Must have for Christmas.
These cookies are my absolute favourite Christmas cookie, ever. I am not so sure where the recipe comes from, however, I know mom made these for Christmas since I can remember. It is a really simple recipe, the issue is: do you have the means to make the shape?
Once you made the dough and let it stand for a day you will need: a meat grinder. Yes, I am not kidding you. I think this is the part that I find most memorable: my mother in the kitchen, handling the real real real old kitchen machine with the meat grinder attachment. That machine is so loud, you can hear it on the other end of the house. I believe it belonged to my grandmother, maybe my great-grandmother. It’s for sure though that if the thing ever breaks there will be no replacement parts for it and my mother would have to buy a modern one.
Yes, Christmas at my parents house was a loud one, at least some of the cookie baking time. Otherwise it was really nice and cozy. While my mother made those Christmas cookies I would usually take care of the Plätzchen, fun shaped cookies that you paint with icing. Though mom needed a lot of space to make the cookies and I basically do to in my tiny kitchen.
I was not sure if I would be able to make those cookies. Fortunately, my husband bought me a KitchenAid Artisan machine, which has the capability to attach a meat grinder. A quick search on Google and I found an attachment for the machine to make cookies. See pictures for reference, it is a bit difficult to describe.
Ingredients:
- 500g flour
- 85g margarine
- 85g butter
- 2 eggs
- 170g sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 25g baking powder
- pinch of salt
Pieces of dough, one at a time.
You should prepare the dough one day before using it. Basically you only need to combine all ingredients, kneading it well. It will take some time, the butter needs to soften by the warmth of your hand, so don’t worry. Either put it in the fridge for one day or let it sit outside, well covered.
That’s the best attachment ever.
In Saskatchewan the air is rather dry, especially in winter time, so watch out for that. When you work with the dough it should be fine, but when it rests for the whole day you might want to check.
Neatly alined cookies pre-baking.
Next day, take the dough, knead it again and take small portions to use it in the meat grinder. Make the cookies as long as you like but be careful, the tend to be somewhat fragile. I found the length of my middle finger is a good size. Place them on a cookie sheet lined with baking paper. Don’t worry about rising, those cookies don’t tend to expand too much.
Post baking, yummy goodness.
Once cooled you can either enjoy them plain and simple or dip one side into dark chocolate. *yummy* If you should want to make those cookies you could also form them by hand. It is not as nice but still good enough.
Happy baking!
P.S.: If you would like to get this type of cookie attachment, let me know and I see that I can arrange it.
