S-Cookies for Christmas

S shaped cookies are traditionally a year round treat. But today I will give you a variation which tastes and smells of Christmas. The secret is the added spicemix which makes these cookies extra scrumptious! The taste is reminiscent of Spekulatius, a traditional picture cookie from Germany. But not many home bakers have the necessary moulds to make those. So, a piping bag with a star shaped tip of at least one centimetre  will give you an excellent result.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

S shapes piped on a lined baking tray

As I was piping merrily along the idea came to me to try the other letters of the alphabet. That way I can pipe all the letters to spell someone's name, which should be fun for children (of all ages)!

Not so easy without practice, but fun!

I also piped circles, otherwise known as Kringel, another traditional shape.

Fresh out of the
oven

Filled disposable piping bag

Now let us bake! You will need several baking sheets lined with parchment or baking paper. Piping bag with star nozzle or a piping syringe with a suitable tip.


Ingredients:

200 g soft butter, 100 g sifted icing sugar, 1 medium egg,
1 tsp vanilla extract, 2 Tbsp milk, a pinch of salt, 3 tsp spice
mix (recipe below), 270 g all purpose flour   

Method:

Using a handmixer cream butter and icing sugar till smooth, then add egg, vanilla and milk and mix to combine. Sift flour with the salt and spice mix and add half of this to the butter mix and mix in at low speed. When combined add the remainder and knead by hand until smooth. The dough should be soft but not sticky.

Spice Mix:

2 tsp ground cinnamon                          1/4 tsp ground green cardamom

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg                           1/4 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp ground cloves                             1/4 tsp ground white pepper (I prefer black pepper)

1/2 tsp ground ginger

Except for cinnamon and ginger which I buy already ground, use only whole spices which you toast and grind yourself in a spice blender. The taste is far superior to already ground spices which lose their flavour rather quickly. Likewise, nutmeg should be bought whole and grated finely according to need.

Now preheat the oven to 175 C and start piping the cookies onto the prepared baking sheets. This recipe yields at least 40 large cookies. I was able to get double the number because I used a tip of 1 cm diameter. Bake on middle shelf for 15 minutes until edges turn light brown. Cool on wire racks.

If you do not have enough baking sheets to use up all the dough, use the same sheets again but make sure they have cooled down completely between batches.

If you decide to make some alphabet cookies you should draw parallel lines on your parchment paper about 5 or 6 cm apart, turn paper over so the lines are on the back and will not affect the cookies.

Look closely and you see the lines

I hope you enjoy making these and eating them too! In my house these cookies do not last long. I would love to hear from you, comments, questions or other observations.