Stampable Christmas Butter Biscuits

The preparation step by step

1. Weighing and preparing

   Weigh 250 g of flour, 80 g of icing sugar and 1 g of salt separately. Cut 125 g of unsalted butter into small dice. The butter should be cool but soft enough to leave a dent when pressed with a finger. Prepare a small bowl for the egg and two sheets of baking paper.

2. Prepare the egg

   Break a medium egg in the small bowl. Remove any shell fragment, then beat it with a fork and weigh 50 g. Keep any excess for another preparation. This measured liquid brings the dry ingredients together.

3. Rub the butter into the dry ingredients

   Combine the weighed dry ingredients and diced butter in the bowl. Rub in briefly with your fingertips until you have fine crumbs and no large pieces of butter. Avoid working the mixture in your palms for too long, as this would warm it.

4. Gathering without kneading

   Add 50 g of beaten egg and 5 g of vanilla extract. Mix with a spatula, then press the crumbs together by hand. Stop as soon as the dough comes together evenly; it does not need to become stretchy like brioche dough.

5. Refrigerate the dough

   Flatten the dough into two 2 cm thick discs, cover them and place them in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Leave one half in the refrigerator while you work the other; a thick ball would cool less regularly.

6. Regularly

   Preheat the oven to 170 °C, conventional oven setting (no fan). Roll the first half between two sheets of baking paper to a thickness of 4 mm. Turn the paper between passes of the rolling pin. If the dough cracks sharply, wait 3 to 5 minutes before continuing.

7. Cut the biscuits

   Cut out rectangles of 4 x 6 cm; then press a lightly floured food stamp on each, without crossing the dough. Lift the pieces with a palette knife and place on a cold lined baking tray, leaving 2 cm between them. Press the offcuts together, roll out once more and keep the smallest pieces for a separate batch.

8. Firming the grounds

   Place the decorated baking tray in the refrigerator for 20 minutes before cooking. Keep the oven warm. This yeast-free dough swells little: a clean imprint in the refrigerator dough will be more legible after cooking.

9. Cook one plate at a time

   Bake on the middle shelf for 10 to 12 minutes. Start checking after 8 minutes: the edges should be lightly golden and the centres paler. The cookies are still slightly soft when they come out of the oven; waiting for them to be hard in the oven would dry them out.

10. Cool without breaking

    Rest the tray on a heatproof surface for 5 minutes, then transfer the biscuits to a wire rack. Bake the second tray meanwhile. Wait at least 20 minutes after the last batch before storing or decorating the biscuits.

11. Keep the relief

    Let the cookies cool completely without freezing them: a thick layer would mask the imprint. Brush any trace of flour with a dry brush reserved for the kitchen.

12. Packs when they are dry

    Store cookies in an airtight box or bag for food contact, never warm. A very short name can be printed with a letter stamp; uses regular pressure to keep the letters at the same level.