The three best tips for Christmas baking – how to bake cookies

Created: 11/27/2022, 11:00 am

In the run-up to Christmas, many people like to bake cookies.

Three tips that you may not yet know can be very useful in Christmas baking.

The Advent season is just around the corner and of course that also means that the cookie season has begun.

If you are not a big hero in the kitchen, you might prefer to use the cookies from the supermarket for the sake of simplicity.

But wouldn't it be great if you could surprise your loved ones with homemade cookies this year?

With three tips, baking becomes child's play and your Christmas cookies will never be forgotten.

If you also want something a little more original than classic cookie cutters, try tender snowballs.

Quark stollen without raisins are also perfect for the pre-Christmas period, or you can try a British Christmas classic: plum pudding.

1. Tip for baking cookies in the Christmas bakery: prepare the ingredients for the dough correctly

The ingredients for a shortcrust pastry, which is used for numerous types of cookies, are not particularly extravagant.

The dough consists of flour, sugar, eggs and butter.

Depending on the recipe, you can also add some vanilla sugar or a pinch of salt.

At first it sounds like you can't go wrong.

Nevertheless, there are a few tricks that make the dough even better.

Optimizing the temperature and texture of the ingredients for baking cookies:

• Take the butter and eggs out of the fridge well in advance of making the cookies.

  This allows them to come to room temperature and, during preparation, ultimately have the same temperature as the other ingredients and the dough can bond better.

• In addition, the flour should be sieved beforehand.

  This doesn't make quite as much of a difference with cookies as it does with cakes, but biscuit dough also becomes a little looser and lighter.

There are many Christmas themed cutters that you can use to make cookies.

(Iconic image) © IMAGO / Shotshop

When the dough is ready, put it in the fridge for a few hours.

This is done because cold dough is harder and therefore easier to roll out and cut out.

If the mass sticks when rolling out, dust the rolling pin and the work surface with a little flour.

But don't use too much or the dough will become too crumbly.

Other tricks include wrapping cling film around the rolling pin or rolling out the dough in a plastic bag, then slitting the sides and unfolding to cut out the cookies.

On the other hand, if the dough is brittle and too dry, you can knead in a tablespoon or two of ice-cold water.

That makes him supple again.

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2. Tip for baking cookies in the Christmas bakery: Preheat the oven properly and line the baking trays

It's just a simple little thing, but before you preheat the oven, it's important to remember to remove the baking sheets.

Firstly, you won't burn your fingers when you put them on the trays, and secondly, you should always use cold baking trays for cookies so that the cookies don't burn from below.

Tip:

If you are baking multiple trays of cookies in a row, be aware that they will likely take different amounts of time.

The first baking sheet will take the longest and the last will be quickest because the oven is warmer then.

In addition, the instruction to preheat the oven should be observed when making cookies.

If you often ignore this addition when cooking or baking cakes and simply put the tray in the cold oven, you should at least heed it when baking cookies.

So turn on the oven in good time.

To ensure that the cookies brown evenly from above and below, either the top and bottom heat setting or the convection setting should be used.

It is best to slide the sheet onto the middle rail as well.

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3. Tip for baking cookies in the Christmas bakery: Make your own icing and chocolate icing

When the cookies have finished baking and have cooled down, the last step before you can enjoy them comes: decorating.

You have complete freedom of choice and can use sugar or chocolate, for example, depending on your preferences.

For a chocolate icing, chop the chocolate or couverture into small pieces and melt them either in a water bath or very slowly in a glass bowl in the microwave.

With the second variant, however, you should set the temperature low, stir constantly and be careful because chocolate can burn quickly.

Once melted, you can dip or spread the biscuits.

Tip:

If you want to use a piping bag but don't have one, you can put the mixture in a freezer bag.

Cut a small hole in one corner to spread icing or chocolate icing on the cookies.

You make icing from finely sifted powdered sugar, which you gradually stir into a liquid so that it does not clump.

Lemon juice or water is often used for this.

But you can also use milk for really nice white icing.

Make sure the frosting doesn't clump, but also doesn't get too runny and run off the cookies.