Baking Mailänderli with our Elves Cookie and Biscuit

I thought I was going to be too busy to do some Christmas baking this year, mainly due to my working full time at least until the end of the year. Our lovely elves didn't think so though. They came prepared!

My name sister, who lives in the U.S. asked for the recipe of Switzerland's most popular Christmas cookie. Happy to share!

To my knowledge, this recipe was developed by the fictional Swiss chef icon Betty Bossi. 

Growing up I imagined she was a friendly, wholesome, middle aged lady who wears an apron and knows all the kitchen tricks. Up to this day I still feel betrayed by whatever marketing company that invented her because she does not exist in real life. It's a team of people that since the mid-50's have been publishing three cookbooks annually and runs a webshop selling more or less useful utensils you will find in every Swiss household. 

Ingredients:

250g butter (17.5 tablespoons), room temperature

250g granulated sugar (1.25 cups)

3 eggs

the zest of 1 lemon

500g flour (4 cups)

a pinch of salt

2 egg yolks

1 teaspoon milk or cream

Instructions:

Mix butter in a bowl. Stir in sugar and salt. Stir in one egg at a time, continuing to stir until the mixture is lighter in color. Grate zest from lemon, stir into mixture.

Add flour, fold into a dough, flatten slightly, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius (392 Fahrenheit)

Roll out dough in portions on a little flour or between a cut open plastic bag about 7mm (0.27 inches) thick. 

Cut out various shapes and place on baking sheets lined with baking paper. 

Refrigerate the cookies for about 15 minutes. 

Mix egg yolk and milk, brush cookies with it. (If you want to decorate your cookies with icing, don't do this part)

Bake approximately 10 minutes in the middle of the oven. Take out, cool Mailänderli on a rack.

With a simple icing made from confectioner's sugar, lemon juice and food coloring you may decorate the cookies. The original Mailänderli, however, are just painted with egg wash, see above. One year we went the extra mile and made cookies that looked like our Elf ♥

Shelf life: In a tin well closed about 2 weeks - I don't think they'll last as long though ;-)

Enjoy and let me know how yours turned out!