At this time of the year, I like to take this old recipe out of the cupboard, where I it keep safely and thinking about Christmas.
It’s a kind of a ritual in my family, to spend an afternoon in the kitchen making biscuits, listening Christmas songs and enjoying a glass of mulled wine, of course! Christmas will not be Christmas without a zest of lemon and a zest of orange. Both of them are the secret of those delicious biscuits. They enhance the flavour. Patience and love are needed to make this recipe and to bake a full tin of delicious , buttery and tasty Christmas biscuits.
The recipe has been passed through the time to each member of our family. The smell of freshly baked biscuits coming out of the oven is a sign that Christmas is just around the corner.
As most of the recipes (as I try to keep them as easy as possible and for good value) posted on this blog, a few ingredients are used to make those delicious biscuits. They will be more appreciated with a warm cup of tea or coffee at anytime of the day.
The list of ingredients and utensils needed are given below.
The recipe below will make around 50 biscuits. Depending on how much you love them, double or triple the ingredients to make a bigger batch!
INGREDIENTS:
- 125gr butter
- 50gr of sugar
- 250gr flour
- 1 egg + 1 egg for brushing
- 1 lemon
- 1orange
UTENSILS:
- 1 mixing bowl
- 1 pan to melt the butter
- 1 whisk
- 1 scale
- 1 wooden spoon
- 1 grater
- 1 rolling pin
- A set of cutter including a Christmas tree, a star and angel.
- 1 baking tray
- 1 sheet of paper
- 1 brush
METHOD:
1.Start melting the butter in a pan. When melted, I use a whisk to mix the sugar with the melted butter. Add the egg, make sure that the mix is not too hot otherwise the egg will scramble!
When the butter, sugar, egg are mixed together, add the flour, lemon zest and orange zest. At this stage, I use a wooden spoon. The wooden spoon is stronger and easier to use than a whisk.
Mix until to obtain a smooth and homogeneous dough.
Allow the dough to rest for one hour into the fridge before rolling it.
2.Turn the oven on to 180 degrees Celsius.
Use the rolling pin. Roll the dough out so it’s fairly thin, but more than 5mm thick. Use the cutters to shape the biscuits.
To take the biscuits off of the working plan, use a spatula or a flipper fish. The dough should feel firm, arrange them on a baking tray evenly. When all the biscuits are cut and place on a baking tray , you will notice that some trims will be left on the working plan. Put everything (the dough!) back together. If you fancy to roll it again please do, otherwise the dough can be keep in the fridge for a week or untilthe next time that you fancy to bake one more batch.
3.Brush them with the egg yolk.
The tray with the lined up biscuits can go inside the fridge for a few minutes to make sure that the dough will be properly set. It will help to get a better final result. If you think that the dough is set enough, put them inside the oven and bake them for 15 minutes.
They should be golden color and shiny.
Bon apétit.
Most of us will be off between Christmas and the New Year so, if you would like to make something easy after all the cooking delivered through Christmas, CLICK on the following link:
