Yes I love Christmas, yes Santa is awesome, but I wonder if there isn’t someone else who we should be talking about who doesn’t often get a lot of thanks. After all, you must know the adage that behind every great man is a greater woman. Yes, Mrs Claus, i’m looking at you.
This months theme was sweets for santa, and, while I do remember putting out cookies for santa and carrots for the reindeer, I thought that this year I might shift the focus and have a think about what Mrs Claus would enjoy at this time of year. So I made some Brown Sugar Spiced Cookies for an afternoon tea with Mrs Claus.
I think that after she has spent all year co ordinating elves and making sure that santa doesn’t gain so much weight that the reindeers won’t be able to carry him, Mrs C would like to put her feet up, enjoy a sweet brew of T2 Creme Brûlée tea and a little cinnamon sugar dusted cookie. Or two. Or three. She is a Claus after all! I also thought that she would enjoy some more feminine colours like pink and cream, and that we should put in a little ballet dancing reindeer this year. Just because.
I think Mrs C would also like my other christmas decorations
particularly this garland made by the ever-resourceful Mrs S
from plants in hew own garden!
and what do you think of my little tree?
I thought that these little cookies would be the perfect treat to eat with the tree sparkling, lights twinkling around and some good company at the table. Easy to make and deliciously scented, they will not take long and don’t require a great big list of ingredients (spices aside of course). All you have to do is mix everything together like so…
then bake and dip in cinnamon icing sugar
don’t think you can resist these babies.
So what is your favourite christmas spice my dears? I bet its represented in this recipe!
This post has been part of the
Brown Sugar Spiced Cookies: Adapted from a recipe in the Donna Hay Magazine Dec/Jan 2012
Ingredients
1 cup icing sugar
3 tsp ground cinnamon
2 1/4 cups plain flour
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp bicarb soda
120g butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup golden syrup
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract (I use vanilla bean paste. Love the stuff!)
Method
1. place butter, brown sugar and golden syrup in a bowl and mix until light and fluffy
2. add the egg and vanilla and beat until incorporated
3. add the spices (only 1 tsp cinnamon) and flour and mix until it all comes together
4. roll tablespoons of the dough into balls and place on a baking tray. Don’t worry, they shouldn’t spread too much.
5. Place in an oven at 180 degrees celsius for 8-10 mins
6. Cool on a wire rack
7. While the cookies are cooling, mix together the remaining cinnamon and icing sugar
8. When the cookies are cool, dip each cookie in the cinnamon sugar mixture until completely coated
9. Try not to eat them all at once.