Christmas Cookies (Petits biscuits de Noël)
French Christmas cookies scented with cinnamon, shaped using cookie cutters.
Ingredients
flour
400 g
softened butter (room temperature), cut into small cubes
250 g + 20 g (for greasing the pan)
fine sugar (caster sugar)
200 g
whole eggs
2 + 3 egg yolks (for brushing)
almond flour (ground almonds)
150 g
ground cinnamon
2 tsp
vanilla sugar
2 packets
Instructions
1
Mixing
Mix the butter and sugar together until slightly whitened. Add the flour and almonds, then add the 2 whole eggs, mixing continuously. Pour in the vanilla sugar and ground cinnamon, and stir until evenly combined.
2
Chilling
Shape the dough into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. It is best to prepare this the day before, letting the dough chill overnight.
3
Shaping and Baking
Preheat the oven to 180°C (gas mark 6). Take out the dough and roll it out to about 4 mm thick, then cut out shapes with cookie cutters. Grease the baking pan with butter and arrange the cookies on it. Brush the surface with beaten egg yolk. Bake for 10–12 minutes, watching carefully — the cookies should turn golden.
