Christmas sugar cookie sandwich recipe
For Christmas you need something special. Something that tells a story or reflects the season.Well here is a giant recipe for giant Christmas sugar cookie sandwiches. You will need a great appetite, or a good friend, to eat one of these. You will make two separate batches of cookies and then assemble them together. Check the tools and ingredients carefully, there are some you may need to get specially; well it is Christmas! This recipe makes about a dozen sandwiches and several spare smaller Christmas 'trees'. IngredientsUnsalted Butter - 6 oz (this must be well softened)Caster sugar - 4 oz Molasses - 2 oz Baking powder - 1 tsp Salt - 1 tsp All purpose flour - 10 oz Ground cinnamon - 2 to 4 teaspoons according to your taste (I like 4) Candied (glace) cherries - about 8 ToolsScalesElectric mixer (not essential) Bowl Spoon for mixing Christmas tree cookie cutter, 5 to 6 ins tall* Two or three non-stick heavyweight baking sheets Flat knife to lift cookies * for the other recipe you will need a Christmas tree cutter that is 2 1/2 to 3 ins tall. If you cannot find them, then make a triangle shape out of cardboard and use that as a template to cut the dough with a sharp knife. MethodPut on a kettle of water to boil.Set the oven to warm up to 350F, Gas Mk 4. If you do not have non stick baking sheets then butter/ grease the ones you are using. Take the top of the molasses and put it in a medium bowl. Fill the bowl with the hot water from the kettle, about half way up the container. This will make the molasses runny for pouring later. Put the butter and sugar in the mixer bowl and cream together on high speed for five minutes until the mixture is pale in color. While the butter is creaming, weigh the sifted flour into another bowl, add the cinnamon, mix gently, and set aside. When the butter is creamed, pop the mixer's bowl on the scales and add the softened molasses. Then add the salt and baking powder. Return to the mixer and continue on high speed for another two or three minutes. Use a spatula, if necessary, to pull the ingredients together and make sure it is all well mixed. Remove the mixing bowl and add the flour. Stir in with a spoon until the flour is no longer dusty. Return the bowl to the mixer and set the mixer speed down to slow. Again, beat for three or four minutes. You should now find that the mixture is uniform and will begin to lift easily away from the bowl without sticking. Flour a work surface for rolling. Take half of the mixture and roll it out until it is about 1/4" thick. Cut out the cookies with the Christmas tree shaped cutter. Place them on the oiled/ greased sheets. Cut the candied cherries in half and place one firmly on the top of each Christmas tree. Place in the oven. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until nicely brown round the edges. Don't let them burn, or it will ruin the delicate, natural flavors. Allow to cool on the sheets for two to five minutes. then use the flat knife to slide them onto a rack to finish cooling. Wash the cookie sheets ready for part 2. Now we make the top part of the sandwich. When you make this quantity you will have some left over for those with smaller appetites. IngredientsUnsalted butter (softened out of the fridge for two or more hours) - 2 sticksCaster sugar - 8 oz Salt 1/2 teaspoon 2 eggs (large) Plain flour - 4 cups plus a bit (see method) plus extra for rolling) Baking powder - 1 teaspoon Almond flavoring - 4 teaspoons Green food color - 1 teaspoon Angelica ToolsElectric mixerSpatula Two non-stick heavyweight baking sheets Rolling pin Christmas tree cookie cutter 2 1/2 to 3 inch tall MethodHeat the oven to 350 degrees F , Gas Mk 3 (moderate oven)Put the butter and sugar in an electric mixer. Beat on a fast setting until light and fluffy. Add the salt and flavoring then add the egg. Mix for a further three minutes. Remove the bowl from the mixer and add three quarters of the flour and the baking powder. Mix gently by hand until the flour is mostly absorbed. Add the food color. You want a good, deep color as the baking will lighten it. Add more color if the instructions on your bottle permit. Return to the mixer at slow speed and mix for a further three or four minutes. Add the remaining flour slowly. Stop adding flour when the mixture gets heavy and can lift off the mixing bowl without sticking. If you have dough hooks for your mixer, you may find these are better when the mixture gets heavy. Flour a surface for rolling and sprinkle some caster sugar as well. Roll out the dough to ¼ inch thickness, cut the individual Christmas tree cookies, place on baking sheets with at least ½ inch separation. Sprinkle with caster sugar. Place a 1" long piece of Angelica strip in the middle of each cookie as you see in the picture. Place in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until a delicate golden brown round the edges. Leave the cookies to cool on the baking trays for about two minutes. Then remove and place on a wire rack to finish cooling. Later, say the next day, when all are cool, you can make the sandwiches. IngredientsSoft frosting - ready madeSilver cake decoration balls Frosting flowers. ToolsFrosting syringe set with a medium rose or star nozzle.Method
Pick the dozen green trees with the best color and turn them face down. Squeeze some frosting all over the upturned face of the 'tree'. Pick up each one in turn and turn them over, placing then in the middle of the large molasses trees. Squeeze gently into position.Place one blob of frosting at the head of the piece of Angelica and one on the end of each branch on the molasses trees. Decorate the Angelica blob with the frosting flower and the branch ends with the silver balls. Go to the top of this Christmas sugar cookie recipe page.
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