How to make Christmas Raspberry Almond Cookies?
All-purpose flour - The best flours to use in this recipe are all-purpose flour and plain flour, because it makes that wonderful brittle texture, however you can also use white spelt flour.
Ground almonds - Ground almonds add that wonderful nutty flavor. You can also use ground hazelnuts, but we don’t recommend using walnuts or pecans, because they are to oily for this recipe.
Vanilla essence - Almonds and vanilla, such a fantastic combination. We recommend using vanilla essence or seeds from vanilla pod. If you don’t have vanilla at home at the moment, you can leave it out or use vanilla sugar.
Sugar - In this recipe we use both white and brown sugar. The latter adds that lovely, light caramel flavor and makes the cookies brittle, crunchy.
Raspberry marmalade - Mmmm, so tasty. You can substitute the raspberry marmalade with blueberry marmalade, sour cherry marmalade, grape marmalade, apricot marmalade or plum marmalade.
Icing sugar - It makes this cookie celebratory and perfect for holidays.
First bake the cookies. Spread raspberry marmalade over the larger round cookie and place back in the oven for 5 minutes. The raspberry marmalade with get a bit sticky, which will make it easier to stick the star cookie on top. You can of course use any other shapes and sizes. For Valentine’s day you can use hearts instead of stars or add the initials of your loved ones. You can also place the same large round cookie on top and make it a sandwich cookie.
Size
We made 16 large cookies, just to make them more fun and special. We usually always make small cookies, so it’s good to mix it up and have some stand out. You can use smaller cookie cutter and get more cookies.
How to store cookies?
Store Raspberry Almond Cookies in a cookie box for up to 14 days. These are also an amazing edible Christmas gift. Just place them in a pretty box, tie a box on top and gift it to your loved ones, I bet they will love it.
METHOD
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make the cookie dough
In a small bowl stir to combine all-purpose flour, ground almonds, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl or in a bowl of stand mixer beat to combine both sugars and butter. Mix for about 5 minut using a mixer or stand mixer. Add the egg and vanilla essence and continue to beat. When the egg is completely incorporated, add the dry ingredients and milk, mix until just combined. Wrap in cling film and place in a fridge for 1 hour or in a freezer for 15 minutes.
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cut the cookies and bake
Preheat the oven to 190 °C / 375 °F. Remove the cookie dough from the fridge and place it on a lightly dusted working surface. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a rectangle about 3 mm / 1/10 inch thick. Using a round cookie cutter (9 cm / 3.5-inch), cut 16 circles and 16 stars from the dough. Place the round cookies and star cookies on two separate baking sheets, lined with baking paper. First bake the star cookies. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes at 190 °C / 375 °F, then remove from the oven. Bake the round cookies. While the round cookies are baking, sprinkle the stars with icing sugar, while still warm (not hot).
TipFor easier rolling: Place a sheet of baking paper on the working surface, place the cookie dough on top, then cover with another sheet of baking paper and roll. This way the cookie dough won't stick to the surface or rolling pin. -
raspberry marmalade
While the baked round cookies are still warm, spread one tsp of raspberry marmalade over each cookie, and place them back in the oven for 5 minutes.
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serve or store
Place the sprinkled star cookie on top of each marmalade filled almond cookie. Press together. Leave to cool, then serve or store in a cookie box for up to 14 days.
