Christmas cinnamon cookie recipe that rivals Mary Berry

(Image courtesy of Unsplash)

By Elle Summers

We are now in the run up to Christmas, and with many of us students heading home to varying tiers across the country, it’s good to have some ideas up your sleeve to keep the boredom at bay. A favourite past time of mine is baking, not only for the fun of making different sweet treats, but the result is always a plus! With this in mind, are you looking for something different to bake this Christmas time? Well look no further! This recipe for traditional German cookies is not only unique from your normal Christmas bakes but also creates amazingly tasty results. With the cinnamon giving these treats a Christmas taste, they are sure to get you in the festive spirit in no time.

Ingredients:

· 300g Caster Sugar

· 3 Egg Whites

· 2-3 tablespoons of Lemon Juice

· 400g Ground Almonds

· ½ Lemon, zested

· 2 tablespoons of Ground Cinnamon

· ¼ teaspoon Ground Cloves

· ½ teaspoon Ground Nutmeg

· ½ teaspoon of Ground Cardamom

Method:

1. First, preheat the oven to 160°C

2. Then, whip the caster sugar and egg whites into a soft meringue (this will take roughly about 10 minutes)

3. Next, add the lemon juice and mix for about 20-30 seconds. Take 1/3 of this mix out and leave to the side for later

4. Add all the remaining ingredients to the main part of meringue and combine to create a dough like texture

5. Rest the dough in the fridge for 1 hour minimum

6. After sufficient time has passed, remove the dough from the fridge. TOP TIP: cover the work surface with cling film – it’ll make it so much easier to get the dough up later! Knead the dough together with your hands

7. Place a sheet of cling film on top of the dough and roll it down to about 1cm in thickness

8. From here, the dough can be cut into shapes – I recommend stars to keep it Christmassy!

9. To cut the dough successfully, use a bowl of hot water to dip the cutters into before and after cutting each shape out. This helps to release the cookie from the cutter with ease

10. Take the meringue you left aside earlier a spread a thin layer over the dough. Try to keep it as smooth as possible

11. Cover a baking tray with greaseproof paper and lay the cookies out with spaces between them

12. Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes. TOP TIP: bake with the bottom heat setting of your oven so that the top stays white and does not discolour. The cookie is baked when you are able to gently lift the edges off the baking paper, but the centre remains soft and sticky

13. Leave to cool for 30 minutes before removing from the tray

Please let us know in the comments below or via our Instagram if you give these wonderful Christmas cookies a go! Or we would love to hear what your go to Christmas bakes are.