Christmas Tree Cookies

These cookies are very addicting! I like the buttery and malty taste :) Original recipe uses walnuts but I replaced it with cashew nuts..the dough is very soft and quite sticky to handle therefore have to dust the surface with flour evenly. I rolled out a portion of the dough between 2 plastic sheets for easier handling rather than dusting the working surface with plenty of flour which can be very messy. Since there are 5 different sizes, therefore each size has different baking time! So after cutting out the biggest star and sent to oven, I just put the remaining dough into the fridge to firm it up again. This process continues for each individual size, therefore it took me quite some time just to bake 24 big stars and 20 tiny stars.

I like this cookie dough which does not spread and it maintains its shape after baking as you can see from the picture below :) No complicated decorations for my christmas tree cookie, only pinned some edible silver dragees around the corners of the stars. For the last tiny star, I just manually punched a tiny hole before baking so that I can insert a standing little star on top later without the need of royal icing for glueing. 

Recipe modified from Her World Magazine

Horlick Cashew Nut Cookies
Ingredient

• 5 tbsp Horlicks malted powder
• 3 tbsp hot water
• 200gm unsalted butter
• 80gm sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 egg yolk
• 250gm plain flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 100gm toasted cashew nut, finely chopped

Method

1. Stir horlicks and water together until smooth. Let cool.
2. Cream butter, sugar and salt together until fluffy about 1-2 mins.
3. Beat in horlicks paste and egg yolk. Sift in flour and baking powder, and nuts using a spatula and mix until evenly.
4. Wrap dough in a plastic wrap and chill until firm to handle. Preheat oven to 180 deg cel.
5. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface. Cut out shapes using a cookie cutter. Place cookies on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake for 15-18 mins (depends on size of cookie, adjust time accordingly) or until golden brown and cooked through.
6. Cookies will be soft but will harden upon standing. Let cool on the tray, then store airtight.

I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #26 – Creative Christmas Motif Bakes! hosted by Alan of Travellingfoodies