Christmas cookies time is here! [recipe inside]

It is this time of the year again. That one time that I bake Pierniczki (Gingerbreads is the English name for them I guess). Those are the most typical Polish cookies for this time of the ear. And most people bake them themselves and have their own recipes.

My mum has a very old one that she follows every year. That recipe is the real deal! You have to make it much earlier and the raw dough will have to mature in cool place for another few weeks. That recipe will also ask you to burn sugar which will smoke your house terribly - but that is the smell that starts the Christmas season.
Then after few weeks of maturing you bake the cookies. And those cookies can also last for weeks ad week if you keep them closed and hidden from hungry people. They will not change the texture or taste. It's like magic :)

My recipe is much simpler and does not require preparing weeks in advance. I found it online some years ago and since then, every year I change it a bit. Probably until I reach the point when I say "This is it!" and then will keep it to repeat every year.

The Recipe

Those amounts will give you about 50 cookies. Of course depends how big and thick you make them. I usually double or even triple the ingredients to make lots and lots. Most is given away and the rest stays with me for the weeks to come :)

For the cookies:
300 grams of all purpose flour (not self-raising)
100 grams wholegrain rye flour
2 whole eggs
70 grams of icing sugar
100 grams of butter (unsalted)
50 grams of honey
50 grams of sugarcane molasses (I use cane molasses)
2 tablespoons of pure, dark cocoa powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon of ground coriander

For the royal icing:
1 egg white
140 grams of icing sugar
about 10 drops of fresh lemon juice

Method:
First thing is to weight and mix well all dry ingredients. It is good to sift the all together to make sure there is no lumps and all the spices gets mixed in the flour. Put in a large bowl and set aside. It will already smell like heaven!

Now slowly melt butter (please do not use margarine or any other fat), but make sure it doesn't boil. Turn the heat off when there is just a little solid bit left. It will slowly melt too.
Cool it a little bit and add honey and molasses. Mix it together as well as possible. Then add whole eggs (I also added that extra yolk from the egg I used for the icing) and mix all together.

Add the wet mixture to the flour mixture and start mixing. I used wooden spoon at the beginning until the ingredients got combined, then I worked the dough with hand on a counter. If it is very sticky, dust slightly the counter, but try not to add more flour to the dough. It doesn't need much needing, just until its uniform and smooth.

Now it is time to roll it and cut whatever shape cookies you want.
You can also choose the texture: if you prefer them thinner and more crunchy - roll it to about 3 mm thick. If you want the cookies to be thicker, more soft inside and just crunchy on the edges - roll it to maybe 5 mm thick.

Bake for about 8-10 minutes (depends if you have thin or thick) in 180 degrees C.
Leave them to cool and start making the icing:
Sift icing sugar, add egg white and lemon and slowly start mixing. I used electric mixer and the hook ends, not the whipping ends. Took a while, but it is better when the icing is not too airy. It will shine better. After about 7-10 minutes it is ready to use. This amount should be more than enough for one portion

Now kids would have all the fun to ice it and decorate with whatever they want :)
I kept it very simple this year. Not only I picked just a few forms, but also kept them all white. Some have sprinkles, but not many - we don't like those very much. Some I left undercoated. They are nice this way too. Less sweet and you can feed the spices more.
Sometimes I dip the freshly iced cookie in shredded coconut. They come out nice a fuzzy that way, or in some chopped nuts.

Here are two phone shots during the work.

After they cooled down and the icing dried properly, you can store them in a tin or a jar for almost as long as you want (or as long as they manage to last).

Have fun :)
And tell me what are your must-have Christmas cookies?

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_{Shot with Nikon D5500 + Sigma 105mm lens
All photos and text are my own.}

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