Recipe: Festive Blueberry Christmas Cookies

MANILA, Philippines — Everybody loves cookies especially if they are bright, colorful and cheerfully decorated. They are perfect for the holidays.

These Christmas-themed cookies, made using a recipe by Chef Alvin Ong who developed it for the United States Highbush Blueberry Council, are fun.

Cookies with blueberry juice? Why not? It makes a world of difference.

INGREDIENTS:

For the blueberry juice:

100 grams frozen blueberries

10 grams water

For the cookie dough:

160 grams butter, cut into cubes

300 grams all-purpose flour

135 grams white sugar

3 grams salt

20 grams egg yolks

50 grams blueberry juice

For the royal icing:

80 grams egg whites

300 grams confectioner's sugar

Food gel

PROCEDURE:

1. Prepare the blueberry juice by combining frozen blueberries and water in a blender. Puree and strain. Set aside.

2. For the dough, combine butter, flour, sugar and salt. Crumble the butter with the flour using your hand to form a rough bread crumb texture. Add in your egg yolks and blueberry juice. Mix just to combine.

3. Wrap dough and chill for 30 minutes.

4. Flatten the dough with a rolling pin until 5 mm in thickness. Use a cookie cutter to cut into various shapes and arrange on a lined baking sheet.

5. Preheat oven to 180°C.

6. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until cooked. Then transfer to a cooling rack and allow to rest at room temperature.

7. While cookies are baking in the oven, make royal icing for your decoration. In a stainless bowl, whip egg whites until frothy. Then gradually add in sugar. Whip until stiff peaks form and is shiny.

8. Split your icing into small bowls, depending on how many colors you plan to work with. Add drops of food color gel and mix with a stick to blend in the color well. Cover the icing if it is not being used to prevent it from drying. Transfer to various piping bags with a pointed, plain tip.

9. Start decorating your cookies and let them sit on a cooling rack for 2 hours to overnight to harden the sugars. Serve and enjoy!

*Yields 20 to 25 cookies.

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