Christmas Chocolate Cookies

Around this time of year, any recipe with the word ‘Christmas’ in it, catches my attention. Although I can see myself eating these cookies all the year round, I love the fact that Nigella makes these cookies only with Christmas. It’s always nice to make a tradition with certain foods on holidays, and I plan to make these cookies a part of my Christmas tradition! The texture of the cookies was sandy and soft. I really liked that they were little and thick, rather than flat and crisp. The chocolate glaze and sprinkles completed the cookies. They are fabulous! Rating: 5 out of 5.

Christmas Chocolate Cookies recipe: Nigella Lawson - Nigella's Christmas

Ingredients:
- 2 ¼ sticks (18 tablespoons) soft unsalted butter
- ¾ cup sugar
- ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder

Glaze:
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 ½ cups confectioners' sugar
- ¼ cup boiling water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Christmas sprinkles

Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 325°F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl and when you have a light, soft whipped mixture, beat in the ⅓ cup cocoa powder (sifting if it is lumpy), and when that's mixed in, beat in the flour with the baking soda and baking powder. Or just put everything in the processor and blitz, if you prefer.
- This mixture is very soft and sticky and I find it easiest to form the coolers wearing my disposable vinyl gloves, so pinch off pieces about 1 tablespoon in size, roll them into balls, then slightly flatten into fat discs as you place them well spaced on your cookie sheet; you should get about 12 on at a time.
- Bake each batch for 15 minutes; even though the cookies won't feel as if they've had enough time, the will continue to cook as they cool. They will look slightly cracked on top and it's this cozy, homespun look I love.
- Remove the cookie sheet to a cold surface and let it sit for 15 minutes before transferring the cookies to a wire rack, with a sheet of newspaper under it to catch drips while topping them.
- To make the topping, put the cocoa powder, confectioners' sugar, water and vanilla extract into a small saucepan and whisk over a low heat until everything is smoothly combined. Take off the heat for 10 minutes.
- When the cookies are cool, drizzle each one with the tablespoonful of chocolate glaze, to glue the sprinkles on in a minute, using the back of the spoon to help spread the mixture, though an uneven dribbly look is part of their charm.
- After you've iced six cookies, scatter with some of the Christmas sprinkles and continue this until all the cookies are topped. If you ice them all before sprinkling, you will find the cocoa “glue” has dried and the sprinkles won't stick on.



Tablespoons of chocolate cookie dough.


They do have that cracked finish Nigella tells about.


I couldn't find any Christmas sprinkles in the grocery store, so I used my Mickey-shaped Disney sprinkles I bought at New York's 'Cake & Bake'.


I put the wire rack with the cooled cookies over the cookie pan and glazed them. That way, you only have to clean the cookie pan.


These lovely chocolate cookies were incredibly addictive. So addictive, in fact, I sacrificed my healthy breakfast for a couple of these cookies AND in the middle of the night I went to the kitchen to have some more! They were gone too quickly in my opinion.

Comments

Renata said…
How wonderful are these!!! I must make them before x-mas!!!!

tks!
Anonymous said…
They sound delightful! Now my breakfast cereal just doesn't look as appetising :P
A Bowl Of Mush said…
Hehe I'm making these with my sister on Christmas eve!
Aren't they just sooooo yummy?!

Looks fantastic!
Catherine said…
I like Nigella's recipes.
I'm generally a chewy cookie gal, but these look like a nice change of pace. Very cute!

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