English Cookies Recipes

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Cream the butter in a large bowl with a wooden spoon or in a stand mixer until it is soft. Add the sugar and keep beating until the mixture is light and fluffy. Sift in the flour and add the optional ingredients, if you're using them. Bring the mixture together with your hands in a figure-of-eight motion until it forms a dough. You can freeze the dough at this point.
• Roll the dough into walnut-sized balls and place them slightly apart from each other on a baking sheet (you don't need to butter or line it). Flatten the balls a little with the palm of your hand and bake them in the oven for around 10-12 mins until they are golden brown and slightly firm on top. Leave the cookies on a cooling rack for around 15 mins before serving.

Steps:

• Cream butter. Add sugar, creaming well. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder; gradually add to creamed mixture.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into 2 inch rounds, and place on ungreased baking sheets.
• Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 10 minutes, or until very lightly browned at edges. Cool thoroughly.
• Spread half of the cookies with jam, and top with remaining cookies.
• Combine confectioners' sugar, almond extract, and enough hot water to make a thin icing. Frost tops of cookies. Top each with a small piece of candied cherry.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cream the butter with both types of sugar in a bowl, then beat in the egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt in another bowl, then sift into the creamed mixture, beating constantly with a wooden spoon. If necessary, soften the mixture with a little milk. Stir in the hazelnuts and chocolate. Place about 15 tablespoons of the mixture, spaced well apart, on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for about 7-8 minutes. Remove the cookie sheet from the oven and let cool slightly, then remove the cookies with a spatula and let cool on a wire rack. Cook the remaining mixture in the same way.