CHRISTMAS CRINKLE COOKIES

Crinkle cookies hold a special place in my heart for several reasons. First and foremost, their texture is simply delightful. The combination of a soft, fudgy interior with a slightly crisp exterior creates an enjoyable contrast that makes every bite satisfying. The visual appeal of the cracked surface, dusted with icing sugar, adds to their charm

The depth of flavour, coupled with the hint of sweetness from the sugar on top, makes them irresistible. They pair beautifully with a cup of tea or coffee. They also evoke a sense of nostalgia. They remind me of baking days spent in the kitchen with the simplicity of the ingredients, often staples found in most pantries, makes them accessible to bake at any time.

My Christmas take on these bad boys are filled with a punchy grapefruit curd that really compliments the vanilla cookie flavour and then finished with shards of candy canes, which may be surprising but grapefruit and peppermint combo so well. Feel free to modify and leave out the candy cane shard for an all year round treat.

CHRISTMAS CRINKLE COOKIES

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CHRISTMAS CRINKLE COOKIES 〰️

Makes 9 cookies (double/triple recipe for higher portions)

60gm butter (cubed at room temp)

105gm caster sugar

1 egg

1/2 lemon (juice)

1 tea sp vanilla (essence is fine)

200gm plain flour

3/4 tea sp baking powder

40gm demaarac sugar

40gm icing sugar (sifted)

Grapefruit curd

2 candy canes (smashed into small shards)

  1. Begin by adding egg to large bowl and whisk (use an electric mixer). Slowly pour in the sugar and beat for a sec before adding in the butter and beat until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes). 

  2. Add in the Leon juice and vanilla and whisk until combined.

  3. Add the flour and baking powder and using a rubber spatula or big spoon, bring everything together to form a soft dough. Cover with plastic and allow to rest in fridge for 2 hours.

  4. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius fan forced and line large baking tray.

  5. Once dough is chilled portion into nine balls and then roll portion into a sphere using your hands before rolling through a bowl of demerara sugar until cover and then a bowl of sifted icing sugar until covered. Place onto line baking tray in a 3 X 3 formation.

  6. Using your thumb push down deep into the middle of the cookies, as far as possible without breaking through. Place into oven and bake for 20 minutes and a very important little tip I do, is to make sure I get a perfect crevice, halfway through the cook I grab a smooth rounded table spoon measuring spoon, run under hot water, shake off water and re push the in-dent into each cookie into the middle. Don’t remove from oven just pull the tray out a little. This gives me a better rounded middle with no puff every time.

  7. Remove from oven, allow to cool on baking tray for 10 minutes or until cool to the touch and then pipe into the middle some grapefruit curd. Sprinkle candy can shards around curd to finish.