Rudolph vanilla shortbread cookies

Rudolph vanilla shortbread cookies are delicate, butter vanilla biscuits decorated with red chocolate sweets and chocolate details. The dough is wonderfully easy to work with, making the cookie-cutting process a real pleasure, especially for children. Highly recommended!

Makes 40 cookies.

Ingredients for rudolph vanilla shortbread cookies:

• 180 g cold butter
• 100 g icing sugar
• 350 g plain flour
• 1 large egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or the seeds from 1 vanilla pod
• a pinch of salt

Sift the flour into a large bowl. Add the cold butter and quickly cut it into the flour using a knife until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the remaining ingredients and quickly knead into a smooth dough (alternatively, the dough can be prepared in a food processor). Shape the dough into a ball, wrap it in cling film and chill in the refrigerator for 60 minutes.

Once chilled, take portions of the dough and roll them out on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of approximately 3 mm. Cut out round cookie shapes using a cutter. Arrange the cookies on baking trays lined with baking parchment, leaving a small gap between each one.

Bake the vanilla shortbread cookies at 180°C for approximately 12 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.

For decoration:

• 50 g milk or dark chocolate, melted over a bain-marie
• red chocolate sweets (for the noses)
• royal icing for attaching the noses (melted chocolate can also be used)

Once the cookies have cooled completely, use the royal icing or chocolate to attach the red noses. Decorate with melted chocolate piped from a paper piping cone, a piping bag or a chocolate decorating pen to create Rudolph’s eyes and antlers.

The shortbread dough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days after preparation, provided it is wrapped well in cling film. It can also be frozen.

Enjoy!