Is there anything better than the heavenly smell of freshly baked cookies? Hardly likely! Tender vanilla biscuits, spicy cinnamon stars or fruity angel eyes delight young and old in no time! The variety of recipes is gigantic: Whether with marzipan, nut, jam, chocolate or simple classics to cut out in a star, heart or fir tree look, no wishes will be left open here.
But what are our favorites behind our spice gates? Curious? Let’s go to the bakery with the Hartkorn Christmas elves!
Currant meringue slices
- 120 g cold butter
- 60 g powdered sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 180 g of flour
- 2 tsp HARTKORN Young Kitchen Sweet Tonka Kiss
- 150 g currant jam
- 2 egg whites
- 90 g of sugar
- 100 g of ground almonds
- Salt
First stir together the butter cubes, powdered sugar, a pinch of salt and the egg yolk. Now add the flour and sweet tonka kiss and knead into a homogeneous dough. Then pack the dough in cling film and keep it shaped as a flat rectangle in the fridge for one hour.
After the waiting time, knead again and roll out on a little flour, roll up on the rolling pin and unwind again on the baking sheet covered with baking paper. Prick several times with a fork and bake lightly brown for 10 to 12 minutes at 180 degrees top and bottom heat. Let it cool down a bit and then spread with the jam.
Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff. Let the sugar pour in and finally carefully fold the almonds into the stiff mass and spread over the jam.
Bake again at the same temperature for 12 to 15 minutes and cut into cubes, diamonds, rectangles or bars.
Nut-nougat corners
- 400 g dark chocolate coating
- 200 g whole milk couverture
- 200 ml cream
- 2 tbsp orange liqueur / currant liqueur
- 1 tsp HARTKORN cinnamon, ground
- 2 tsp HARTKORN Young Kitchen Sweet Tonka Kiss
- 125 g butter
- 200 g hazelnuts (or peanuts, pecans, walnuts …)
- 100 g almonds (or peanuts, pecans, walnuts …)
- 180 g of sugar
Chop the couvertures. Place half of the dark chocolate coating and the whole milk chocolate coating in a saucepan. Add the cream, bring to the boil and slowly melt while stirring, stir gently with the spatula until a homogeneous ganache has formed. Mix in the liqueur and cinnamon. Cut 75 g of butter into small pieces and stir in until melted. Allow the mixture to sit in a cool place for 2 to 3 hours.
Place a small chocolate frame (15 x 20 cm) or cake tin or quiche tin on baking paper. Chop all nuts. Roast in a pan while stirring, sprinkle with the sugar, let it caramelize and stir in the remaining butter. Put the toffee nut mixture immediately on the baking paper and whip the ganache with the hand mixer for about 4 minutes and spread it on the toffee base. Let it solidify in the fridge for 2 hours. Melt the remaining dark chocolate coating, temper it and pour it into the chocolate frame. Leave to dress in the refrigerator for about 1 hour. Use a knife to loosen the chocolate frame. Cut the mass into cubes approx. 2 x 3 cm with a sharp knife that is repeatedly dipped in hot water and wiped dry.
Pecan Tonka Kipferl
- 100 g pecans
- HARTKORN tonka bean
- 125 g butter
- 75 g powdered sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 180 g of flour
- Salt
- Icing sugar as decoration
Finely chop pecans in a blender. First knead butter, powdered sugar, egg yolk, a little grated tonka bean and a pinch of salt into a dough. Now add the pecans and the flour, knead and wrap the dough as a flat rectangle in cling film for 1 to 2 hours. Then knead again, quarter and form 4 rolls. Divide the rolls into approx. 12 pieces, which are now formed into a Kipferl form and lay out on the baking paper covered sheets. Bake in the oven at 180 degrees on the middle shelf for 10 to 12 minutes, let cool and finally dust with icing sugar.
Pistachio Cookies
- 300 g of flour
- 4 tsp HARTKORN Young Kitchen Oatmeal
- HARTKORN tonka bean
- 155 g powdered sugar
- 120 g diced butter
- 1 large egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 100 g chopped pistachio nuts
- 450 g raw marzipan
- 5 tablespoons milk
- 2 tbsp rum
- Salt
Mix the flour, young kitchen oatmeal, a little grated tonka bean and a pinch of salt. Knead 100 g of sugar, butter, egg, egg yolk and the flour mixture to a smooth dough. Chill wrapped in foil for an hour.
Weigh 10 g of pistachios and set aside. Finely grind the remaining kernels in the Blitzhacker, knead with the marzipan and divide into three equal pieces. Form 30 cm long rolls.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (fan oven 160 degrees). Third the dough. Roll out one after the other on a lightly floured surface measuring 10 x 30 cm. Brush thinly with milk. Place a roll of marzipan on each and roll it into the dough. Cut off any excess dough. Place the seam down on a sheet of baking paper. Bake in the oven on the 2nd shelf from the bottom for approx. 25 minutes.
Mix 55 g of powdered sugar with rum into a liquid pouring. Brush on the still hot sticks. Sprinkle with the remaining pistachios. Let cool on a rack and cut into slices about 1.5 cm thick.
Chocolate cake with walnuts, cranberries and pistachios
- 500 g dark chocolate
- 250 g soft butter
- 250 g powdered sugar
- 250 g flour
- 3 tsp HARTKORN Young Kitchen Oatmeal
- 3 tsp cocoa
- 2 teaspoons of baking soda
- Grated peel of an orange
- 10 eggs
- 60 g pistachios
- 100 g dried cranberries
- 1 handful of walnuts
- 100 ml cream
- 1 pinch of salt
Let 300 g of the chocolate melt slowly and let it cool off a bit. In the meantime, stir the butter together with the powdered sugar until creamy until the color has become significantly lighter. Separate eggs. Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff, mix the egg yolks with the liquid chocolate. Now mix the flour, Young Kitchen Oatmeal, cocoa, baking powder and orange zest. Add to the chocolate mixture alternately with the protein. Chop all the walnuts and half of the cranberries and pistachios and add them. Stir only briefly before the dough in a box shape with 170 degrees air circulates for about 40 minutes in the oven.
Only when the cake has cooled completely can you heat the cream and melt the remaining chocolate in it. Spread the mass over the cake and decorate directly with the rest of the pistachios and canberries. Cut into slices as a cake and into cubes for the cookie plate.
