Description
Nordic holiday cookies called reindeer delight cookies bring festive cheer to winter celebrations. Sweet almond and chocolate notes complement traditional Scandinavian baking techniques you can enjoy with friends and family.
Ingredients
Scale
- 3 cups (375 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups (180 g) powdered sugar
- 2 cups (240 g) powdered sugar
- 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 5 tbsps (75 mL) milk
- 2 tbsps (30 mL) warm water
- 1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract
- 1 tsp (5 g) baking powder
- ¼ tsp (1.5 g) salt
- 1 ½ tbsps (22.5 g) meringue powder
- A few drops of brown liquid food coloring
- A few green M&M’s (for noses)
Instructions
- Preparation: Cream butter, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar with an electric mixer until achieving a luxurious, homogeneous consistency. Gradually incorporate flour, baking powder, and salt, blending milk to create a smooth, pliable dough.
- Chilling: Encase the dough in plastic film and refrigerate for one hour, allowing flavors to meld and texture to firm up, enhancing the cookie’s overall quality.
- Shaping: Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Roll out chilled dough on a flour-dusted surface to ¼ inch thickness. Cut precise circular shapes using a cookie cutter.
- Baking: Position cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet, maintaining adequate spacing. Bake for 9-10 minutes until edges acquire a delicate golden-brown coloration.
- Cooling: Transfer baked cookies to a cooling rack, allowing complete temperature reduction to room level.
- Decorating: Craft royal icing by whisking powdered sugar, meringue powder, vanilla extract, and warm water until stiff peaks form. Divide icing into white and brown batches. Apply white icing for facial features and eyes, then embellish with brown antler details and a vibrant green M&M nose.
Notes
- Chill Dough Thoroughly: Refrigeration is crucial for preventing cookie spread and enhancing flavor development, so don’t skip the minimum 60-minute cooling period.
- Perfect Thickness Matters: Roll dough precisely to ¼ inch for consistent baking and optimal texture; use ruler or rolling pin guides for accuracy.
- Icing Consistency Check: Whisk royal icing until stiff peaks form, ensuring smooth decoration and professional-looking reindeer design.
- Spacing Prevents Merging: Leave adequate space between cookies on baking sheet to prevent unexpected spreading and maintain individual cookie shapes.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Desserts, Snacks
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Nordic
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 25
- Calories: 180
- Sugar: 14 g
- Sodium: 50 mg
- Fat: 8 g
- Saturated Fat: 5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 24 g
- Fiber: 0.5 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Cholesterol: 30 mg