Sugar 'n Spice Christmas Cookies

What is a home without a fully laden cookie jar (or in our house, a biscuit tin or barrel) over the festive season ?! (You can see the ones I made last year over here) Cookies are easy to make and are enjoyed by everyone. They also store well and are great to have on hand for when unexpected visitors pop around (which, I?ll be honest, does not happen that often on our ? rather remote ? farm !)

These cookies below make great hostess gifts over the holidays ? place them in a pretty tin, nestled on a bed of red and green tissue paper or wrap them in red cellophane and tie with a big green bow & give to someone as a ?thank you? or a ?happy Christmas? present. You could even write the recipe out on a pretty card and include it with the cookies, so that the recipient can make them themselves sometime.

If you do make these cookies, please remember to leave a few out for Father Christmas to eat when he visits your home on Christmas Eve to deliver all your presents. I know from first hand experience, that he really does enjoy them. Ho ho ho ?. Happy Christmas cookie baking, everyone !


Sugar ?n Spice Christmas Cookies (adapted from the ?Sugar Biscuits? recipe by S.J.A. de Villiers ?Cook & Enjoy It? book)

½ cup Butter
1 cup Brown Sugar
1 Egg
2 tbsp Milk
½ tsp Vanilla Essence
2 ½ cups Cake Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 ½ tsp ground Cinnamon
1 tsp ground Nutmeg
1 tsp ground Mixed Spice
½ tsp Salt

Cream the butter & sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the egg, milk and vanilla essence & continue beating until well combined. Add the sifted flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, mixed spice and salt. Mix well, kneading to form a dough. Cover & place in the fridge to cool for about an hour before rolling out +- 3 mm thick and using a cookie cutter to cut shapes out. Place on a greased baking sheet and bake at 190?C/375 ?F/Gas Mark 5 for about 10 minutes until golden.

Decorating Ideas :

Allow to cool and decorate with a piping bag filled with coloured icing (or you can cheat like I did, and buy the ready made icing tubes !) You could use white icing to create a snowflake design, and green and red for edging the biscuits or making star designs. You can also use edible gold or silver balls to decorate the cookies for an extra festive look.