then the recipes are below:
Soft & Chewy Butter Pecan Cookies
Ingredients You Need:
- 175g Of Pecans
- 226g Of Unsalted Butter, Melted & Cooled
- 250g Of Dark Brown Sugar
- 100g Of Caster Sugar
- 1 Large Egg
- 1 Egg Yolk
- 375g Of All-Purpose Flour
- 2tsp Of Vanilla Essence
- 1tsp Of Cornstarch
- 3/4tsp Of Bicarbonate Of Soda
- 1/2tsp Of Baking Powder
- 125g Of Toffee Bits
How To Make Pecan Cookies:
- Firstly, preheat the oven to 175C / 350F / Gas Mark 3 and line two baking trays with parchment paper.
- Secondly, spread your 175g of pecans onto your baking tray and place in the oven for around 3-5 minutes until the pecans soften.
- Once cooked, remove from the oven and leave to cool for a little while. Once fairly cooled, chop your pecans up into chunks and set aside.
- In a large bowl, add the 226g of melted and cooled unsalted butter with 250g of dark brown sugar and 100g of caster sugar and mix together.
- Once mixed, add in one large egg, egg yolk and 2tsp of vanilla essence to the large bowl and stir until combined.
- In a separate bowl, place the 375g of all-purpose flour, 1tsp of cornstarch, 3/4tsp of bicarbonate of soda and 1/2tsp of baking powder and mix together.
- Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients until completely combined.
- Once completely combined, add in your chopped pecans and toffee bits and mix through.
- Using your hands (or a Icecream scoop), pick pieces of the dough apart, roll into small balls and place onto the baking sheet. Making sure there’s plenty of room for each cookie to spread when cooking.
- Place the cookies into the oven for around 10-12 minutes. (TIP: the cookies may look soft in the middle after baking but that’s okay, these cookies are known for being soft)
- Once cooked, remove from oven and allow to cool on the tray before moving onto a wire rack to cool further.
Ingredients You Need To Make Icing:
- 200g Of Light Brown Sugar
- 118ml Of Skimmed Milk
- 1tbsp Of Stork Butter
- 120g Of Icing Sugar
How To Make The Icing:
- Firstly, combine the 200g of light brown sugar with 118ml of skimmed milk in a small pot over medium heat.
- Secondly, bring the milk and sugar to boil and boil for around 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Remove from heat and stir in the table spoon of butter.
- Once that’s melted, stir in 120g of icing sugar and either whisk or beat with a electric mixer until smooth. (TIP: If frosting is too thin, add more sugar, but keep in mind it will firm up dramatically within a few minutes).
- Finally, spread around 1tbsp of frosting over each cookie and top with a pecan/chopped pecans. Let frosting set before storing.
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies:
Ingredients You Need:
- 60g Of Cocoa Powder
- 205g Of White Granulated Sugar
- 60ml Of Vegetable Oil
- 2 Large Eggs
- 2tsp Of Vanilla Essence
- 130g Of All-Purpose Or Plain Flour
- 1tsp Of Baking Powder
- 32g Of Icing Sugar
How To Make Chocolate Crinkle Cookies:
- Firstly, line two baking trays with parchment paper.
- Secondly, in a large bowl mix together the 60g of cocoa powder with the 205g granulated sugar and 60ml of vegetable oil.
- Then, beat in the eggs one at a time until fully combined.
- Mix in the 2tsp of vanilla essence.
- In another bowl, combine the 130g of flour and 1tsp of baking powder then stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until a dough forms.
- Cover the bowl with cellophane and place in the fridge for at least four hours or overnight.
- When the four hours is coming to an end, preheat the oven to 175C / 350F / Gas Mark 3.
- When the dough is ready to cook, take out the fridge and using your hands (or a Icecream scoop), pick pieces of the dough part and roll into small balls.
- Add the icing sugar into a small bowl and generously coat each of the cookie dough balls in the icing sugar and place the cookies onto the baking trays.
- Place into the oven for around 10-12 minutes, once cooked the cookies will come out soft but will harden as they cool.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the trays for 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to further cool.
Soft Ginger Molasses Cookie
Ingredients You Need:
- 280g Of All-Purpose Flour
- 170g Of Unsalted Butter
- 100g Of Light Brown Sugar
- 50g Of Granulated Sugar
- 60ml Of Molasses (Or Black Treacle)
- 1 Large Egg
- 2tsp Of Vanilla Essence
- 2tsp Of Ground Ginger
- 1 1/4tsp Of Ground Cinnamon
- 1/4tsp Of Nutmeg
- 1 1/2tsp Of Bicarbonate Of Soda
How To Make Ginger Molasses Cookies:
- Firstly, line two baking trays with parchment paper.
- Secondly, in a large bowl, mix together the 280g of all-purpose flour, 1 1/2tsp of bicarbonate of soda, 2tsp of ginger, 1 1/4tsp of cinnamon and 1/4tsp of nutmeg and set aside.
- Next, in separate large bowl, using an electric hand whisk beat together the 170g of unsalted butter with the 100g of light brown sugar and 50g of granulated sugar on a high speed until combined.
- Add the 60ml of molasses and continue to beat until combined.
- Then add in your 1 large egg and 2tsp of vanilla essence and beat until combined.
- Turning your electric whisk to a low speed, slowly mix in the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until combined.
- Once mixed together, the mixture will be quite sticky, cover over with foil and place in the fridge to chill for an hour.
