I was a little reluctant to start these cookies. My expectations were too high.
I was hoping to make in gingerbread and icing that which I could hardly sketch with pencils.
But they turned out quite nice, in my opinion.
They started out rather amorphous shapes.
Then I outlined them with royal icing.
(basically egg whites, cream of tartar and 10x sugar)
Then after painting them with a white glaze, I started defining the design. Because I wanted them a deep red, the icing needed a lot of red food coloring, and even then it wasn’t dark or rich enough, so I added a sprinkling of red sanding sugar. This added the depth of color and a wonderful texture.
,
The smaller St. Nick had a small ball spatter that gave it a more rustic look.
I had a lot of red icing left- so I made some apples as well and added gourmet red sugar to the look-
it sure added to the sparkle!
Here’s the recipe for the cookies- I tried to convert it for you metric users.
(If I were you, I’d double check my measurements- I’m not a whiz at math!)
Spice Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup (227 grams) shortening
3/4 cup (652 grams) brown sugar
3/4 TBS cinnamon
3/4 tsp of ginger, cloves, nutmeg
2 large eggs
1 cup (342 grams) molasses
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
4 1/2 cup (482 grams) AP flour
Method:
Cream together shortening, sugar,spices- add eggs, beating in until smooth. Add molasses, again beating until smooth. Stir in dry ingredients, mix until you have a sticky mess! Well, maybe not a mess, but the dough is quite sticky!
You will be adding flour when you roll them out – but for right now stick into the refrigerator, and leave overnight.
Roll out and cut into shapes- or make into balls and roll in sugar and bake at 375 degrees F (180 degrees C) for 8-10 minutes
.
And decorate to your heart’s delight!
Now I’m off to make the stuffing!
BEAUTIFUL!!
I love them! They turned out so cute! Have fun making that stuffing. . . YUM!
Your cookies are beautiful! I know they taste delicious!They would a great addition to any plate of cookies.
Heidi you have been busy!
St. Nicholas Day is the first week of December and I wanted to get these done in time for the kids to pick them up on Thursday.
A.- Stuffing’s done. It made great lunch with a side of chicken chili.
Kim and Cynthia, thank you.
Beautiful biccies, sorry I mean cookies. ! You are ingenious Heidi!
I’ve been reading a whole lot of spice cake and biscuit recipes lately, the Dutch are very keen on them and I’m toying with the idea of making one which has a layer of marzipan in the middle, can’t remember now what it is called.
Magnificent! I didn’t know there was a separate St Nick day – I thought these might have been for Christmas. I’d love to play around with royal icing now that I’m confident about my egg whites and I love the almost stained glass effect in the last photo. Just gorgeous, Heidi.. 🙂
Jo- those sound good- if you find the recipe, I’d love to try it.
Celia, thank you- apparently St. Nicholas is a true saint- Church approved – and celebrated in the calendar of saints.
I buy meringue powder and reconstitute it if I’m not sure about the freshness of my eggs. But I have a farmer who sells them to me and his eggs sell out daily.
Absolutely beautiful job on St. Nicholas!
thanks Elizabeth!
Simply magnificent! What a wonderful way to usher Christmas with St. Nicholas. You have a lot great recipes to treasure! Thanks for sharing. Cheers!
Thanks Arthur- glad you stopped by! I love your presentation and the recipes and artwork on your blog!
Aidan just looked at my computer screen and said. “OOO…that looks SO good! I want more.”
Well- he knows where they come from.
He needs to talk his mom and dad into another visit – soon!