The braided cookies are crumbly shortbread cookies scented with butter and vanilla, good to enjoy on their own with tea or to fill with spreads and jams. What do you say? Too difficult to braid? No worries, nothing is braided here. The braid is a design to print by passing the shortbread over a special mat. It was originally designed for semifreddo with its mold, but I find reusing it like this is truly ingenious! So let’s get into the kitchen, and I’ll tell you how to make braided cookies with a trick!
The shortbread recipe is always the same: that of Miriam Bonizzi.
Not to be missed
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Rest time: 2 Hours
- Preparation time: 25 Minutes
- Portions: 40 Pieces
- Cooking methods: Oven, Electric Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
The butter must be cold from the refrigerator, and the egg at room temperature. The quantities of this shortbread are suited for using the cookie stamp. Using a classic recipe or changing the quantities, there is a risk that the design will disappear during baking.
With the indicated quantities, you get about 40 cookies.
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup butter
- 2/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Tools
- 1 Mixer Kitchen Aid Artisan
- 1 Baking Sheet perforated
- 1 Rolling Pin with thickness guides
- 1 Mat silicone braided pattern
- 1 Cookie Cutter round 2 inches
Steps
In the mixer bowl with the paddle attachment, work all the ingredients until they are compact and well-mixed: flour, powdered sugar, cubed butter, egg, and vanilla.
Divide the dough into two equal parts and work them on the work surface to form two slightly flattened rectangular blocks. Wrap them in plastic wrap and refrigerate for two hours.
After the resting time, bring one block to the lightly floured work surface and use the rolling pin with 1/4 inch thickness guides to roll out the shortbread and cut simple discs using the cookie cutter. Roll out the second block using the rolling pin with 5/16 inch thickness guides, place the mat with the braided side in contact with the shortbread, and press gently with the rolling pin so that the design prints onto the shortbread, but without rolling too much to avoid excessively thinning the shortbread. You should aim to achieve 1/4 inch thickness with the second block as well. Remove the mat and cut discs with the round cookie cutter.Place the cookies on a perforated baking sheet and refrigerate for 15 minutes, then bake them at 356°F static, preheated for 15 minutes.
Once baked, let them cool and then fill them with hazelnut cream or jam of your choice, closing it between a smooth and a braided cookie.
