Christmas Traditions: History of Cookie Decorating 🎄đŸȘ

 History of Cookie Decorating 🎄đŸȘ

Have you ever stopped to wonder why we do certain Christmas Traditions? Did you know that Cookie decorating dates back to at least the 14th century in Switzerland? Springerle cookie molds were carved from wood and used to impress Biblical designs into cookies. One of the earliest recorded forms of cookie decorating is the springerle, and the oldest known springerle mold is housed at the Swiss national museum in Zurich, Switzerland.

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The artistic element of cookie making also can be traced back to Medieval Germany.

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Lebkuchen was crafted into fancy shapes and decorated with sugar. Lebkuchen is a traditional German baked Christmas cookie, somewhat resembling gingerbread.

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During the 17th century, Dutch and German settlers introduced cookie cutters, decorative molds, and festive holiday cookie decorations to the United States.

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Today cookie decorating traditions continue in many places in the world and include such activities as cookie decorating parties, competitions, creating cookie bouquets and cookie gift baskets, and simply decorating cookies with others can be a fun activity.

Join us at Lexis Byron Bay this Thursday the 11th of December at 11.30am or 2pm for our own version of Christmas Cookie Decorating!

Make sure to sign up at reception!

 

 

Learn English in Byron Bay. Lexis English students study General English, IELTS, FCE, CAE and English plus Surfing and Yoga in a friendly and professional school right in the heart of Byron Bay and only 15 minutes from the beach.

Christmas Cooking! December 15

Today we baked Gingerbread Cookies for our Christmas cooking activity.

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These cookies smell SO GOOD as they are cooking. It is difficult not to eat them all before decorating them!

The students were all very patient and decorated all the cookies in lovely, artistic designs.

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Then they ate them and discovered they taste just as good as they smell while cooking. YUM!

If your want to make these at home, follow the recipe below…

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GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Ingredients

2Œ cups plain flour

1 tablespoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Ÿ cup brown sugar

œ teaspoon bicarbonate soda

Ÿ cup melted margarine

Œ cup golden syrup

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C and line baking tray with baking paper.

Add all ingredients to a bowl. Mix well then knead until combined into a ball of dough.

Lightly flour the table.

Roll the dough out onto the flour to approximately 0.5cm thickness.
Use cookie cutters to make your desired cookie shapes.

Place the cookies on to the baking trays and bake for 15 minutes until lightly browned.

Allow to cool and decorate as desired.

 

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Learn English in Byron Bay. Lexis English students study General English, IELTS, FCE, CAE and English plus Surfing in a friendly and professional school right in the heart of Byron Bay and only 15 minutes from the beach.

Aussie Cooking! July 20

Today we baked some Australian cookies, ANZAC Biscuits. These tasty treats are very quick and easy to make, so we baked two batches of cookies!

Aya and Sua decided to get creative with their biscuits by sprinkling the mixture with ground coffee and then cooking them in the sandwich press… They insist that the biscuits were just as delicious with this method of cooking!

The rest of the cookies were baked in the oven and came out perfectly. Needless to say, there are no cookies left!

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Here is the recipe to try at home:

 

ANZAC BISCUITS

Ingredients

2 cups rolled oats

1 cup plain flour

2/3 cup caster sugar

3/4 cup desiccated coconut

1/3 cup golden syrup

125g butter

1 teaspoon bicarb soda

2 tablespoons hot water

 

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 160°C.
  1. Place the oats, flour, sugar and coconut in a bowl and mix to combine.
  1. Cook the golden syrup and butter in a saucepan over low heat, stirring, until melted.
  1. Combine the bicarb soda with the water and add to the butter mixture.
  1. Pour into the oat mixture and mix well to combine.
  1. Place a large spoonful of the mixture onto baking trays lined with baking paper and flatten to 7cm rounds, allowing room to spread.
  1. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until deep golden in colour.
  1. Allow to cool on baking trays for 5 minutes then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
  1. EAT THEM ALL!  🙂

 

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Learn English in Byron Bay. Lexis English students study General English, IELTS, FCE, CAE and English plus Surfing in a friendly and professional school right in the heart of Byron Bay and only 15 minutes from the beach.