A Book of Christmas Goodies

Merry Christmas to all Readers! May this be a joyful season of

good health, soothing family gatherings and warm hearts. We wish

you a prosperous New Year, successful both in private and

professional life. These Holidays are a time of magic, when the good

dreams come true, animals speak in human voices and even the

most everyday things become exceptional. The same spell has been

cast on one of the Gemius metrics, a small creature well known to

all internet users – the cookie. On this magic occasion, they can take

a more physical form and become home-made biscuits. Since we

operate on many European markets, we give you a selection of

recipes for traditional treats from all countries on the Gemius map.

We hope these goodies will sweeten up your Christmas, filling your

home with the aromas of honey, cinnamon, oranges…

Best Holiday wishes from the Gemius team!

Russian Gingerbread Biscuits

Pryaniki

Ingredients:

Method:

3 cups flour1/8 tsp salt1 tsp baking soda1/2 tsp ground cinnamon1/2 tsp ground cardamom1/2 tsp ground nutmeg1/2 tsp ground allspice2 egg yolks1/2 cup sugar1 tsp vanilla1 cup honeyThick berry jam

Optional:1/2 cup icing sugar

Sift the flour, salt and baking soda into a bowl and add the spices.

Put the egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl and whisk until white and thick.

Melt the honey until it is liquid and stir in the vanilla. Set aside to cool slightly before adding the honey to

the egg mixture. Stir this mix into the flour to form a stiff dough. Cover and refrigerate for about an hour.

Take approximately a tablespoon of dough and roll into a ball on a lightly floured surface. Flatten the

dough and place around 1/2 teaspoon of jam into the middle. Pinch the edges together to close and roll on

a lightly floured surface to shape into a ball. Place each ball onto a greased or non-stick baking tray with

plenty of space between each ball - they will spread as they cook to around twice their original size.

Pre-heat the oven to 175 degrees C. Bake for 10-12 minutes, rotating the tray half way through.

These gingerbread biscuits are great plain, but you can also glaze them with thin icing made from the icing

sugar and water, or roll them directly in the icing sugar powder.

3 RUSSIA

Bulgarian Biscuits

Maslenki

Ingredients:

Method:

3 eggs3/4 cup sugar1 cup lard4 cups white flour1 tsp. baking powder2 tsp. vanillayour favourite jam

Beat the eggs well and then add sugar; beat until light and foamy (about 5 minutes). Melt the lard, and

when slightly cooled (so as not to cook the eggs), slowly add the lard to the egg and sugar mixture.

Combine the dry ingredients. Slowly add the flour mixture to the egg and lard mixture to create a firm

dough. Divide into 3 balls. Roll out each ball until it is 1/4-inch thick. With a small glass or pastry cutter,

cut circles. In half of the circles, punch a 3/8-inch hole in the centre.

Bake in an oven preheated to 375°F for 8-10 minutes. Remove and when completely cooled, spread the full

halves with jam. Top with the halves with holes. Dust with powdered sugar, if desired. Makes about 4

dozen biscuits.

4BULGARIA

Estonian Gingerbread

Jõulupiparkoogid

Ingredients:

Method:

Mix the syrup, sugar and ground spices in a saucepan and bring to the simmer.

Add the cubed butter and stir, until the butter melts. Remove the pan from the heat and cool.

Add eggs, one at a time, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon (or simply use a mixer).

Mix flour and baking soda, then add gradually to the syrup and sugar mixture.

Knead until all ingredients are thoroughly combined. Wrap in cling film and place in the fridge at least

overnight, preferably for a few days. To make the cookies, divide the dough into manageable chunks and

roll into 3 mm thickness on a lightly floured pastry board. Transfer to a baking tray.

Bake at 200°C in the middle shelf of a pre-heated oven for 6-9 minutes, until cooked through.

Cool, then decorate with a sugar glaze.

To make the sugar glaze: Mix 1 egg white with enough icing sugar to get a thick and glossy glaze. Put into

a piping bag with a very small hole and decorate.

5 ESTONIA

for 1.3 kg of gingerbread dough250 g light (corn) syrup200 g sugar2 tsp ground cinnamon1 tsp ground cloves1-2 tsp ground cardamom1 tsp ground ginger0.5 tsp ground allspice0.5 tsp ground nutmeg250 g butter2 large eggs600 g plain flour2 tsp baking soda

Slovakian Cookies

Medovnicky

Ingredients:

Method:

1 & 1/4 lb. flour, 3/4 lb. dark brown sugar, 4 eggs, beaten well, 3/4 cup honey, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 2 ounces sweet butter, 1 beaten egg for brushing biscuits.

