some traditional Swiss Christmas feelings!
Cookie: Mailänderli
250g unsalted (!) butter (room temperature)
225g sugar (white or mixture with brown)
1 pinch of salt
3 eggs from happy hens (room temperature)
1 organically grown lemon (i.e. not sprayed with funny stuff)
500g flour
1 egg yolk diluted with water to brush the cookies
& of course cookie cutters and tin box
Mix the flour and sugar in a bowl (approx. 10 minutes), then add the salt. Add the egg (one by one) and continue beating until the mixture turns lighter in color.
Add the zest of the lemon and the flour and mold it with a hard spatula or hands to an even dough ball. Put it covered or wrapped in cling film into fridge overnight (yes, that means you have to plan when you want to bake Christmas cookies 🙂
Next day or whenever you are baking:
Take the dough out of the fridge at least 15 minutes before rolling it out. Roll it out on flour or non-stick surface (e.g. baking paper) approx. 5-8mm thick. Use your cookie cutters and put them on a with baking paper covered flat tin. Brush them with the diluted egg yolk and bake in the pre-heated oven on 180-200d C. for approx. 10 minutes (check early enough until you know your oven well). Take them off and let them cool on a grille.
Keep your cookies in a air-tight tin box – then they last the whole month of December while maintaining their yummy quality…
