Cookie time

Simple ingredients and inspiration from Joburg foodie Liziwe Matloha are all you need to create a bundle of sweetness for your loved ones at a fraction of the price

STAR NUTMEG COOKIES

MAKES 30

360g (3 cups) cake wheat flour

5ml (1 tsp) ground nutmeg

2.5ml (½ tsp) salt

250g unsalted butter at room temperature 180ml (¾ cup) white sugar

10ml (2 tsp) vanilla extract

2 large eggs

Edible silver balls for decorating

Icing:

250ml (1 cup) icing sugar, sifted 45-60ml (3-4 tbsp) water or milk

1 Preheat the oven to 180°C. Sift the flour, nutmeg and salt together in a medium bowl.

2 In a large bowl beat the butter with an electric mixer until light and creamy. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla extract and eggs.

3 With mixer on low, gradually beat in the dry ingredients. Mix until a cohesive, slightly stiff dough comes together. Roll the dough between two pieces of greaseproof paper (or on a lightly floured surface) into 1.5cm thickness and cut out biscuits using a star-shaped cookie cutter. 4 Arrange the stars 2cm apart on lightly greased or sprayed unlined baking sheets. Bake for 12-15 minutes until lightly golden brown on the bottom.

5 Cool completely on cooling racks before icing. For the icing, combine the icing sugar and water and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth. If necessary, add a little more water or milk to achieve spreadable consistency.

6 Spread a little icing onto each biscuit or dip the top of the biscuit. Shake off the excess. Sprinkle with silver balls and allow to set before storing in an airtight container.

MELTING MOMENTS

MAKES 24

300g unsalted butter at room temperature 80ml (1/3 cup) icing sugar, sifted

5ml (1 tsp) vanilla extract

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

360g (3 cups) cake wheat flour

125ml (½ cup) cornflour

Pinch of salt

Icing sugar for sprinkling

1 Combine the butter and icing sugar in a large mixing bowl. Cream with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy — this will take a couple of minutes.

2 Add the vanilla and lemon zest and beat until combined.

3 Sift the flour, cornflour and salt over the butter mixture. Beat on low speed until a cohesive dough forms, stopping to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl a few times. The dough will be crumbly at first but will eventually come together. 4 Stir a few times with a rubber spatula to ensure all the ingredients are incorporated. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 1 hour before rolling into equal balls. Place on a baking sheet before baking at 180°C for 15-18 minutes.

5 Bake until golden brown, remove from the oven and cool completely.

6 Sprinkle with icing sugar using a sieve for decoration.

COCONUT CHRISTMAS COOKIES

MAKES 24

300g butter or margarine, room temperature 250ml (1 cup) sugar

2 large eggs

250ml (1 cup) desiccated coconut

360g (3 cups) self-raising wheat flour

Pinch of salt

Toppings:

Green and red glace cherries Hundreds and thousands sprinkles

1 Preheat oven to 180°C.

2 Cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs one at a time and beat well after every addition. 3Add coconut and sift flour and salt together. Add to the butter mixture and mix well.

4 Spoon dough into a piping bag, and pipe into shapes straight onto a lightly greased baking sheet. I chose flower and ring shapes.

5 Cut the glazed cherries in half and place on top of the cookies with a few sprinkles of hundreds and thousands.

6 Bake for 12-15 minutes. Remove and cool completely before packing into containers.

FILLED SANDWICH COOKIES

MAKES 24

360g (3 cups) cake wheat flour 250g unsalted butter, softened 5ml (1 tsp) vanilla extract

100g caster sugar

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon Pinch of salt

2 eggs

Butter icing for the filling

100g strawberry jam

1 Measure the flour into the bowl of an electric stand mixer with the paddle attachment fitted. 2 Cut the butter into large chunks and add to the bowl. Run the mixer on low speed until the mixture looks like rough breadcrumbs. Add the vanilla, sugar, zest, salt and eggs to the bowl and mix until completely combined.

3 Using your hands, combine the dough together, then turn it out onto the counter top and work it just enough to make smooth. Form into a round, wrap in cling wrap and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.

4 Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line two baking trays with baking paper.

5 Divide the dough into two pieces, one slightly larger than the other. Take the smaller piece and roll it out on a lightly floured surface to about 2cm thickness. Cut out 24 rounds, then use a smaller cookie cutter or the wide end of a piping tip to cut a hole in the middle of each.

6 Reroll leftover dough and repeat until the first half is used. Count how many cookie tops you have made. Generously sprinkle with caster sugar and bake in the middle of the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes until slightly brown around the edges. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

7 While the cookie tops are baking, roll and cut the bases as you did for the first half of the dough but without cutting out a centre. Bake the bases for 12 minutes. Remove and cool completely.

8 Stir the ready-made butter icing then place about ½ tsp on the cookie base. Carefully place one of the cookie tops onto the iced base and twist gently to seal; repeat with remaining cookies.

9 Stir the jam in a small bowl until smooth then drop or pipe a little into the centre on top.

10 Cover the cookies loosely with a clean towel and allow to set for a few hours or overnight before gently packing into a cookie jar.

CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

MAKES 16 Cooking spray

300g (2¼ cups) cake wheat flour

125ml (½ cup) white sugar

180ml (¾ cup) brown sugar

125ml (½ cup) unsweetened cocoa powder 5ml (1 tsp) baking powder

5ml (1 tsp) salt

250ml (1 cup) water

160ml (2/3 cup) cooking oil

80ml (1/3 cup) milk

5ml (1 tsp) vanilla extract

Icing:

250ml (1 cup) icing sugar

30ml (2 tbsp) cocoa powder

30ml (2 tbsp) butter, melted

A little boiling water

A handful of chopped toasted hazelnuts

1 Preheat oven to 175°C. Spray a 23cm x 33cm baking pan with cooking spray.

2 Stir flour, white sugar, brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl. Pour in water, cooking oil, milk and vanilla extract and mix until well blended. Spread into the prepared pan.

3 Bake in the preheated oven until top is dry and edges have started to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 30 minutes. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

4 Sift icing sugar and cocoa powder into a bowl. Add the melted butter and a tablespoon of boiling water at a time, mixing until you have a smooth spreading consistency. Spread over the brownies, sprinkle with hazelnuts and cut into squares.