Monday 8 December 2014

Kerrie Christmas 7 - Spice Cookies


I have a cupboard of cooking things that do not get used that often, mostly cutters and cake tins, collected over many years of baking. I was looking for my large Christmas tree tin and came across my biscuit forcer. I love all the different discs and the patterns they form.


It triggered a little trip down memory lane. My mother used to make forcer biscuits quite often, we mostly had the plain vanilla version and sometimes a ginger and spice variety. The spice ones remind a little of Speculaas and with the spice flavour are sort of 'Christmassy'. 

The dough can also be rolled into small balls and flattened with a fork or your fingertips. If using the forcer do not use cooking paper on the tray, it is best to pipe directly onto a very lightly greased tray.

Spice cookies 
Ingredients
250 g butter, soft
2/3 cup dark brown sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
1 tablespoon mixed spice
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons nutmeg
2 teaspoons ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
2 1/4 cups plain flour

Method

Beat butter and sugar, add egg, vanilla and spices.
Stir in flour. It should form a soft dough.
Refrigerate for 40 minutes or so until the dough becomes firm.
Use the biscuit forcer to pipe out the cookies, allow room to spread. Pipe onto a very lightly greased tray.

Bake at 190 deg C for 8  to 10 minutes or until cookies are golden brown and slightly darker on the edges.
Cool and dust with icing sugar.




1 comment:

  1. My grandma had one of these, ad my Mum did too. I am not sure why these have gone out of favour with Mum... but I have very happy memories of the clever shapes and delicate texture of the biscuits they used to make :) Thanks for the happy trip down memory lane!

    ReplyDelete

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