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Pastries and Cookies

Streusel Cookies

by Lisa

Trained pastry chef

Christmas cookies topped with golden butter streusel

4.6 (11)out of 5, 11 ratings

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Prep
5 min
Bake
16 min
Total
21 min
Makes
30 pieces

Christmas is cookie time, so I'm sharing the best Christmas cookies with you. Who loves streusel cake as much as I do? Buttery streusel on cookies, straight from the cookie tin, is a hit with every guest at an Advent brunch.

Ingredients

Makes 30 pieces

Shortcrust dough

  • 1 stick plus 1 tbsp125 gunsalted buttersoftened. German butter is unsalted and has about 82 percent fat. In the US use unsalted butter; European-style unsalted butter is closest. In the UK, unsalted butter.
  • ½ cup plus 2 tbspgranulated sugar125 g
  • 1large egg
  • 1 pinchsalt
  • 1 pinchvanilla bean seedsThe tiny seeds scraped from a vanilla bean. In the US use seeds from a vanilla bean, or 1 tsp vanilla bean paste; in the UK, seeds from a vanilla pod, or 1 tsp vanilla bean paste.
  • 1 ¾ cups220 gall-purpose flourIn German recipes plain flour means soft wheat flour Type 405 unless stated otherwise. In the US use all-purpose flour; in the UK, plain flour.

Streusel

  • 3 ½ tbsp50 gunsalted buttersoftened
  • ¼ cup50 ggranulated sugar
  • ⅔ cup80 gall-purpose flour
  • 1 pinchbaking powderGerman baking powder is sold in 15 g packets, each meant for about 500 g (4 cups) of flour. In the US use baking powder, 1 tbsp plus ¾ tsp per 15 g packet; in the UK, baking powder, 1 tbsp plus ¾ tsp per 15 g packet.
  • 1 pinchsalt
  • ½ tspChristmas cookie spiceA warm spice blend for Christmas cookies, similar to speculoos spice. In the US use pumpkin pie spice with a pinch of cardamom; in the UK, mixed spice with a pinch of cardamom.

Method

Instructions

  1. Knead the shortcrust ingredients together until you have a smooth, soft dough. Flatten it, cover it and chill for at least 1 hour.

  2. For the streusel, work the ingredients into crumbly streusel. Use a hand mixer with the regular beaters for this. Keep the streusel in the fridge until you need it.

  3. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) convection (fan).

  4. Take the dough out of the fridge, knead it again very briefly (!) and roll it out on a floured work surface. Brush it with a little milk, beaten egg or water, scatter the streusel over the top and cut out cookies with a cookie cutter.

  5. Place the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for a few minutes until golden.