Easter Cookies

Easter is a time of chocolate as we gift one another with chocolate eggs & treats. Each year I like to make my own chocolate eggs to give to friends & family, these do usually come in the form of my own Easter fried eggs however (me & chocolate moulds do not get on).  With all of this chocolate (& don’t get me wrong, I love chocolate!) it can get a little tiresome. Similar to eating the exact same meal over & over again, it loses its appeal, it’s gratification.

Easter Cookies

This year I decided to try & create something new to give to my friends & family… something simple enough to make, small enough to gift & still reminiscent of Easter… biscuits. Easter cookies & biscuits are a traditional British treat which are given to guests over the Easter weekend. Traditionally these would be butter biscuits made using cassia oil (Chinese cinnamon) & currants.

Easter Cookies

One of my favourite flavours of Easter however is simnel cake, a light fruit cake with a hidden layer of marzipan, topped with even more marzipan (can there ever be too much marzipan?). So in place of a traditional Easter biscuit I wanted to create something more modern containing all of my favourite flavours of Easter.

Easter Cookies

Being a glutton, I opted for Easter cookies as opposed to biscuits as these are much larger to contain all of the ingredients I wanted to use. In gesture to a classic simnel cake I’ve added some dried fruit in the form of juicy sultanas & chunks of golden chewy marzipan. In reference to Easter I’ve added one of my favourite little Easter treats, Mini Eggs, not only do they add a nice pop of colour but also happiness, because everyone loves a Mini Egg!

Easter Cookies

These are a super sweet treat, a great alternative to chocolate over Easter. They’re fantastic with a cup of tea (if only for the pleasure of breaking them in half to become dunkable) or simply to gift to anyone with a sweet tooth. The dough itself can also be frozen if you’re not as gluttonous as me & only want to bake a few.

EASTER COOKIES
(makes 20)

Ingredients:

  • 200g butter
  • 85g light soft brown sugar
  • 85g caster sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla essence
  • 225g self-raising flour
  • 85g Mini Eggs
  • 70g sultanas
  • 80g marzipan, cubed

Method:

  • In a large bowl start by beating the butter to soften it
  • Now add both of the sugars to the bowl & beat again
  • Add the vanilla & egg to the bowl & beat until everything it well mixed
  • Sift over the self-raising flour & use a spoon or your hands to mix until a dough comes together
  • Hold back a few of the mini eggs & marzipan & add the rest to the bowl, along with all of the sultanas
  • Mix these through the dough until evenly distributed throughout (using your hands might be easier)
  • Cover the dough with some cling film & pop into the fridge for 15-30 minutes, just to firm up a little
  • Divide the dough into quarters & divide each quarter into 5 equal sized pieces (roughly the size of a golf ball)
  • Roll the dough pieces into ball shapes & place onto a parchment lined baking sheet
  • Press the dough balls to flatten a little & poke in the leftover Mini Eggs & marzipan pieces
  • Bake at 190C for around 14 minutes, until the cookies have spread & are a golden brown colour on the edges
  • Allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before carefully removing & cooling completely on a cooling rack
spoon

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