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Chocolate Cookies - Schokoladenplätzchen

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Ingredients:

  • 250 g (9 oz) of flour
  • 120 g (4.5 oz) of powdered sugar
  • 200 g (7 oz) of soft butter
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1 teaspoon of instant coffee powder
  • 50 g (1.7 oz) milk chocolate
  • 50 g ( 1.7 oz) dark chocolate
  • 2 tablespoons of powdered cocoa

Preparation:

Beat the egg yolks with a fork and add the instant coffee. Let it soak completely. Next, use your electric handheld mixer to beat the butter. Add the eggs with coffee to it. Then, add the powdered sugar and mix it until the texture is nice and smooth. Mix the flour and cocoa powder together and sift it over the mixture.

Grate the chocolate very finely and add it to your dough. Finally, mix it all together on low speed.

Fill a decorating bag with the cookie dough. Use a wide star-shaped tip and squeeze stripes on the baking sheet about 1 ½–2 inches each.

Or you can use a meat grinder as I did, using a special insert. You can either purchase it in one of your home goods stores or at amazon.

Preheat your oven to 160°C (325°F). When ready, bake the cookies on the middle rack for about 8–10 minutes. Let them first cool down for a little while on the sheet before placing them on the cooling rack. Sift some powdered sugar on top. DONE!

Decision, decisions. Why choose? It’s the holidays. Try all my cookie recipes! _Oma

Chocolate-Covered Macaroons - Kokosmakronen

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Ingredients:

  • 4 egg whites
  • ½ teaspoons of cinnamon
  • 2-4 drops of almond extract
  • 200 g (7 oz) of sugar
  • 250 g (9 oz) of unsweetened fancy coconut flakes
  • 85 g (3 oz) of unsweetened chocolate

Preparation:

Use your electric hand mixer to beat the egg whites until they are very stiff. Slowly add sugar, almond extract, and cinnamon. Use your whisk to fold in the coconut flakes. Stir gently so that the batter stays fluffy. Use two teaspoons to place small clumps of the mixture on a bing sheet covered with baking paper.

Place the macaroons in a preheated oven on the fourth rack from bottom and bake them for about 20-22 minutes at 150°C (300°F). Let them cool down on the baking sheet and then carefully place on a cooling rack.

Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie (water bath) and brush the bottom of the macaroons with it. Make sure that your macaroons have had time to fully dry on the outside (so that they won’t stick to each other) before storing them in a tin box. The macaroons taste also very good without chocolate. DONE!

 

Vanilla Horns Cookies - Vanillie Kipferl

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Ingredients:

  • 250 g (9 oz) of flour
  • 125 g (4.5 oz) of sugar
  • ½ teaspoon of baking powder
  • 1 package of Dr. Oetker Vanilla Sugar (OR) 3-5 drops of vanilla extract
  • 125 g (4.5 oz) of blanched fine grated almonds
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 200 g (7 oz) of soft butter

For Finishing:

80 g - 100 g (2.8 oz - 3.5 oz) sugar (OR) powdered sugar

Preparation:

Stift the flour with the baking powder in a bowl. Spread the sugar with vanilla sugar (or vanilla extract) over it. Add the egg yolks to it and stir well with a fork. Spread the butter in slices on top and pour in the almonds. Knead the dough with your hands until it is smooth and does not stick. Should it stick, just have it for about 1/2 hour in the refrigerator.

Use a cookie press with a tip that has a hole with a diameter of about 0.5 inch. Fill the press with the dough and press rolls. Cut those rolls into approximately 1 inch pieces.

Roll each 1″ piece between the palm of your hands to form a horn. Make sure that the ends of the horns become thinner and pointed.

Preheat your oven to 190°C (375°F). Place the horns on a baking sheet without paper on the middle oven rack and bake them for about 7-8 minutes on the middle rack.

 

Finishing:

Let them cool down a little bit on the sheet and carefully place them on a cooling rack. After you have finished baking all your vanilla horns, get a large bowl and sift about 80 g -100 g (2.8 oz - 3.5 oz) of sugar in it with a fine sieve as I did OR use sifted powdered sugar. Add some vanilla extract (OR) 1 Package Dr. Oetker Vanilla Sugar an mix well. Next, roll the horns in the sugar. Instead of regular sugar, you also could use powdered sugar, but I personally like the more crisp taste of the granulated sugar. DONE!

Bulging Eyes Cookies - Kulleraugen

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Ingredients:

  • 250 g (9 oz) of flour
  • 100 g (3.5 ounces) of sugar
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1 Package Dr. Oetker Vanilla Sugar (OR) 3–5 Drops Vanilla Extract
  • 1 teaspoon of baking powder
  • 3 egg whites
  • 150 g (5.5 oz) of soft margarine
  • 50–80 g (2–3 oz) of peeled ground almonds
  • 200 g (7 oz) red jelly or jam (your choice of fruit)
  • Pinch of salt

Preparation:

Sift the flour in a big bowl and mix it with the sugar, vanilla sugar (or vanilla extract), salt, and baking powder. Make a crevice in the mixture to place the egg yolks. Start mixing in some of the flour mixture with the eggs and spread the margarine on top. Knead the dough with your hands until it is nice and smooth.

