Oma's Hazelnut Lemon Cookies

My beautiful Mum passed away on the 1st October 2013.

Mum never wrote down the recipe for her cookies. Luckily my niece knew the recipe by heart because she and Mum had made them so often together (hence the name 'Oma's cookies').

You can enjoy these cookies anytime (Mum always made sure the cookie jar was full!) but for me they are the perfect Christmas Eve treat.

Ingredients:
60g icing sugar
105g brown sugar
250g butter, softened
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
200-250g plain flour (approx.)
175g hazelnut meal
Juice of half a lemon
Icing sugar (enough to form icing consistency)
Walnut pieces

To make the cookies:
1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees C.
2. Cream butter, icing sugar and brown sugar until light and creamy.
3. Beat in egg yolk and vanilla.
4. Sift half the flour into the mixture and mix well with a wooden spoon.
5. Gradually mix in the hazelnut meal.
6. Continue to add flour until the mixture forms a cookie dough.
7. Roll teaspoons of dough into balls and place on trays lined with baking paper.
8. Using a folk, gently press down on each ball until slightly flattened.
9. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until tops of cookies are only just starting to turn light golden brown at the edges (it is important not to over bake).
10. Cool cookies on wire racks.

To decorate:
1. Mix together lemon juice and icing sugar until desired consistency is achieved (just enough so that the icing doesn't run too much when placed on the cookies).
2. Using a knife or teaspoon, spread a small amount of icing over each cookie.
3. Place a couple of walnut pieces immediately on top of the icing.
4. Allow to set completely.

Variation:
To make plain chocolate chip cookies, omit the hazelnut meal, change the quantity of flour to 315g and add chocolate chips to the mixture after Step 6. Leave un-iced or ice with melted chocolate instead of lemon icing. You can also keep the hazelnut meal and just add chocolate chips to the mixture.

Easter Lebkuchen

Ingredients:

115g butter, softened

115g brown sugar

1 egg, beaten

1/3 cup treacle

400g self-raising flour

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon chilli powder

100g dark chocolate, melted

50g milk chocolate, melted

To make the Lebkuchen:

1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

2. Beat in egg and treacle.

3. Sift flour, ginger, cloves and chilli powder into mixture.

4. Mix together with a wooden spoon until mixture forms a dough.

5. Knead dough lightly until smooth.

6. Chill dough for 30 minutes.

7. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

8. Roll out Lebkuchen dough on lightly floured surface until 3mm thick.

9. Cut out shapes using Easter egg shaped cookie cutters.

10. Space Lebkuchen 3cm apart on trays lined with baking paper.

11. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until Lebkuchen are pale golden.

12. Cool on wire racks.

To decorate:

1. Dip cooled Lebkuchen face down into melted dark chocolate and place on wire racks to set.

2. Using a piping bag, drizzle melted milk chocolate over the dark chocolate.

Lemon Shortbread Cats

Use the Lemon Shortbread Stars recipe but cut the dough into little cat shapes instead of stars. The silver cachous make perfect little cats eyes!

Pfeffernüsse

Ingredients:
250g plain flour
200g brown sugar
60g butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
pinch of white pepper
1 egg, beaten
1 egg, beaten (extra)
150g dark chocolate
silver cachous

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 190 degrees and line two baking trays with non-stick paper.
2. Combine all ingredients and blend until well blended (mixture will appear crumbly).
3. Add half of extra beaten egg, then knead the mixture with your hands until it holds together (use more beaten egg if necessary).
4. Shape dough into a ball.
5. Roll teaspoons of mixture into balls and place on baking trays (approx. 2.5 cm apart).
6. Bake for 7 minutes, or until cracks appear on the surface and tops are pale brown.
7. Cool on wire racks.
8. Melt dark chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water.
9. Dip pfeffernüsse into melted chocolate and place on baking paper to set. Decorate will silver cachous, if desired.

Strawberry Jam Friands

Ingredients:
1/2 cup plain flour, sifted
1 1/2 cups icing sugar, sifted
1 cup almond meal
4 eggwhites
180g butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
strawberry jam

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees and lightly grease a 12 cup patty pan tin.
2. Combine flour, icing sugar and almond meal in a large bowl.
3. Add the eggwhites, butter and vanilla; mix to combine.
4. Spoon approx. 1-2 tablespoons of mixture into patty pan tin.
5. Drop 1/2 spoonfuls of jam into the centre of each friand.
6. Bake for 15 minutes, or until dark golden around the edges and firm on top.
7. Cool in tin. To serve, dust with icing sugar.

Adapted from "Apricot jam drop friands" in Donna Hay Magazine, 35, Oct/Nov 2007. p. 92.

Orange Cupcakes

Ingredients:
125g butter, softened
3/4 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
225g self-raising flour
juice and finely chopped zest of 1 orange
1 cup icing sugar
1 tablespoon orange juice, extra
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 190 degrees and prepare 12 cupcake cases.
2. Combine the butter, caster sugar, eggs, self-raising flour, orange juice and zest and beat together until creamy.
3. Spoon the mixture evenly into 12 cupcake cases.
4. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown.
5. Cool completely on a wire rack.
6. Mix together the icing sugar, orange juice and lemon juice.
7. Spoon the icing over the cakes and spread evenly to the edges with a knife.

Adapted from "Afternoon tea orange cake" in Stephanie Alexander. (1996). The cook's companion. Ringwood, Vic.: Penguin Books Australia.

Almond Burnt Butter Biscuits

Ingredients:
125g butter
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 cup self-raising flour, sifted
1/2 cup plain flour, sifted
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup almonds, chopped

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees and line 2 baking trays with non-stick paper.
2. Melt the butter over low heat and continue to cook until light brown; cool slightly.
3. Beat the sugar with the melted butter, then stir in the egg and vanilla.
4. Fold in the flours and salt.
5. Roll tablespoons of the mixture into balls and place on baking trays.
6. Bake 10-12 minutes or until pale golden.