- When the hour is nearly up, preheat the oven to 175C / 350F / Gas Mark 3.
- Remove your cookie dough from the fridge. (TIP: if you left your cookie dough in the fridge for more an 2 hours, take out the fridge and leave to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. There’s a good chance the cookies won’t spread in the oven if their still relatively cold from the fridge)
- Using your hands (or a Icecream scoop), pick pieces of the dough part and roll into small balls and place onto the baking trays at least 3 inches apart.
- Bake for around 11-12 minutes or until the edges seem to be set.
- TIP: if the tops don’t seem to be cracked, take the baking tray out the oven and tap on the kitchen surface 2 or 3 times. This will help the warm cookies spread out. Return to oven for a minute or so.
- When your happy, remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the tray before transferring to a wire rack for further cooling.
- This is completely optional but I dipped half my cookies into some royal icing (add some water to 100g of royal icing sugar, mix together until your happy. add extra royal icing sugar if you want your mix to be thicker or water to make it thinner) and added little edible holly leaves.
Ingredients You Need For Icing:
- 10ml Of Water
- 150g Of Icing Sugar
- Holly Leaves Sprinkles – https://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/wilton-holly-mix-sprinkles-56g/646538-1001
How To Decorate:
- In a medium size bowl, pour in your 10ml of water and 150g of icing sugar and mix together to create royal icing, personally I make it like a paste. (TIP: if it’s too runny, add in more icing sugar to thicken it).
- With a spoon, pour your icing over half the biscuit.
- Once you’ve done the icing, place two holly leaves either side of a red ball from your bag of sprinkles.
- Allow to set.
Cannoli Cookies
Ingredients You Need:
- 225g Of Unsalted Butter
- 200g Of Granulated Sugar
- 125g Of Ricotta Cheese
- 250g Of All-Purpose Flour
- 2 Large Eggs
- 1tsp Of Vanilla Essence
- 3/4tsp Of Ground Cinnamon
- A Zest Of An Orange
- 1/2tsp Of Bicarbonate Of Soda
- 1tsp Of Baking Powder
- 125g Of Chopped Pistachios
- 100g Of Chocolate Chips
How To Make Cannoli Cookies:
- Firstly, line two baking trays with parchment paper.
- Secondly, in a large bowl, using an electric whisk, beat together the 225g of unsalted butter with the 200g of granulated sugar until light and fluffy.
- Next, mix in the 125g of ricotta cheese and 2 large eggs until well combined.
- Then mix in the 1tsp of vanilla essence, 3/4tsp of ground cinnamon and fresh zest from a orange until combined.
- Mix in the the 1/2tsp of bicarbonate of soda, 1tsp of baking powder, 120g of all-purpose flour, 100g of chocolate chips, 125g of chopped pistachios until well combined and a dough has formed. (TIP: This is a very sticky dough so don’t be alarmed if it doesn’t come together like the others).
- Cover the dough over with foil and place in the fridge for around an hour.
- When the hour is coming to an end, preheat the oven to 375F / 190C / Gas Mark 5.
- Once the cookie dough has been refrigerated, take out and using your hands (covered in flour due to the stickiness of dough) or a Icecream scoop, pick pieces of the dough part and roll into small balls and place onto the baking trays at least 3 inches apart. (TIP: with the palm of your hand, delicately flatten the tops of the cookies, otherwise they come out looking like rock cakes).
- Place in the oven for around 8-11 minutes or until golden brown around the edges.
- When cooked, take out the oven and leave to cool on the tray before transferring to a wire rack to cool further.
M&M Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients You Need:
- 125g Of Unsalted Butter
- 100g Of Light Brown Sugar
- 100g Of Granulated Sugar
- 1 Medium Egg
- 1tsp Of Vanilla Essence
- 25g Of Cocoa Powder
- 175g Of All-Purpose Flour
- 1/2tsp Of Bicarbonate Of Soda
- 1/2tsp Of Baking Powder
- 225g Of Chocolate M&M
- 75g Of Chocolate Chips
How To Make M&M Chocolate Cookies:
- Firstly, preheat the oven to 190C / 375F / Gas Mark 5 and line two baking trays with parchment paper.
- Secondly, in a large bowl, using an electric whisk, mix together the 125g of unsalted butter with the 100g of light brown sugar and 100g of granulated sugar until light, fluffy and throughly combined.
- Add in the egg and 1tsp of vanilla essence and mix to combine.
- Next, add in the 175g of all-purpose flour, 1/2tsp of bicarbonate of soda, 1/2tsp of baking powder and cocoa powder and beat again until it resembles cookie dough.
- Fold in the 225g of chocolate m&m’s and 75g of chocolate chips.
- Using your hands (or a Icecream scoop), pick pieces of the dough part and roll into small balls and place onto the baking trays at least 3 inches apart.
- Place into the oven to bake for around 10-12 minutes (TIP: they may seem underdone but don’t worry as they’ll continue to cook when out for cooling).
- Once baked, remove from the oven and leave to cool on the baking tray before transferring onto a wire rack to further cool.
That’s all your festive themed cookies prepared, baked and ready for you and your loved ones to enjoy!
Okay but how good do these cookies look?!
Did any of these cookies take your fancy? If so, give them a go. Honestly, these are all so easy to make and take little to no time to prepare and bake, you really can’t go wrong.
Let me know in the comments below or on my social media pages if you’ll be baking any of these cookies for yourself this year and tell me how yummy you thought they were!
Sending you all tons of love and hugs as always,
Elle xo
