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Christmas Cookies

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  • Prep 10 min
  • Total 1 hr 30 min
  • Ingredients 12
  • Servings 4
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One of the things I miss most about my grandparents is baking sweets together. For Christmas time, we loved baking cookies to give out to family and friends. Their favorite cookies were butter cookies or biscuits, those cookies taste like Christmas with the special combination of cinnamon and aniseeds. My grandfather loved to give the cookies a rustic and organic look, so he used a fork to decorate them, while I loved to roll out the dough and used my grandmother’s collection of cookie cutters. Now that I’m a mom, baking cookies including these butter biscuits, is still one of my favorite Christmas traditions. I love to give them a rustic look like my grandpa used to do and of course my kids love to use the cookie cutters. Make them with your family this holiday season!
Leslie Limon
Updated Sep 20, 2016
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Ingredients

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon ground anise seed
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 cup pork fat or vegetable shortening
  • 1 cup granulated white sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup orange liqueur
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

  •  
    1
    In a medium-size container, combine flour, baking powder, salt, aniseed and ground cinnamon.
  •  
    2
    In a large bowl, combine shortening and sugar, and mix with an electric mixer on medium speed until it’s creamy and soft. Add egg and vanilla extract, mix on low speed. Alternate between adding flour mixture and orange liqueur while mixing on low speed. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  •  
    3
    Combine 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon.
  •  
    4
    Preheat oven to 350 °F. Lightly grease 2 to 3 cookie sheets with butter. Shape the dough into 1-in balls. Place them on the greased cookie sheets, leaving a 3-in space between each cookie. Use a fork to gently flatten the balls in the shape of an x. Sprinkle each cookie with a little of the sugar and cinnamon mixture.
  •  
    5
    Bake the cookies at 350 °F for 10 minutes or until they start to turn gold. Remove from oven and sprinkle with more sugar and cinnamon. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving. Serve them with a glass of milk. Enjoy!

Expert Tips

  • tip 1
    To make shaped cookies, roll out the dough on a lightly flour surface until it is 1/4 in thick. Use cutters that are 2-3 inches.
  • tip 2
    If you don’t like aniseed, you can replace them for nutmeg.

Nutrition Information

No nutrition information available for this recipe

More About This Recipe

  • One of the things I miss most about my grandparents is baking sweets together. For Christmas time, we loved baking cookies to give out to family and friends. Their favorite cookies were butter cookies or biscuits, those cookies taste like Christmas with the special combination of cinnamon and aniseeds. My grandfather loved to give the cookies a rustic and organic look, so he used a fork to decorate them, while I loved to roll out the dough and used my grandmother’s collection of cookie cutters. Now that I’m a mom, baking cookies including these butter biscuits, is still one of my favorite Christmas traditions. I love to give them a rustic look like my grandpa used to do and of course my kids love to use the cookie cutters. Make them with your family this holiday season!
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