Mix flour and butter, sugar and soda. Beat eggs well, add honey, and mix well with flour mixture.

Let it stand in refrigerator overnight. Roll the dough about 1/8 inches thick and cut out with pastry cutter

or take about a teaspoon of dough, flatten, brush over with egg. Put one half almond or chocolate chip on

each cookie. Place on greased baking trays, about 3 inches apart. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 200-250° C

for about 7 minutes.

6SLOVAKIA

Ukrainian christmas biscuits

Rizdwjani korzhyky

Ingredients:

Method:

Combine flour with soda, add margarine and mix. Then add sugar, 2 whole eggs with 2 yolks, warmed

honey with carnation and cinnamon. Add dough. If dough is too stiff — add 1—2 spoons of sour cream.

Cover dough and leave overnight in a cold place. Roll dough and shape biscuits. Put biscuits on greased

baking tray, glaze with egg yolk and bake in oven (temperature 200° C). Traditionally, the biscuits are

coloured red with beetroot juice.

7 UKRAINE

600 g flour 150 g honey 200 g sugar 150 g margarine 3—4 eggs1 tea spoon of cinnamon with the ground carnation 1 tea spoon of soda

Norwegian Cigars

Sigarer

Ingredients:

Method:

(makes 75 cigars)

175 g butter1 cup sugar 125 g hazelnuts 2 tbs. whipped cream 3 cups flour

Decoration: 150 g cooking chocolate a small amount of cocoa butter (optional)

Beat the soft butter with sugar and add cream. Grind the hazelnuts. Add them to the butter and stir in the

flour. Knead the dough quickly.

Divide the dough into 5-centimeter "cigars" and transfer them onto a lined baking tray. Bake in 175 ° C for

10-15 minutes, until golden-brown at the edges. Once baked, leave in the oven for 10 min, then remove

from the sheet and set aside to cool down completely.

Melt the chocolate with cocoa butter (optional) in a bain-marie or in a small saucepan over boiling water

Dip one end of each cigar in the melted chocolate and place them on baking paper to cool.

Store the "cigars" in a cool place.

8NORWAY

Crumble

Trupininis

Ingredients:

Method:

All the products are kneaded in the bowl in a cold room, covered and kept in a fridge for about 1 hour.

A baking tray is covered with baking paper, greased with butter and sprinkled with flour. Dough is

crumbled or grated with a large-holed grater straight onto the baking tray. After half of the dough is

crumbled, fruit or berry jam is spread on it. The remaining dough is crumbled on the top and quickly baked

in a hot oven for 30 – 40 min. The baked crumble is sprinkled with sugar powder and sliced for serving.

9 LITHUANIA

½ kg flour150 g butter250 g sugar3 eggs½ packet baking-powderLemon peelThick fruit or berry jam

Orange Cookies

Polish delight

Ingredients:

Method:

125 g shortening60 g sugar150 g flourvanilla sugar140 g icing sugar2 tbs. water200 g candied orange peel 1 tbs. milk

Place the flour, sugar, softened shortening, vanilla sugar and milk in a food processor and mix well.

Transfer the lot onto a board sprinkled with flour and knead quickly. Roll the dough to app. 1/2 cm in

thickness and cut out the shapes.

Place the biscuits on a lined baking sheet. Bake for 10 min in 180° C.

Mix the icing sugar with water. Spread the sugary paste over cooled cookies and decorate each with the

candied orange zest.

10POLAND

Romanian Christmas Cake

Cozonac romanesc

Ingredients:

Method:

First the dough is prepared with half the quantity of milk to which an appropriate amount of flour is added,

then add the yeast. Mix everything well and sprinkle with flour. Leave the dough in a warm place to rise for

about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, the rest of the milk, the sugar, the whole eggs, the egg yolks, the grated

rinds of the lemon and the orange, the salt and the vanilla should be mixed well in a pot over a very low

heat, or in a bain-marie over boiling water. After the dough has risen, add this mixture to the dough and

start kneading. While doing this, add more of the flour as required. Beat the egg whites until stiff, fold into

the dough, and continue kneading. During this process bubbles will start to form. When you consider the

dough to be sufficiently kneaded add some slightly warmed butter and knead again. Then fold in the

raisins, the walnuts (or poppy seeds) and the rum. How these are folded in will determine the pattern of

the final cake (see photos). Cover the dough with a warm towel and leave to rise again in a warm place.

