Christmas is a time for sharing and we’re celebrating that with the last week of our Christmas menu. Whether you’re having a family barbeque, meeting friends at the park or bringing a plate to your work Christmas party, we have some sweet Christmas nibbles for every gathering.
Christmas Wreath Cookies – You’ll need:
- 250g butter, softened
- 2/3 cup pure icing sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups plain flour
- 1/2 cup custard powder
- Christmas sprinkles
- Lemon glaze
- 1 cup pure icing sugar, sifted
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
Beat butter, sugar and vanilla in a bowl until light and fluffy. Sift in flour and custard powder Stir until soft dough forms and set aside for 10 minutes.
Spoon one-quarter dough into a piping bag fitted with a 1.5cm fluted nozzle. Pipe 6cm circles, 3cm apart, on trays lined with baking paper. Repeat with remaining dough to make a total 20 wreaths.
Bake until golden and then cool on trays for 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
While the wreaths cool make the lemon glaze by combining icing sugar and lemon juice in a bowl until the sugar has dissolved. Drizzle cookies with glaze, top with sprinkles and serve.
Salted Chocolate Frozen Banana Bites – You’ll need:
- 3 ripe bananas
- ½ block good quality dark chocolate
- 1 tsp copha
- Coarse sea salt
Cut the bananas into bite sized pieces and place on a foil- or parchment-covered baking sheet. Poke them with toothpicks and freeze until solid (at least 2 hours).
Once your bananas are frozen melt the dark chocolate and copha over a bowl of hot water, then dip each banana in the chocolate until covered. Sprinkle with sea salt and place back on cold baking sheet until dried. Serve immediately or re-freeze.
Mini Christmas puddings – You’ll need:
- 500g store-bought Christmas cake, crumbled
- 1/2 cup (125ml) milk
- 4 eggs
- 1/3 cup (85g) fruit mince
- 1/4 cup (60ml) brandy
- Custard and glace cherries, to serve
Place cake, milk, eggs, fruit mince and brandy in a food processor and pulse a few times to combine.
Divide mixture between mini pudding moulds and cover with foil. Place in a deep baking dish and pour in just enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the moulds.
Bake for 45 minutes in a moderate oven; remove from baking dish and let sit for 10 minutes.
Invert the puddings onto a platter, top with custard and cherries and serve!
Christmas Snowballs – You’ll need:
- 225g butter, softened but not melted
- 1/2 cup icing sugar, plus extra for dusting
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 – 2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup ground walnuts
- 30-36 dried cherries
Place butter, icing sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl beat until light and fluffy.
Add flour and ground walnuts and stir until the mixture comes together into manageable dough that will hold its shape when rolled into a ball. If mixture is very sticky, add a little more flour.
Chill dough until firm enough to handle, then wrap about 1 heaped teaspoon of the mixture around each dried cherry and roll into a ball. Bake in the oven until firm but not browned.
Let balls cool, roll in icing sugar and serve!
For more creative Christmas cooking ideas check out our Pinterest page!