Eat Smarter USA | Eat Healthy. Live Smarter.
Ingredients
Cookie Tree Decorations
- Ingredients
- 7 ozs Whole wheat flour
- 7 ozs Spelt flour (type 630)
- 3 ½ ozs ground Hazelnuts
- 4 ½ ozs Raw cane sugar
- ½ tsp cream of tartar
- 5 ½ ozs Margarine
- 3 eggs
- 4 ½ ozs powdered sugar
- 2 tsps cocoa powder
- 3 Tbsps Dried Fruit (such as mango, raisins, cranberries)
- 3 Tbsps almonds (and other nuts or seeds, such as sunflower, pine, pistachio)
- In addition:
- thin Ribbon (for hanging)
Combine both flours, the hazelnuts, sugar, cream of tartar, margarine and 2 eggs in a large mixing bowl. Beat with the dough hook of a hand mixer to a crumbly dough.
Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and quickly knead with hands until dough is smooth.
Shape the dough into a ball, flatten slightly, wrap in plastic wrap and let rest for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator.
Roll out the dough with a rolling pin to approximately 1/4-inch thick on a floured surface. Cut out dough with cookie cutters in desired shapes.
Pierce a hole in each cookie with a toothpick or wooden skewer for hanging with a ribbon. (If you do not want the cookies as tree ornaments, you can of course also bake without a hole.)
Line baking sheets with parchment paper and place shapes on the sheets. Bake in preheated oven at 350°F/convection 325°F until firm, 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack. Gather together the dough scraps, knead again, roll, cut and bake.
Separate remaining egg. Place egg white in a tall vessel (save the egg yolk for another use). Beat with the whisk of a hand mixer until stiff, then beat in the powdered sugar.
If desired, tint half of the icing with cocoa powder. Finely dice large pieces of dried fruits.
Cover the cookies with icing and then decorate with almonds or other nuts and seeds and dried fruit. Allow to set completely before hanging with a ribbon or serving.
(Percentage of daily recommendation)
| Calorie | 159 cal. | (8 %) | ||
| Protein | 3 g | (3 %) | ||
| Fat | 7 g | (6 %) | ||
| Carbohydrates | 18 g | (12 %) | ||
| Sugar added | 8 g | (32 %) | ||
| Roughage | 1.5 g | (5 %) |
Healthy, because
Spelt and wholemeal flour and hazelnuts, all good things, are in the wonderfully old-fashioned biscuits. The pretty decoration is also very attractive: nuts and dried fruit contain nerve-strengthening B vitamins and minerals. So: Snacking expressly allowed!
Even smarter
As a precaution, bake twice as much so that the Christmas tree is not "looted" prematurely. The cookies stay crumbly for a long time in tin cans.