While the dough rises, grease well with butter the base and sides of loaf tins and then sprinkle sugar on the

greased interior. After the dough has risen sufficiently, divide it and put each part into one of the loaf tins

in so that the dough fills only about half of each tin. Then let it rise again in the baking tins, make sure no

cold air can reach them and that the place is constantly warm. When the dough has risen to about 3/4 of

the tin, spread butter on top of the loaves, followed by a sprinkling of crushed sugar cubes.

Place the baking tins in a good oven. Set the stove to a rather low temperature (120° C - 150° C). Part way

through turn the loaf tins around in the oven to ensure that the cake rises equally on all sides. Bake (usually

around 50 minutes to one hour) until the top of the cozonac has a nice brown colour.

11 ROMANIA

1 kg wheat flour4 whole eggs4 egg yolks4 egg whites200 g sugar50 ml rum500 ml milk100 g butter1 lemon1 orange

vanilla60 g yeast100 g raisins600 g walnuts or poppy seeds10 g salt

For the preparation of two baking tins:50 g butter 50 g caster sugar

British Cookies

Mincemeat

Ingredients:

Method:

1 lemon150g raisins150g sultanas85g mixed peel1 cooking apple, washed, cored and quartered150g currants150g brown sugar150g shredded suet1/2 tsp ground ginger1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg4 tbsp. dark rum, brandy or whisky (or a mixture)

Wash the lemon and boil it whole in a saucepan of water for about 1 hour or until soft. Allow to cool and

cut in half. Keep the juice, rind and skin but discard the pips.

Place the lemon, rind, skin and juice in a food processor along with the raisins, sultanas, mixed peel,

unpeeled apples and mix to a thick paste. Don't process the currants.

Tip the paste into a large bowl and add the currants, sugar, suet and spices. Mix well and pour in the

whisky and rum. Store the mincemeat in jars or plastic containers in the fridge and it will keep for months.

12GREAT BRITAIN

Latvian Christmas Gingerbread

Piparkūkas

Ingredients:

Method:

Most or all of the sugar is simmered in a pan, until it becomes brown. Add half the required amount of

water, stirring, until the mass is free of clots.

Meanwhile mix honey with butter and the remaining amount of water. Boil and cool it a bit. Add to this

mass eggs, spices, salt, soda, citric, warm caramelized and chilled sugar.

Add the flour and, while it's still warm, mix it well until the dough becomes smooth.

Wrap dough in plastic or foil and place in refrigerator for several hours or overnight. Before baking, it is

recommended to keep dough at room temperature so it becomes softer.

Take risen gingerbread dough, heat it by kneading well one more time. Then roll it and squeeze biscuit

shapes of your choice, place them on a greased baking tray, daub with beaten egg and bake at 200 ° C for

12-15 minutes in a pre-heated oven. Remember, the true taste of gingerbread is obtained only after a

couple of days.

13 LATVIA

100 g honey80 g sugar100 g butter400 g flour150 g water2 eggsA pinch of salt, citric acid, baking soda1 teaspoon gingerbread spices (mixed according to personal taste): Ground cloves, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger powder, black and aromatic pepper. You can also add vanilla sugar, nutmeg, anise and grated citrus peel.

Hungarian Nut Crescents

Diós Patkó

Ingredients:

Method:

Dough:1 cup butter1 cup vegetable shortening6 ¼ cups of plain flour2 tablespoons, active dry yeast½ litre sour cream3 each egg yolks1 pinch salt

Filling:¼ kg ground walnuts1 1/4 cups sugar1/4 teaspoon cinnamon1 teaspoon vanilla extract3 egg whites, stiffly beaten

Egg wash:1 egg yolkFew drops of waterSugar for the pastry board

In a bowl, cut the butter and shortening into the flour until the mixture is crumbly.

In a separate bowl, mix the yeast into the sour cream, then add egg yolks and salt. Combine with the flour

mixture. Mix until smooth and the sides of the bowl are clean.

Form into a large ball, cover and chill overnight. To make filling, mix walnuts, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla

and stiffly beaten egg whites together in a bowl. To make egg wash, mix egg yolk and a few drops of water

in a small bowl.

