Bow Tie Cookies – For Christmas are very easy to make. Not only that, but they are great as a little treat at Christmas. The cookie, or biscuit, has a lovely texture, a cross between shortbread and Viennese. For flavour there is vanilla sugar and lemon zest. Both add a wonderful, but subtle flavour. To create the bow tie effect there is a little white chocolate and some sprinkles. Although I say white chocolate any type will work.
Jump to RecipeOf course the flavour profile is adaptable to personal preferences. So, for instance, a little ground ginger might make a nice variation.
I have adapted a recipe I saw on here. I think the recipe is the sort that might be good for children to help with, making the shape and adding the decoration.
The cookies, or biscuits, can easily be offered as gifts too, in a little bag. But I rather think they may not last long enough to become gifts.
Ingredients
The list of ingredients is not long, thankfully. But, combined, they make a delicious little treat.
Flour – Plain or all purpose flour is best for the cookies.
Baking Powder – to give a rise to the cookies.
Cornflour – This helps to keep the cookies nice and tender
Butter – Unsalted butter, melted, gives a lovely flavour. But oil can be used instead.
Sugar – Caster or granulated sugar for the sweetness you need in cookies.
Egg – Medium in UK/Europe or large in North America.
Vanilla Sugar – This adds a subtle vanilla flavour. If you don’t have it you can just increase the amount of sugar by the same amount.
Lemon Zest – This adds a great flavour to the cookies too.
Chocolate – I use white chocolate for decoration, but milk or dark chocolate will be good too.
Sprinkles – Nonpareil sprinkles or hundreds and thousands, to adorn the chocolate.
Process for Bow Tie Cookies – For Christmas
Making the cookies is a very simple process. It doesn’t need a mixer, a hand whisk will suffice.
I always like to rub the lemon zest into the sugar to start with, releasing the lemon oil for maximum flavour. But of course you can just add it in without rubbing. Then whisk the sugar with the egg until well combined. Add in the cornflour and whisk again until you have a nice smooth batter. Pour in the melted butter and mix again. Then mix the baking powder into the flour and add that, in two additions, into the batter. Fold the flour in to make a nice soft dough. You can use a hand to squeeze the dough together.
Place the dough on a work surface and gently knead for a few seconds. Then divide it into 4 equal parts. Form each part into a rope of dough, about 16 inches(40cm) long. Cut the ropes into 2 inch(5 cm) pieces. Take a fork and press the tines into each end of the pieces to make a ridges. Make sure you have a small band of dough between the two sets of ridges.
Place the shaped dough onto lined baking trays, leaving a gap between each. Then bake in a preheated oven for between 12 and 15 minutes, until the the cookies begin to colour a little.
Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack. Melt the chocolate. Brush the chocolate over the centre band of each cookie. Of course you can pipe or spoon it over instead. Add the sprinkles of choice onto the chocolate. Leave the cookies for the chocolate to firm up again before serving. Though you may find that difficult as they are so appealing.
My Cookies.
I let my cookies bake for 14 minutes, checking for a slight colouring. Then I put them onto a wire rack to cool. They looked so attractive just as they were. However adding the chocolate and sprinkles transformed them to something even better.
I did sample a couple before decorating. The crunchy exterior with a tender crumb inside was just perfect. Tasting again, after decorating was even better. The combination of subtle vanilla and lemon along with the little taste of chocolate – just perfect. The sprinkles gave an extra crunch too.
These are great little cookies for anytime, but particularly at Christmas.
Another lovely cookie recipe is Gooey Chocolate Cookies.
Bow Tie Cookies – For Christmas
32
servings20
minutes15
minutesKeep the screen of your device on
Ingredients
200g(1 1/3 cups, based on scooping packed flour into a 250ml cup) plain flour
50g(5 1/2 tbsp) cornflour
4g(1 tsp) baking powder
1 medium egg(large in USA)
98g(7 tbsp) melted unsalted butter
75g(6 tbsp) caster sugar
10g(2 tsp) vanilla sugar
grated zest of 1 lemon
50g(1 3/4 oz) white chocolate( you may not use it all)
Coloured sprinkles
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/350F.
- Line a couple of baking trays with parchment paper or silicone mats.
- Mix the baking powder into the flour and set aside.
- Place the sugar and zest into a large bowl, and rub between your fingers until the oils in the zest are released.
- Add the egg and whisk until fully combined with the sugar.
- Put the cornflour in and whisk again until combined into a smooth batter.
- Pour in the melted butter and whisk again to combine fully.
- Add the flour, in two addtions, and fold in with a spatula until a dough forms.
- Use a hand to squeeze the dough together and place on work surface.
- Knead it gently for a few seconds to ensure it is all nicely combined.
- Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces.
- Roll each piece with your hands to form ropes about 16 inches(40cm) long.
- Cut each rope into 8 2inch(5 cm) pieces.
- Use the tines of a fork to press each end of those pieces making ridges with a band across the middle.
- Squeeze the band with your fingers to make each piece look like a bow tie.
- :Place the shaped dough onto a baking tray, leaving a gap between each.
- Bake in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes until the cookies just begin to colour a little.
- Leave them on the trays for two minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
- Gently melt the white chocolate, in a microwave using short bursts and stirring each time, or in a bain marie(double boiler).
- Brush a little chocolate onto the centre band of the cookies( you can let it set and brush again if you wish).
- Add the sprinkles over the top of the chocolate and leave to set before serving, or storing in an airtight container.