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Sweet Christmas Nibbles

christmas nibblesChristmas 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!