Recipe – Christmas Cookies

Homemade biscuits make a sweet little Christmas gift, and they’re very handy to have around if you need a delicious little treat for unexpected visitors.

These shortbreads made with our winter tea carry an amazing festive flavour of orange cloves, and these coffee sugar cookies have an intense taste, perfect for the coffee lover in your life. Both biscuits are quick to make and quick to bake, making a great little treat to keep on hand. 

Winter Tea Shortbreads:

Shortbread dough is very simple to make, with a 3-2-1 ratio of flour, butter and sugar, it’s easy to scale up and down as needed. 

Makes 24

Ingredients: 

250g Plain Flour

3 heaped Tbsps Winter Tea

Pinch of Salt

167g Softened Butter

83g Caster Sugar

100g White Chocolate

Method:

1: Grind the tea in a pestle and mortar (the end of a rolling pin and a sturdy bowl will do, or blitz in a food processor. You’re not aiming for a perfectly fine powder, but the equivalent of a coarse-ground coffee.

2: Sift flour and salt together, and stir in the ground tea.

3: Beat the sugar and softened butter until pale and creamy, then add the dry ingredients and stir until a firm dough is formed.

4: Wrap the dough in cling film and chill for at least an hour. This keep the butter in the dough cool and stops it from leaking out while baking, helping the biscuits keep their shape. 

5: Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. 

6: Remove the dough from the fridge, roll out, and cut 24 rounds or stars. Try not to re-form and re-roll the dough more than once. Handling it too much activates the gluten in the flour, and can make the biscuits tough. 

7: Place the biscuits on greaseproof paper-lined trays and bake at 180n for 10 minutes. The biscuits will look pale and too soft when removed from the over, but they continue to cook as they cool, so try not to overbake!

8: When the biscuits have fully cooled, melt white chocolate over a double boiler. Carefully dip the edge of each biscuit into the white chocolate, and cool on greaseproof paper until the chocolate is set. 

Sparkling Coffee Sugar Cookies:

This sugar cookie dough is very similar to shortbread, but the addition of eggs gives it a softer, more pliable texture. Dunk these intense coffee cookies in hot chocolate for a mocha treat!

Ingredients:

250g Plain Flour 

4 Tbsps Guat’s Up Coffee, Espresso Grind

Pinch of Salt

125g Softened Butter

185g Caster Sugar 

1 Tbsp Cocoa Powder 

2 Eggs, Beaten

Method:

1: Sift the flour and stir through the coffee grounds and salt.

2: Beat the butter, sugar and cocoa powder until fluffy. 

3: Beat in the eggs, then stir in the flour to form a smooth dough. 

4: As with the shortbread, chill the dough for an hour so it’ll hold it’s shape.

5: Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Roll out the dough and cut 24 rounds, placing them on sheets lined with baking parchment. 

6: Sprinkle the cookies with caster sugar, and bake for 9 minutes. Just like the shortbread, these will still be soft and pliable when removed from the oven, and will harden up as they’re left to cool!

7: Enjoy!