Christmas baking ideas: Easy shortbread biscuits and cookies to gift
Pistachio and rose shortbread bickies are buttery and bite-sized. (ABC Life: Thalia Ho)
Is Christmas baking a tradition in your house?
As much as I love putting up my (tiny) Christmas tree, there's something extra festive about baking end-of-year treats.
Here are three easy options, perfect for gifting, sharing, and snacking, from shortbread to chewy chocolate biscuits.
Thalia Ho's almond, pistachio and rose shortbread
A shortbread biscuit made special with rosewater and pistachio. (ABC Life: Thalia Rose)
Classic Christmas shortbread gets an update. These bite-sized biscuits are made with almond meal and a dash of rosewater.
If you're cooking with kids, these biscuits are hand rolled and topped with a single pistachio.
Makes: 18 biscuits.
Julia Busuttil Nishimura's lemon and almond shortbread
Have some festive cookie cutters you want to use? Go for Julia Busuttil Nishimura's lemon-scented shortbread.
Chilling the dough before it's rolled gives you time to rest and will make the biscuits easier to cut.
Makes: 28 biscuits
Thalia Ho's dark chocolate crinkle cookies
Dutch process cocoa gives this cookie its deep colour and flavour. (ABC Life: Thalia Ho)
If you love soft, chewy sweets, this recipe is somewhere between a brownie and cookie.
The dough is rolled in icing sugar before it's baked, creating the dramatic crackled shell.
Makes: 30 cookies
Sonya Gee is a Deputy Editor of ABC Everyday. She commissions our weekly recipes and loves making time to cook and eat every single one.
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