These wonderful cookies are a perfect Christmas gift when beautifully packaged in cellophane and tied with a Christmas ribbon. These cookies also make wonderful tree decorations by simply putting a small hole thorough the biscuit and hanging it from the Christmas tree. Makes 20 cookies Preparation time: 90 minutes Cooking time: 25 minutes
Ingredients 780g cake flour 7g ground cinnamon 3g baking powder 1g table salt 3 large eggs 3 large egg yolks 2.25 cups butter 230g granulated sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 25g castor sugar
Method
1 In a large glass bowl combine the cake flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder and salt. Mix thoroughly and set aside. (dry ingredients can be weighed out well in advance)
2 In a medium glass bowl beat the eggs and egg yolks together, also set aside.
3 In a large mixing bowl using a hand held mixer beat the butter until light and fluffy – medium speed.
4 Add the granulated sugar, the vanilla extract, and egg mixture and beat until combined
5 Gradually add the flour mixture to this and beat on low speed till a dough forms
6 Remove the dough from the mixing bowl and divide into 4 equal pieces.
7 Shape into disks, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 90 minutes.
8 Remove from the fridge, unwrap and place the disk between lightly dusted parchment papers. Roll out each disk until it’s about 1cm think.
9 Put the disks back into the fridge for 15 minutes
10 Preheat the oven to 220°C
11 Remove the dough squares from the fridge, cut 2cm strips down the length of the square almost to the end. Fold back every second strip. Do the same with the second dough square.
12 Interweave the 2 pieces of dough perpendicular to each other to form a lattice effect.
13Line backing trays with parchment paper.
14 Using a cookie cutter cut out rounds and place the cookies onto the baking tray and bake until golden brown approximately 11-14 minutes
15 Cool the cookies on a wire wrack for 5 minutes
