Yes I know it’s only the beginning of November but as always, we’ve been surrounded by pandoro and panettone and a lot of chocolate bags for the little ones at home in all the major supermarkets for a while now!
I’ve already bought something for the little ones in the family, I couldn’t resist and today I tried making quick Christmas cookies, a non-recipe as I call it, that you can make a few days in advance. Mine end up looking like reindeer with massive antlers because I’m not great at it, but I’m sure you can do much better!
The quick Christmas cookies are made with Pavesini or similar biscuits that I covered with melted white chocolate. They have a big nose made of red Smarties and huge antlers made of dark melted chocolate.
I rushed and put the dark chocolate on while the white chocolate was not fully set, so these poor animals bear the weight of very heavy and jagged antlers, haha!
I preferred using Pavesini, but savoiardi will work fine too, as they keep their oval shape and are crispy.
These are a fun and colorful idea to add to the many Christmas cookies that will flood us in a month!
Instead of making eyes and antlers with melted chocolate, use small ready-made dark chocolate drops for the eyes!
Here are some Christmas suggestions like:
LINZER COOKIES, a special dough with a blueberry jam filling
GINGER AND CINNAMON COOKIES, the classic spicy cookies typical of the holiday season
POLVORONES, a shortbread with almond flour for typical Spanish Christmas cookies, which are so crumbly that they fall apart as the name suggests
ROYAL ICING
QUICK CHRISTMAS COOKIES
The Kitchen of ASI
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: AS YOU PLEASE
- Cooking methods: Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Christmas
Ingredients
- as needed Pavesini (or savoiardi)
- as needed white chocolate
- as needed dark chocolate (or milk chocolate)
- as needed red Smarties (or other candies as you prefer)
Preparation
To make the quick Christmas cookies it’s essential to melt the white chocolate properly, which is a bit more challenging than dark chocolate because it has a lower melting point (about 111 °F) compared to dark chocolate (122 °F).
IN A DOUBLE BOILER OR MICROWAVE, here are 2 methods that with a few precautions will allow you to have a creamy and smooth product without lumps.
TO MELT CHOCOLATE IN A DOUBLE BOILER, simply chop the chocolate and place a small saucepan with 1.5–2 inches of water over the flame.
Place a bowl or a smaller pan on top, which should not touch the water as it gently simmers.
When the chocolate starts to melt, begin stirring to thoroughly combine until completely melted.
It takes little time (clearly it will vary based on the amount of chocolate to melt) but requires careful attention!
I own a microwave, and this method is the best and fastest for me, but you need to be very careful not to extend the melting time as the chocolate can burn!
SO….chop the chocolate, put it in a microwave-safe container, and operate the microwave at low power for 20/30 seconds.
Remove the container and stir vigorously, mixing the melted flakes.
Check the melting degree of the chocolate, and if there are still some small chunks, continue with short low-power steps.
Continue this until the chocolate reaches the right melting point to be used in your preparations…
ESSENTIAL TO PAY ATTENTION TO TIME AND POWER TO AVOID FINDING A LUMPY AND BURNED MESS!
After melting the white chocolate, using a teaspoon, syringe, or piping bag, whichever is easiest for you, spread it on the Pavesino biscuit, trying to cover the top evenly.
Before it solidifies, place a red candy as a nose.
At this point, unlike me, wait until everything hardens perfectly.
Have a coffee, eat a chocolate, check your houseplants, read the latest silly gossip…
Now place the freshly melted dark chocolate in a piping bag or cone and draw two sticks with lateral branches that will become the jagged antlers of our friendly reindeer.
Set aside to let everything set well, then serve them for breakfast and family snacks.
Enjoy your meal!
Annalisa
