Two-tone Christmas cookies, simple and delicious, also great as a gift idea. Delicious intertwined sticks of crumbly shortcrust pastry, cheerful and colorful, that keep well for several days. The recipe is very simple: prepare the shortcrust pastry in two colors, let it rest, then make sticks and twist them together. You can make the cookies shorter or longer, as you like, and if you prefer, you can bend one end so you can hang them on the tree. Try this delicious recipe and, if you like, take a look at this collection of Christmas sweets.
Here are more Christmas cookie recipes:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 25 cookies
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Seasonality: Winter
- Energy 95.82 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 11.27 (g) of which sugars 4.18 (g)
- Proteins 1.40 (g)
- Fat 5.21 (g) of which saturated 3.24 (g)of which unsaturated 1.91 (g)
- Fibers 0.22 (g)
- Sodium 16.97 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 20 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 2 cups cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup cup powdered sugar
- 10 tbsp tbsp butter
- 2 egg yolks (or one medium-small egg)
- vanilla extract (to taste)
- red food coloring (about 2-3 g)
- 1 pinch salt
I used this red gel coloring, which guarantees a nice intense color even in small quantities.
Tools
- Stand mixer or bowl for hand mixing
- Baking sheet
- Parchment paper
Preparation
Put the butter and powdered sugar in the bowl of the stand mixer. The butter for this recipe must be soft, so take it out of the fridge about an hour before.
Use the paddle attachment and mix until you get a cream.
Add half a teaspoon of vanilla extract (to taste), a pinch of salt, and the egg yolks.
Continue mixing with the stand mixer to combine everything.
If you don’t have a stand mixer, proceed by hand in the same way, putting the ingredients in a bowl.
Now divide the dough into two equal parts.
Add a few drops of red coloring to one part and work the dough on the work surface until you get a nice uniform color.
Wrap the two dough portions in plastic wrap and let them rest in the refrigerator for about 2 hours.
After the time has passed, take the two doughs and form sticks of regular thickness and the same length (3-4 inches, as you like). The sticks should be the same number for each color.
Twist the white ones with the red ones, being careful not to crush them.
Place your cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, slightly spaced apart.
Bake them in a static oven at 350°F for 12-14 minutes, depending on their size. Times vary depending on the power and characteristics of your oven, keep an eye on the cookies to avoid them getting too colored on the surface.
The two-tone Christmas cookies are ready, perfect for gifting!
They keep crumbly for several days, stored in a glass or tin container.
Advice and Notes
You can also make the cookies in the shape of candy canes by bending one end.
Use a gel or powder coloring, not a liquid one as it would soften the dough too much. The color should be nice and intense because it will tend to lighten during baking.
Try to work with cold dough, otherwise you will have difficulty handling the sticks. If you prepare the cookies in advance, keep the trays in the refrigerator until baking time.
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