Winter is a season filled with fun, and excitement. It holds a special place in everyone’s heart due to the festival of Christmas, a joyous occasion marked by the traditions of Exchanging gifts, caroling, gathering people, and visits by Santa Claus, especially for children.
But what is a Christmas without a cookie?
Baking Christmas cookies is like a childhood tradition or more of a festive holiday necessity. Chocolate chip cookies and Christmas sugar cookies are typically baked during Christmas in every household.
These yummy cookies are highly addictive, scrumptious, and mouthwatering. They hold a crunchy crust outside with a soft and chewy inner crust.
The fragrant aroma of the freshly baked cookies is simply irresistible. Being the heart of all Christmas celebrations, these Christmas cookies help uplift your mood and decrease your stress, turning the whole process into a divine journey.
Here, we have included some must-have Christmas cookie recipes to bake in every home this Christmas.
Chocolate chip cookies
“Friends are chocolate chips in the cookie of life.”
These divine chocolate-covered brownies are a real treat for your palate. Invented by American chef Ruth Graves Wakefield in 1938 in the United States, they have grown to become a worldwide favourite. She owned a cafe called Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts, which was very famous for home cooking.
These cookies can be topped with nuts and dried fruits, as per the need. Rich, highly lavish in taste, yet very easy to prepare.
Chocolate chips add bursts of sweet, melted chocolate and bliss with each bite. These cookies form a great combo with a glass of milk, a cup of coffee or hot chocolate, or a scoop of ice cream.
We have especially experimented with this chocolate chip cookie baking recipe so that any amateur baker can bake this wonderful piece of art.
The required baking essentials for chocolate chip cookies are listed below.
Wet ingredients :
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
Dry ingredients:
- 3 cups of all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- ½ teaspoon of baking powder
- ½ tablespoon of salt
- 2 cups of chocolate chips
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius and line the baking tray with parchment paper.
- Beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together until they form a soft, cohesive mixture.
- Add eggs one at a time, add vanilla extract, and mix gently.
- Gently sieve each dry ingredient into the wet batter. Dont overmix. Mix only until combined.
- Fold in chocolate chips very softly until combined evenly.
- Scoop the dough using a cookie scoop and place it on the baking sheet. Give in some space between each place.
- Bake in a preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes until the sides of the cookies are slightly brown.
- Once done, allow it to cool thoroughly by placing it on a wire rack.
Follow this easy baking technique and enjoy your freshly baked cookies at home (but once you have cooled them down!)
Christmas sugar cookies
“A balanced diet is a sugar cookie in each hand.”
Christmas sugar cookies are really fun to make with family and friends. They are well known for their sweet, buttery flavour and tender texture inside.
They have a long history of invention dating back to the 1700s in North America. The first version of the sugar cookie was created by the German settlers in Nazareth, Pennsylvania.
Thus gaining its maiden name, ‘Nazareth sugar cookie’. Soon it became a staple in every American household, liked for its versatility and ease of preparation.
Along with Christmas, these Christmas sugar cookies are perfect for other occasions like Valentine’s Day, Halloween, and even normal gatherings.
Here’s a simple recipe to prepare Christmas sugar cookies. The baking ingredients you need are listed below:
Wet ingredients:
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon of almond extract (for extra flavour)
Dry ingredients:
- 2 ½ cups of all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- ½ teaspoon of salt
Instruction:
- In a large bowl, beat the butter and granulated sugar together until soft and fluffy.
- Add egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract and mix only until combined.
- Sieve and add all the dry ingredients into the mixing bowl. Don’t overmix. Just combine until done.
- Flatten the dough and give it the shape of discs. Plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Line the baking tray with parchment paper.
- Roll out the disc on a surface dusted with flour up to ¼ inch thickness. Use Christmas cookie cutters and shape cookies in desirable shapes. Place them on the baking tray at least 1 inch apart.
- Bake in the preheated oven until the edges turn golden. Make sure you don’t overbake.
- Transfer baked cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Enjoy the aroma and taste once cool.
Enjoy the aesthetically decorated cookies and gift them to friends or even Santa Claus.
Let’s decorate your cookies now!
Be innovative, artful, and ingenious, and leave no stone unturned in decorating your cookies! Use colourful sprinkles, jimmies, sugar crystals, glaze icing, edible flowers, dried fruits and nuts, fondant shapes and cutouts, and many more to create magic.
A very common decoration method using royal icing is described here. As the name suggests, this truly makes the cookie look royal.
Royal icing decoration
Ingredients:
- 3 cups powdered and sifted sugar
- 2 large egg whites or 3 tsp. Meringue powder with 6 tsp. water
- 1 tsp. Vanilla extract or lemon juice
- Gel food colouring (if necessary)
Instruction:
- Mix powdered sugar and egg whites in a mixing bowl. Beat it until it becomes fluffy, soft, and thick.
- Add vanilla extract to the wet mix and keep beating it. Adjust consistency as required by adding a little water.
- Add food colouring to make the icing more colourful.
- Use piping bags to decorate the cookies beautifully.
- Make sure the base cookies are completely dry before spreading on the icing.
Bake the sweetest Christmas cookie with us!
To sum up, December is a truly magical time of the year. This is when we celebrate Christmas, the festival of light for Christians all over the world.
It is the ideal time to embrace family, belief, and jubilation, celebrating in ways that bring warmth even to the coldest days of winter. It resonates with a feeling of pure nostalgia, infused with traditions that have grown over centuries.
And talking of traditions, what can be a better way to celebrate than baking fresh Christmas cookies at home? In case you don’t know baking or want to make some special Christmas cookies this winter, Whitecaps weekend baking courses can be your perfect opportunity to explore.
So this winter, let’s make your Christmas extra special! Bake your favourite delicious Christmas cookies, sing amazing carols, dance all you want, and rejoice!
