Sweet Hearts

Baking cookies for Christmas is a big deal in Germany. So what better way to spend a Saturday afternoon than baking trays and trays full of delicious cookies with a seasonal audio drama playing in the background. Never fails to get me into the festive mood.

Here is the recipe for the lemon flavoured heart shaped cookies (makes about 60):

- Mix together 400g plain flour and 150g icing sugar
- Rub in 250g butter until the mixture forms crumbs
- Add 2 eggs, the zest of 2 medium sized lemons, and 2 teaspoons of lemon juice
- Knead together to make a dough
- Wrap the dough in cling film and chill it for an hour
- Use the waiting time to preheat your oven to 180 C/ 30 F
- Take the dough out the fridge and knead it through once again to soften it up
- Roll the dough out about 5mm thick on to a floured surface
- Cut out cookies to your hearts content (you can use a different shape of course)
- Transfer cookies onto baking trays lined with grease proof paper
- Bake in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes (check after 10 minutes!)
- When the cookies are golden brown, transfer to wire racks and allow to cool
- COOKIES MUST BE COMPLETELY COOL BEFORE DECORATING OR ICING WILL MELT
- Make icing out of icing sugar mixed with lemon juice; you want a consistency that is runny enough to spread out but not too runny or it won't stick
- Spread each cookie with icing and sprinkle with hundreds and thousands
- Eat and enjoy!