Coś niecoś

Some time ago I received an email from Asia of Lexiophiles, asking if I'd like to participate in the International Recipe Advent Calendar event*. I wasn't feeling very Christmassy then** (yet!), but I thought: why not? I decided to try out a recipe I'd found when clearing out my cookery books. In the original form it was slightly vague (it came from a promotional booklet), but luckily my guesses were correct. These Sugar & Spice Snowflakes (the name is my invention) are very versatile: great for nibbling with tea or coffee, they can be also used as Christmas tree decorations or stocking fillers. Of course, you can make Sugar & Spice Stars or Reindeers, or whatever shape pleases you, but I used by favourite festive cookie cutter. The following quantities are for a relatively small batch of cookies, double them if you want more. So, sugar and spice and all things nice, here we go:

Ingredients: 250g plain flour, 1 heaped tbsp gingerbread spice (or mixed spice, or speculoos spice), 125g caster sugar, 150g cold unsalted butter, 1 large egg, beaten, 1 tsp vanilla extract, approx. 10 whole cloves, optionally: 1-2 tbsp iced water,

In a large bowl (or standing mixer bowl) mix the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, spice). By hand or using your mixer, rub in cold butter, cut into cubes. When the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, add the egg and vanilla to bind the pastry together (as in shortcrust pastry). You may need an extra tablespoon or two of iced water (I did), if the mixture is too dry. Wrap in clingfilm and cool in fridge for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 days (which is what I did). When you're ready to make the cookies, take the pastry out of the fridge, roll it out as thinly as you wish (I think max. 2 mm thick are the best, but it's up to you) and cut out desired shapes. Mash the cloves using a pestle and mortar and sprinkle a tiny amount on each cookie. Bake in an oven preheated to 200 degrees Celsius (400 F), for approx. 20-25 minutes (depending on how thin the pastry was).

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Składniki:

• 250g mąki,
• 1 kopiasta łyżka przyprawy do piernika,
• 125g drobnego cukru,
• 150g zimnego masła,
• 1 duże, roztrzepane jajo,
• 1 łyżeczka ekstraktu z wanilii,
• ok. 10 goździków,
• opcjonalnie: 1-2 lyżki schłodzonej wody,

W dużej misce (lub misce miksera) wymieszać suche składniki (mąkę, cukier, przyprawy). Ręcznie lub za pomocą miksera wetrzeć zimne masło, posiekane w kostkę. Gdy masa przypomina okruchy, dodać jajo i wanilię, aby połączyć składniki w całość, jak w cieście kruchym. Jeśli to konieczne (tj. masa jest za sucha, jak u mnie), dodać schłodzoną wodę. Gotowe ciasto zawinąć w folię i schłodzić w lodówce co najmniej 30 minut lub do 2 dni (u mnie). Chcąc upiec ciasteczka, należu rozwałkować ciasto tak cienko, jak lubicie (ja uważam, że dość cienko - na maks. 2 mm grubości) i wyciąć ciasteczka foremką. Goździki zmiażdżyć z moździerzu, posypać odrobiną każde ciasteczko. Piec w 200 st. C. ok. 20-25 minut (w zależności od grubości).