Crunchy, melt-in-your-mouth, deliciously flavoured and a little regressive: the biscuits whose recipe I’m sharing with you this year are often the favourites of (older) children, and without doubt the easiest to make for the Christmas table!
This simple recipe, optimised for a delicious and efficient elf workshop, will enable you to quickly fill pretty gift bags with sweet treats or prepare beautiful fairy plates for Christmas Eve.
From the same base, rich in butter and sugar, different dry ingredients are added for each variant. The result is three biscuits with very distinct shapes and tastes, where cinnamon and vanilla subtly complement the flavours of lemon and orange, and pistachio, almond and hazelnut balance out the sweetness of the sugar. The proportions here are generous, so you can easily fill two large biscuit tins (but as you always want to taste one of each, these little biscuits disappear very quickly!)
Of course, this recipe lends itself well to variations, and you can have fun using this recipe as a basis to create different shapes with your favourite combinations.
In my preferred variations, I like to replace the zest with finely chopped candied lemon and orange peel: the texture is a little richer and the flavour even more delicious, with a little touch of bitterness that balances out the icing sugar coating really well! You can find the recipe for candied orange and lemon peel here.
There are no cookie cutters or rolling pins here: the biscuits are shaped very simply by hand, and everyone can join in!
These biscuits keep well in a tin and can be prepared ahead of time. To prevent them from getting too soft, line the bottom of the tin with kitchen roll and slide a sheet of greaseproof paper between each layer.
Pistachio moons, noisettines and cocoa Christmas baubles
Matériel
- 2 baking trays 40 x 30 cm
Ingredients
For the base dough
- 500 g of soft semi-salted butter
- 300 g of cane sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 whole egg
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
For the pistachio-lemon moons (about 45 pieces)
- 1/3 of base dough - (approximately 290 g)
- 175 g of flour
- 50 g of almond powder
- 50 g of chopped pistachios - (unsalted)
- zest of half a lemon, untreated - (or 15 g finely chopped candied lemon peel)
- 50 g of icing sugar - (for finishing)
For the noisettines (about 60 pieces)
- 1/3 of base dough - (approximately 290 g)
- 200 g of flour
- 150 g of hazelnut powder
- 25 g of cane sugar
- le zest of half an orange, untreated
- 60 whole hazelnuts
For the cocoa Christmas baubles (about 45 pieces)
- 1/3 of base dough - (approximately 290 g)
- 200 g of flour
- 80 g of whole roasted hazelnuts - (see recipe)
- zest of half an orange, untreated - (or 15 g finely chopped candied orange peel)
- 25 g of unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp of cinnamon
- 50 g of icing sugar - (for finishing)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170°C.
Preparing the roasted hazelnuts
- Place 80g whole hazelnuts on a baking tray and toast in the oven for around 10 mins until the skins begin to peel off. Remove to a bowl and leave to cool.
Preparing the base dough
- In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, thoroughly blend the cubed soft butter, sugar and vanilla extract until smooth. Add the egg yolks and whole egg one at a time, mixing between each addition until completely incorporated.
Preparing the pistachio moons
- In a second bowl, weigh out 1/3 of the basic preparation (about 290 g) and add the flour, almond powder, chopped pistachios and lemon zest, mixing well between each addition.
- Take 10/12 g of the mixture and shape small crescent moons by hand until you have used up all the dough.
- Arrange them evenly on an oiled or greaseproof tray, spacing them slightly apart.
- Bake for 13 to 15 minutes until the biscuits are lightly browned.
- When the moons are still warm, roll them in icing sugar to coat them completely and leave to cool on a wire rack.
Preparing the noisettines
- In the second bowl, weigh out 1/3 of the basic preparation (around 290 g) and add the flour, hazelnut powder, sugar and orange zest, mixing well between each addition.
- Scoop out 10/12 g of the mixture and shape into small balls until you have used up all the dough. Place them evenly on an oiled or greaseproof tray, spacing them slightly apart. Add a whole hazelnut to each ball, pressing it in slightly to create the shape of a small turban.
- Bake for 13 to 15 minutes until the biscuits are golden brown and the whole hazelnuts are lightly toasted.
- Remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack.
Making cocoa Christmas baubles
- Finely chop the reserved roasted hazelnuts.
- In the second bowl, weigh out 1/3 of the basic preparation (around 290 g) and add the flour, chopped toasted hazelnuts, cocoa, cinnamon powder and orange zest, mixing well between each addition.
- Scoop out 10/12 g of the mixture and shape into small balls until you have used up all the dough. Arrange them evenly on an oiled or greaseproof tray, spacing them slightly apart.
- Bake for 13 to 15 minutes until the biscuits are golden brown.
- When the biscuits are still warm, roll them in icing sugar to coat them completely and leave to cool on a wire rack. You can also opt for a less sweet version by letting the balls cool completely before dusting them lightly with icing sugar.
Notes
I hope you enjoy this recipe and that you have a good time preparing and enjoying these treats 🙂
I wish you happy preparations!