Emelia Jackson lives for Christmas baking. The Melbourne-based food writer has devoted an entire chapter to festive baking inspiration in her recently released cookbook, Some of My Best Friends are Cookies. “But I could have expanded that chapter tenfold,” says Jackson.

Christmas is a chance for Jackson to bust out treasured recipes and introduce new variations on favourite themes. There will always be a riff on gingerbread (this year, it’s spicy German pfeffernusse, see recipe), confectionary of some kind (perhaps nougat or almond toffee bark), and, in a nod to her Greek Macedonian heritage, crumbly kourabiedes crescents.

Many of these end up in hampers for the lucky adults in her immediate family, packaged alongside store-bought goodies such as wine, a jar of organic Pana chocolate hazelnut spread or salted caramel sauce, and cheese.

Packaging everything beautifully is part of the process she enjoys most.

Selecting an annual colour theme (this year it’s soft greens), Jackson looks for tins, transparent boxes, crisp brown paper, clear cellophane bags, and ribbons that showcase her handiwork. The important thing, she says, “is to let the bakes speak for themselves”.

For anyone planning their own festive bake-off, Jackson recommends choosing two or three recipes that pique your interest, and using the best ingredients you can afford. Here are three recipes from Some of My Best Friends are Cookies to help you get started —Roslyn Grundy

Double-chocolate peppermint cookies

These cookies are Christmas wrapped in a neat little bow. I’m fairly partial to the chocolate and mint combo, even more partial to Christmas peppermint bark and even more partial to a double-chocolate-chip cookie. Put it all together and you get these festive beauties.

INGREDIENTS

• 180g unsalted butter, softened
• 110g brown sugar
• 125g caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ tsp salt
• 190g plain flour
• 65g dark cocoa powder
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
• 200g dark chocolate chips
• 100g white chocolate chips
• 4 large (about 60g) candy canes, chopped into small pieces

Garnish

• 100g white chocolate, melted
• 5 large candy canes, crushed

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 160C fan-forced (180C conventional). Line two baking trays with baking paper or silicone baking mats.
2. Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, brown sugar, caster sugar and egg until creamy and pale. Add the vanilla and salt and mix to combine. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cocoa and bicarbonate of soda and whisk to combine. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix on low speed until just combined, then add all of the chocolate chips and the chopped candy canes and mix to combine.
3. Divide the dough into balls, using 50g dough for each one, and place them on the baking trays, leaving plenty of room for spreading. Bake the cookies for 14-15 minutes or until puffy and set in the middle. Allow them to cool for 10 minutes on the trays before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
4. To garnish, spoon the melted white chocolate into a piping bag and snip off a small tip. Pipe the chocolate back and forth over the cookies, then sprinkle the crushed candy canes over the top before the chocolate sets. Allow the chocolate to set completely before eating or gifting.

Makes 20

How to get your cookies perfectly round

1. Remove the tray of cookies from the oven a couple of minutes before they have finished baking – you want them to be soft to allow for some shaping action.
2. Take a cookie cutter, ring cutter or anything round that’s slightly wider than your cookies. (I have a pack of ring cutters that has about 20 different sizes in it – I highly recommend buying one.)
3. Place the cutter over one of the piping-hot cookies and gently move it around in a circular motion, shaping the cookie as you move the cutter. Watch as your cookie goes from a randomly spread shape to a perfect circle, right before your eyes!
4. Repeat with the remaining cookies, then return your cookies to the oven for the final couple of minutes of baking.

Puerto Rican Besitos de Coco

Much like a coconut macaroon in flavour and texture, these Puerto Rican coconut kisses flip the ingredients on their head, using the egg yolks in place of the egg whites that macaroons use. They’re a festive staple in South America and for good reason: easy to make, delicious to eat and perfect for gifting.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 egg yolks
• 150g brown sugar
• 50g unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp coconut extract
• 200g shredded coconut
• 70g plain flour
• 200g dark chocolate, melted

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180C fan-forced (200C conventional). Line two baking trays with baking paper or silicone baking mats.
2. Combine the egg yolks, brown sugar and butter in a large bowl and mix by hand or using an electric mixer until just combined. Add the vanilla and coconut extracts and mix well to ensure they are evenly dispersed throughout.
3. Add the shredded coconut and flour and mix to combine. Scoop the mixture into balls, using 30g for each one. Place the balls on the baking trays, leaving 2.5cm between each one. Bake the cookies for 14-15 minutes or until golden brown. Allow them to cool for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
4. I like to coat the cookie bases in chocolate, then decorate the tops. Put the chocolate in a piping bag, snip off a small tip, then pipe about 1 teaspoon onto the base of the cookies. I press the cookies back onto the paper-lined trays, which means they set nice and flat. Pipe the remaining chocolate back and forth over the tops of the cookies. Allow the chocolate to set before eating.

Makes 18

German pfeffernusse

Making these beauties is a three-step process, but it’s super simple. A German alternative to the well-known gingerbread, these are made with a spice mix called “lebkuchengewürz” (recipe below). Step one: make the spice mix. Step two: make the dough. Step three: bake and glaze. Simple! You’ll find these in supermarkets at Christmastime but, like most baked goods, home-made is always extra special. Start the dough a day ahead, if possible.

INGREDIENTS

• 150g plain flour
• 20g almond meal
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp ground white pepper
• 3 tsp lebkuchengewürz spice mix (see below)
• 60g brown sugar
• 60g honey
• 40g unsalted butter
• 1 egg yolk

Lebkuchengewürz

• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• ½ tsp ground allspice
• ½ tsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• ½ tsp ground star anise
• ¼ tsp ground cardamom
• ¼ tsp ground coriander

Glaze

• 300g icing sugar

METHOD

1. For the lebkuchengewürz spice mix, simply combine the ingredients and mix well. Store it in an airtight container for 3-4 weeks.
2. Combine the flour, almond meal, bicarbonate of soda, salt, white pepper and 3 teaspoons of the spice mix in a bowl and mix well.
3. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine the brown sugar, honey and butter and cook over low heat until the mixture has just melted together. Increase the heat and cook until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture comes to the boil. Remove from the heat and leave to cool for 5-10 minutes.
4. Pour the cooled wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, followed by the egg yolk, and stir until everything comes together in a soft dough.
5. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place in the fridge until completely chilled (overnight is best here, but you can also make the dough 2-3 days in advance).
6. Preheat the oven to 180C fan-forced (200C conventional). Line two baking trays with baking paper or silicone baking mats.
7. Divide the chilled dough into 15g pieces and roll them into balls. Place the balls on the baking trays, leaving 3cm between them.
8. Bake the biscuits for 12–14 minutes or until puffed up and lightly golden brown around the edges. Allow them to cool on the trays for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
9. Once the biscuits are cool, make the glaze. Put the icing sugar in a bowl with 3–4 tablespoons water and whisk until smooth. Dip the top of each pfeffernüsse into the glaze, then place it back on the wire rack to allow the excess to drip off. Allow the glaze to dry completely (about 30-60 minutes) before eating. These make a delicious tea-time treat or gift.

Makes 24

Images and text from Some of My Best Friends are Cookies by Emelia Jackson, photography by Armelle Habib, and illustrations by Andrea Smith. Murdoch
Books, RRP $39.99.