Holiday Cookies From Around the World
I found this website that describes a few cookies from around the world. They suggest them as an alternative to the same old boring cookies made every year. If they sound delicious to you, you can google the recipes.
WHITE CHRISTMAS – Australia
These festive little cookie bars are reminiscent of Rice Krispies’ treats that have been lavishly dressed for the holidays. In addition to the crispy rice cereal, ingredients include coconut, powdered sugar, mixed candied fruit, red and green candied cherries, raisins and white chocolate chips, as well as powdered milk and white vegetable shortening. The result is a sweet delectable that offers multiple textures in a brightly colored yuletide outfit. This is a no-bake cookie, but you’ll need to have a double-boiler handy.
ALSATIAN CHRISTMAS COOKIES – France
Giving these decorated morsels their flavor is the blending of ground almonds, cinnamon, vanilla extract and orange peel. This is a refrigerated dough cookie, rolled out and cut in the shape of various holiday symbols, baked and decorated with pre-made decorator’s icing (in a tube) and colored sugar or any other of a variety of holiday embellishments. The preparation takes a bit of time, but they have a delightful taste and freeze quite well – for up to three months.
MINT KISS SPRITZ – Germany
Light and rich with butter, these delightful cookies combine the classic tastes of chocolate and mint, in the colorful green of the season. Among the ingredients are sugar, butter, vanilla, mint extract and – to crown the tops of the finished product – Hershey’s kisses. Green food coloring is added to the dough, which is then placed in a cookie press to express a variety of holiday shapes. As soon as they’re removed from the oven, a delicious chocolate kiss is placed on top of each. These are inexpensive, easy to make cookies that won’t last for long, so consider making an extra batch.
MELOMAKARONA – Greece
These traditional Greek Christmas cookies are bursting with flavor, as a result of a large variety of ingredients which include orange juice, whiskey, cloves, cinnamon and orange zest. In the true spirit of Greek cuisine, the syrupy topping contains honey and ground walnuts, making this a delightfully sweet, moist taste sensation. Considering the vast amount of ingredients, there’s a lot of prep time and much work, from beginning to end. The result, however, is more than worth the effort and will leave your holiday guests asking for the recipe.
CHOCOLATE CHERRY BISCOTTI – Italy
This is a classic biscotti recipe, made more enjoyable through the addition of cocoa powder, chocolate chips and dried cherries, to complement the traditional almond ingredient. The preparation time for this includes the use of a double-boiler or microwave, as well as the oven, and can be rather time-consuming due to the number of steps that must be taken to complete the process. For those who don’t care for cherries, cranberries can be substituted without compromising the integrity of the cookies.
KOLACZKI – Poland
These rich, fruity cookies allow the baker to use his or her own creativity when selecting the fillings. A variety of jams and nuts can be used – make them all the same or use a selection of fruit jams and ground nuts as delicious fillings that will delight the palate. Ingredients for the dough include cream cheese, flour, butter and eggs, while the filling can be made with raspberry, strawberry or apricot jams. There’s a scrumptious nut filling that can be utilized, as well, if you prefer not to include fruit in the recipe. English speaking individuals might know these cookies as Kolaches.
RUSSIAN TEA CAKES – Russia
Russian Tea Cakes (similar to Mexican Wedding Cakes) are delicious, melt-in-your-mouth cookies that resemble bite-size snowballs. Coated with confectioner’s sugar, these exquisite little cookies contain butter, sugar, vanilla, salt, flour and walnuts. After baking, roll in confectioner’s sugar until thoroughly coated – some even roll them again, after the first coat has moistened. These are quick, easy to make and quite inexpensive. Many of the ingredients can be found as common staples in most households, making them among the most economical treats to bake during the holidays.
PASTEL DE NAVIDAD – Spain
As an unusual combination of tart and raisin pillow, these luscious cookies are made with pastry dough – which is pressed into muffin cups and filled with a mixture containing a blend of sugar, eggs, butter, salt, vanilla extract, chopped walnuts and raisins. This is an easy and inexpensive recipe that will make your mouth water – especially when served warm. The prep time is abbreviated, and the baking time only takes between 20 and 25 minutes. These would be great to make when expecting last-minute guests or as a late dessert for visitors.
BASLER BRUNSLI – Switzerland
Almonds, sugar, bittersweet chocolate, cinnamon, ground cloves and egg whites come together to form these delicious cookies, which are coated with confectioner’s sugar and – surprisingly – cut in the shape of hearts. For your own purposes, you can adapt a more common Christmas theme and use holiday shaped cookie cutters, but the heart-shaped cookie is the tradition in Switzerland during the yuletide. The prep time isn’t overly long, but has to be done in parts, since the dough needs to be chilled after it’s made, which extends the total work time.
GEORGIA LIZZIES – United States
Resembling a miniature fruitcake more than a cookie, these holiday treats are filled with an abundance of ingredients that are blended together for a celebration of taste. Among them are candied cherries (red and green), candied pineapple, dates, golden raisins, pecans, brown sugar and peach brandy. If you prefer, the batter can be baked in muffin cups, in order to present them as Christmas muffins or mini-fruitcakes. The prep time isn’t terribly long, but a good amount of work goes into the making of them, and they’re baked at a lower temperature than most cookies (275 degrees, as opposed to the more commonly used 350 degree recipes). While this is, perhaps, not a classic Christmas cookie, it’s quite delicious, nonetheless.
website: http://www.essortment.com/food/christmascookie_sdjl.htm
WHITE CHRISTMAS – Australia
These festive little cookie bars are reminiscent of Rice Krispies’ treats that have been lavishly dressed for the holidays. In addition to the crispy rice cereal, ingredients include coconut, powdered sugar, mixed candied fruit, red and green candied cherries, raisins and white chocolate chips, as well as powdered milk and white vegetable shortening. The result is a sweet delectable that offers multiple textures in a brightly colored yuletide outfit. This is a no-bake cookie, but you’ll need to have a double-boiler handy.
