Hi Everyone,
Recently we hosted a cocktail party at our home and I decided that I wanted to use my Australiana animal cookie cutters as something a little bit novel for our guests. They turned out really well (if I do say so myself) and were a hit with everyone.
As I’m at a bit of a loss this week regarding what to post, I thought I would share Nigella Lawson’s recipe with you. Become inspired and drag out those cookie cutters from home and make something different for your next function.
I’ve even posted a photo so you can see my laborious icing work!!
CUT-OUT COOKIES (Recipe from Nigella Lawson – Feast)
Makes 25-30
90g soft unsalted butter 200g plain flour
100g caster sugar ½ teaspoon baking powder
1 large egg ½ teaspoon fine salt
½ teaspoon real vanilla extract
FOR THE ICING
150g icing sugar, sifted
Food colouring
Preheat oven to 180C
Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and moving towards mousiness, then beat in the egg and vanilla. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter and eggs, and mix gently but surely. If you think the finished mixture is to sticky to be rolled out, add more flour, but di so sparingly as too much will make the dough tough. Form into a ball, press down into a fat disc, wrap in clingfilm and rest in the fridge for at least an hour.
Sprinkle a suitable surface with flour, place the disc of dough on it and sprinkle a little more flour on top of that. Then roll it out to a thickness of about ½ cm. Cut into shapes, dipping the cutter into flour as you go, and place the biscuits a little apart on two lined baking sheets.
Bake for 8—12 minutes, until golden.
I used pre-purchased icing sticks for my icing job.