Gifts are always a tricky
territory to try to manoeuvre. I mean, I
buy gifts for my mom, my sister, Julian, my Little Person and my two employers
every year. Obviously with family
members, gifts are much easier because you’re comfortable enough with each
other to straight up say “I want...”
Other people though, like employers (when you’re the only employee like
me), co-workers and friends are more difficult, especially when you’re on a
budget.
If you’re as broke as I am, I've come up with the easiest DIY gift that everyone
will love: cookies. Everybody loves
cookies and the homemade touch makes it that little bit more special. I love giving gifts to people that I’ve had a
hand in making, even if it’s just wrapping it up beautifully or adding a
handwritten note.
I stumbled across this
recipe online a while ago and it has truly changed my life. These butter cookies are rich and soft, and
they melt in your mouth. If I’m honest,
I eat about 5 cookies worth of the cookie dough, because it is just that
amazing. I won’t recommend you do this,
lest your egg actually has salmonella and you die. I just love cookie dough so much that it’s a
risk I’m willing to take. What a way to
go, amirite?
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First, you’ll need your ingredients. You’ll need:
· 250g of unsalted butter, at room temperature
· ¾ cup of white sugar
· 1 egg yolk
· 1½ tsp vanilla essence
· 2 cups plain flour
· ½ tsp salt
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Cream together your butter
and sugar. Once fully combined and
smooth, add your egg yolk and vanilla essence.
Be careful to be gentle with your batter after adding the egg, as
beating too vigourously may cause it to split.
Add your flour and salt, and
mix gently until the dough just comes together.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for a few
minutes.
At this stage, you can roll
the dough into a log and then wrap in clingfilm before freezing it. Then you only have to slice half centimetre
rounds to bake. I, however, prefer to
refrigerate the dough for about 2 hours before rolling it out and cutting out
cute little hearts.
Bake in a pre-heated oven at
180°C for about 15 minutes, or until the edges just start to brown. Cool on a wire rack.
These cookies are quite oily
(being butter and all), so if you plan on putting them in a box, make sure you
line the bottom with some wax paper. You
can cover it up with some cute tissue paper.
Or, you could gently drop them into a cute jar with a ribbon wrapped
around the top.
I hope you enjoy making
these cookies as much as I do (and eating them!). Let me know how they turn out if you do make
them and upload some pictures to my Facebook page. I also have a bomb recipe for gingerbread
biscuits, if baking is your thing. Let
me know if you’d like a post with that recipe.
Wishing you all the love and
light of the festive season (and none of the associated calories)