My top secret Christmas cookie recipe

This is the one recipe I make over and over again, and have done from the very first moment I tasted these cookies.

They are also the cookies I make as gifts year in and year out.

My mum found the recipe 'somewhere' and she  is one of those people who names recipes according to the person who gave it too you, or who you make them for or with.

I grew up with thinking a particular dessert was called Vera's Dessert, turns out it wasn't.

So because my mum made these once with my niece for Christmas, they have been forever named, Jessica's Snowballs.  

So here you have it, my all time favourite Christmas cookie.

Single handily responsible for the extra bumps and lumps on my hips and thighs, which is why I only ever eat them at Christmas. 

Jessica's Snowballs 

226 g of butter

 (unsalted or salted- just omit the salt if using salted)

3 tablespoons of caster sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

1/2 teaspoon of salt (or not if using salted butter)

2 cups of plain flour

3/4 cup of blanched, flaked almonds.

Icing sugar to roll and store the cookies in.

Set oven to about 180 degrees.

Cream the butter with the sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy.

Sift your flour and salt together and blend into the creamed mixture.

Stir in the almonds.

Shape into the size of walnuts or mould into crescent shapes

 I mould mine into crescent shapes, as you can see here.

Place onto an ungreased tray

(sorry about the bad photography my nice camera needs a new memory card, so I am relying on my iPhone)

Bake for about 15 minutes.

While they are still hot, but not straight away (this is a tricky thing to judge), lift them off the tray and very gently roll them in icing sugar, then place them back onto a rack to finish cooling.
I put my icing sugar on a flat plate or try for rolling.

This provides them with a yummy coating, that you won't appreciate until you are eating one.

I then store mine in a tin, smothered in icing sugar.
Only taking them out to gift or eat.

This is before adding the next layer.
Seriously I bury them, so it is like embarking on a snowy expedition to find one.


So there you have it my secret cookie recipe.

I hope you enjoy.

x

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White choc chip and cranberry cookies

We are off to our church community Christmas party this afternoon, and we have all been asked to bring something to share.

We are on a fairly limited (ok none existent) budget at the moment (meaning we are living on the air of God's provision and the little bit left on our credit card).

Normally I would just turn up with nothing, when I feel stretched at every post like I do currently, but I am learning to challenge myself in my generosity. 

This being the case I needed a no fail, no faff recipe that I wasn't going to have to throw out because I had mucked it up.

I have used this Chocolate Chunk Cookie recipe from Joy of Baking, a thousand times (ok I exagerate) but it IS my favourite basic cookie mix recipe.  

I REALLY like this site, especially the tested recipes, as they never fail.  I mean I have NEVER had a failure with any of them, and I can be a fairly creative and hair brained cook.

I won't repost the recipe because that is just redundant.

Joy of Baking - Chocolate Chunk Cookie Mix

Here are the things I changed...

*  I used self raising flour so omitted the baking soda (or bi-carb as the rest of the world calls it). 

*  I added 60 gr of dried sweetened cranberries

*  White choc chips INSTEAD of chocolate chunks

*  Mine seemed a little sticky so I added a bit more flour.  

My gauge is when it just about stops sticking to my hands when I roll, so not too much, just a little.

Here is how they turned out.

Scrumdiddlyumptious to the max

Or perhaps I should wait and see what others think later on.

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