Preheat oven to 180°C. Sprinkle granulated sugar onto a pastry board. Divide the dough into six portions.

Work with one portion at a time, refrigerating the dough you are not using. Roll out the dough to 1/8-inch

thick and sprinkle with more sugar. Cut into 2 x 2-inch squares. Place a bit of the nut filling along one end

of the square and roll up. Form into a crescent. Place seam side down on a greased baking sheet.

Paint with egg wash. Bake at 180°C for 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on wire racks.

Makes 10 dozen. Note: Make sure you let the dough chill overnight to make it easy to work with. You may

want to halve the recipe for a smaller yield.

14HUNGARY

Christmas Biscuits

Orechove dorticky

Ingredients:

Method:

In a big bowl, mix the butter, sugar, lemon rind, vanilla extract, egg yolks and ground walnuts. Slowly mix

in 1 and 3/4 cups of four. Work the mixture into a dough and place it in the fridge for about 2 hours (or

overnight). Remove the dough from the fridge and let it stand in room temperature until it is workable

(about 1 hour). Roll out the dough onto a floured surface until it is about 1/4 inch thick (also coat the

rolling pin with flour; as you are rolling out the dough, keep sprinkling it with a little bit of flour at the time

to prevent sticking). Use pastry cutters to cut out the various shapes of biscuits; keep in mind that the final

product is going to be quite filling so the smaller the biscuit, the better. Transfer the cut biscuits on to an

ungreased baking sheet (use a spatula for the transfer if necessary) and bake them in a pre-heated oven for

10 to 12 minutes at 325 degrees F. Let the biscuits cool down. In a medium-sized bowl whisk together

sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla extract and egg yolks. Add in the butter (room-temperature) and whisk

everything together until the mixture appears smooth and creamy. Spread the cream on top of a biscuit

and cover it with a second biscuit to make a sandwich; make sure that the cream layer is thick, about 1/4

of an inch. Also, use a piping bag to layer the filling on the top so that the sides don’t get messy. Continue

creating biscuit sandwiches until there are no more “naked” biscuits left. Melt the chocolate bar according

to the directions on the bar package. Dip one side of each sandwich into the chocolate. Top each biscuit

with a walnut half.

15 CZECH REPUBLIC

Biscuits:2 sticks (8 oz or 1 cup) of soft, unsalted butter 2/3 (5 oz) cup of sugar1 tsp of grated lemon rind1 tbs vanilla extract 4 egg yolks2 and 1/4 cups (18 oz) of plain flour1/2 cup of ground walnutsOptional: 1 tbs of unsweetened cocoa powder (that’s if you like things really chocolaty)

Filling:1 stick of unsalted butter (4 oz)2 egg yolks1/4 cup of sugar1 tsp of vanilla extract1 tbs of unsweetened cocoa powder

Topping:1 bar dark baking chocolate (4 oz)walnut halves, about 1 cup

Vanilla Croissants

Vanillekipferl

Ingredients:

Method:

one Vanilla pod 70 g icing sugar160 g butter200 g flour70 g ground almondsVanilla sugar

Cut vanilla pod in half, scrape out the seeds . Mix butter with icing sugar, then quickly add flour, ground

almonds and vanilla (1/2 vanilla pod). Let the dough stand in the refrigerator for 30 min.

Make 2 strands out of the dough (thick as a finger) and cut it into small pieces (4-5 cm).

Pull ends to form a half-moon or a "C". Lay onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake at 170 C° for 12

minutes in a pre-heated oven. Mix icing sugar and vanilla sugar. Carefully, toss hot half-moons in the

sugar mixture.

16AUSTRIA

Table of contents:

PryanikiRussian Gingerbread Biscuits 3

MaslenkiBulgarian Biscuits 4

JõulupiparkoogidEstonian Gingerbread 5

MedovnickySlovakian Cookies 6

Rizdwjani korzhykyUkrainian christmas biscuits 7

SigarerNorwegian Cigars 8

TrupininisLithuanian Crumble 9

Polish delightOrange Cookies 10

Cozonac romanescRomanian Christmas Cake 11

MincemeatBritish Cookies 12

PiparkūkasLatvian Christmas Gingerbread 13

Diós PatkóHungarian Nut Crescents 14

Orechove dortickyChristmas Biscuits 15

VanillekipferlVanilla Croissants 16

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