Use a melon-ball spoon to portion the dough in small pieces and form them between your hands to little balls—about ¾ of an inch. Dip the top of each ball in the egg whites and than in the ground almonds. Place paper on the baking sheet and set the dough on it the almonds topping facing up.

Use the round end of a cooking spoon to make a hole in the dough. Be careful that you don’t go all the whole way through. Fill a wide-tipped decoration bag with the jam or jelly and start filling in the holes.

Preheat your oven 190°C (375°F). Place the cookies on the middle rack and bake them for about 15 minutes. Leave them on the baking sheet for a little while before placing the cookies on a cooling rack. DONE!

Hope you enjoy these! _Oma

 

Christmas Shortbread Cookies - Spritzgebäck

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Ingredients:

  • 375 g (13 oz) of soft butter
  • 250 g (9 oz) of sugar
  • 250 g (9 oz) of flour
  • 250 g (9 oz) of potato starch
  • 125 g (4.5 oz) of peeled and ground almonds
  • 2 packages Dr. Oetker Vanilla Sugar (OR) 3-6 drops of vanilla extract
  • Pinch of salt
  • 100 g (3.5 oz) of dark chocolate

Preparation:

Use your handheld electric mixer and beat the butter. Add sugar, vanilla sugar (or vanilla extract) and a pinch of salt to it. Mix flour with potato starch and sieve over the butter mixture. Add the almonds and knead it all with your hands until the dough is nice and smooth.

Fill your cookie press with the dough. Using the star insert, start to form letters or numbers. You also could use any other insert (with an opening in the center) to form other shapes.

Or use a meat grinder that comes with a special insert as I did. You can get it either at your home goods stores or at amazon.

Preheat your oven to 190°C (375°F). Place the cookies on a baking sheet on the middle rack and bake them between 7-9 minutes. Let them cool down a little on the sheet before placing them on the cooling rack.

Heat up your chocolate in a bain-marie (water bath) and then fill a decorating bag with the melted chocolate. Using the small open tip of the bag, decorate the cookies as you like. You could also use a brush to decorate the cookies with chocolate. DONE!

Fruit-Filled Shortbread Cookies (Butter Cookies) - Gefülltes Buttergebäck, Linzer Plätzchen, Mannheimer Teegebäck

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Instructions:

The fruit-filled shortbread cookies have more than only one name. They are also known as “Linzer Plätzchen” OR, “Mannheimer Teegebäck”.

For the cookies shown above, you need twice the dough, but prepare the dough separate. Makes about 72 filled cookies. You will have 72 cookies with the shaped cut outs for the front and 72 cookies with no cutouts for the back. If your dough is not smooth enough, add a little more butter. If your dough is sticky, have it for a little while in the refrigerator.

You also would need a Cookie Cutter for Linzer Cookies. You can get it either at Bed,Bath and Beyond or at Amazon or any other store you might have close by that carries household articles.

Ingredients:

  • 250 g (8.81 oz) of all-purpose flour
  • 1 package of Dr. Oetker Baking Powder (OR) 1 teaspoon of baking powder
  • 75 g (2.64 oz) of sugar
  • 1 package Dr. Oetker Vanilla Sugar (OR) 3-5 drops of vanilla extract
  • 2 Yolks of an egg
  • 125 g—150 g (4.40 oz—5.29 oz) of soft butter
  • Powdered sugar
  • 3–5 different kinds of jams or jellies

Preparation:

Sift the flour mixed with the baking powder in a wide bowl. Spread sugar and vanilla sugar over it. Make a little whole in the center and add the egg yolks. Cover a little with sugar and flour. Put the butter in slices over it and knead all the ingredients to a dough.

Spread some flour on your table and roll out part of your dough with the rolling pin about 3 mm (0.11 inches) till you have used up both of your dough. Start to cut out about 72 front pieces with the shape and place them in 4 x 6 rows on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Use a spatula or long wide knife to pick up the cookies to place them on a sheet. You can use the parchment paper several times.

Bake the cookies on the middle rack by 180°C (360°F) for about 8 minutes. After they are finished take them carefully with a wider spatula from the sheet and place them on a cooling rack.

Final steps:

Spread with a fine sieve the powdered sugar over the front sides of the cookies.

Press the jelly through a fine sieve and spread it on the back of the cookie. Put together the cookies. Jelly is in the middle, powdered sugar is on the outside. DONE!