ALSATIAN CHRISTMAS COOKIES – France
Giving these decorated morsels their flavor is the blending of ground almonds, cinnamon, vanilla extract and orange peel. This is a refrigerated dough cookie, rolled out and cut in the shape of various holiday symbols, baked and decorated with pre-made decorator’s icing (in a tube) and colored sugar or any other of a variety of holiday embellishments. The preparation takes a bit of time, but they have a delightful taste and freeze quite well – for up to three months.
MINT KISS SPRITZ – Germany
Light and rich with butter, these delightful cookies combine the classic tastes of chocolate and mint, in the colorful green of the season. Among the ingredients are sugar, butter, vanilla, mint extract and – to crown the tops of the finished product – Hershey’s kisses. Green food coloring is added to the dough, which is then placed in a cookie press to express a variety of holiday shapes. As soon as they’re removed from the oven, a delicious chocolate kiss is placed on top of each. These are inexpensive, easy to make cookies that won’t last for long, so consider making an extra batch.
MELOMAKARONA – Greece
These traditional Greek Christmas cookies are bursting with flavor, as a result of a large variety of ingredients which include orange juice, whiskey, cloves, cinnamon and orange zest. In the true spirit of Greek cuisine, the syrupy topping contains honey and ground walnuts, making this a delightfully sweet, moist taste sensation. Considering the vast amount of ingredients, there’s a lot of prep time and much work, from beginning to end. The result, however, is more than worth the effort and will leave your holiday guests asking for the recipe.
CHOCOLATE CHERRY BISCOTTI – Italy
This is a classic biscotti recipe, made more enjoyable through the addition of cocoa powder, chocolate chips and dried cherries, to complement the traditional almond ingredient. The preparation time for this includes the use of a double-boiler or microwave, as well as the oven, and can be rather time-consuming due to the number of steps that must be taken to complete the process. For those who don’t care for cherries, cranberries can be substituted without compromising the integrity of the cookies.
KOLACZKI – Poland
These rich, fruity cookies allow the baker to use his or her own creativity when selecting the fillings. A variety of jams and nuts can be used – make them all the same or use a selection of fruit jams and ground nuts as delicious fillings that will delight the palate. Ingredients for the dough include cream cheese, flour, butter and eggs, while the filling can be made with raspberry, strawberry or apricot jams. There’s a scrumptious nut filling that can be utilized, as well, if you prefer not to include fruit in the recipe. English speaking individuals might know these cookies as Kolaches.
RUSSIAN TEA CAKES – Russia
Russian Tea Cakes (similar to Mexican Wedding Cakes) are delicious, melt-in-your-mouth cookies that resemble bite-size snowballs. Coated with confectioner’s sugar, these exquisite little cookies contain butter, sugar, vanilla, salt, flour and walnuts. After baking, roll in confectioner’s sugar until thoroughly coated – some even roll them again, after the first coat has moistened. These are quick, easy to make and quite inexpensive. Many of the ingredients can be found as common staples in most households, making them among the most economical treats to bake during the holidays.
PASTEL DE NAVIDAD – Spain
As an unusual combination of tart and raisin pillow, these luscious cookies are made with pastry dough – which is pressed into muffin cups and filled with a mixture containing a blend of sugar, eggs, butter, salt, vanilla extract, chopped walnuts and raisins. This is an easy and inexpensive recipe that will make your mouth water – especially when served warm. The prep time is abbreviated, and the baking time only takes between 20 and 25 minutes. These would be great to make when expecting last-minute guests or as a late dessert for visitors.
BASLER BRUNSLI – Switzerland
Almonds, sugar, bittersweet chocolate, cinnamon, ground cloves and egg whites come together to form these delicious cookies, which are coated with confectioner’s sugar and – surprisingly – cut in the shape of hearts. For your own purposes, you can adapt a more common Christmas theme and use holiday shaped cookie cutters, but the heart-shaped cookie is the tradition in Switzerland during the yuletide. The prep time isn’t overly long, but has to be done in parts, since the dough needs to be chilled after it’s made, which extends the total work time.
GEORGIA LIZZIES – United States
Resembling a miniature fruitcake more than a cookie, these holiday treats are filled with an abundance of ingredients that are blended together for a celebration of taste. Among them are candied cherries (red and green), candied pineapple, dates, golden raisins, pecans, brown sugar and peach brandy. If you prefer, the batter can be baked in muffin cups, in order to present them as Christmas muffins or mini-fruitcakes. The prep time isn’t terribly long, but a good amount of work goes into the making of them, and they’re baked at a lower temperature than most cookies (275 degrees, as opposed to the more commonly used 350 degree recipes). While this is, perhaps, not a classic Christmas cookie, it’s quite delicious, nonetheless.
website: http://www.essortment.com/food/christmascookie_sdjl.htm
posted by Christi @ 12:01 PM
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