Fourth day of Christmas, ahhhhh! Where is the time going?? It’s the most wonderful time of the year and it’s going by way too fast!

I wanted to share this recipe with you today because these cookies are the perfect thing to take along to a holiday party – they look impressive (which is why we do this, right?) and they taste DELICIOUS. They are soft and buttery, without being too heavy. I’ve never been a huge fan of shortbread, but these cookies have converted me.

Once again (surprise, surprise), the recipe is from The Baking Collection by the Australian Women’s Weekly. Love.

On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me….

Christmas Cookies

Ingredients:

250 g butter
1 tsp vanilla essence
200 g icing sugar
350 g plain flour
75 g cornflour
2 tbs milk
various jams

Equipment:

Cookie cutter and various smaller shapes for the centres

Method:

Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius.
Beat butter, icing sugar and vanilla essence until light and fluffy.
Stir in flour, cornflour and milk until well combined.
Separate dough into two pieces, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (this makes the dough easier to work with when you’re cutting it).
Roll out half the dough between two sheets of baking paper. Using your cookie cutter, cut top and bottom circles. On the top circles, use one of your smaller shapes to cut out a window.
Place the cookies on a lined baking tray, and refrigerate for 15 minutes or so. Repeat with remaining dough.
Bake the cookies for 10-15 minutes, then remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Spread about 1 tsp of jam onto the bottom cookies, then cover with the top pieces.
Return to the oven for another 10 minutes.

Want to catch up on the other days of Christmas?

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me… Jingle Bell Rock.
On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me… Festive Pfeffernüsse.
On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me… Super Scrappy Stockings.

Check in tomorrow for day number 5!