Christmas Pudding Cookies- 12 Days of Cookies Day 12

12 Days of Cookies Day 12: Christmas pudding cookies. I have been waiting to make these and I’m so excited to share them. I’ve had these pinned on Pinterest and I’ve had about 200 people re-pin the recipe. They are so fun and they are just very fancily decorated chocolate cookies. They don’t taste like Christmas pudding but they sure look like them.

If you’re not familiar with Christmas pudding, it’s a steamed pudding made with dried fruits and spices. The first time I went to England it was during the Christmas season and you’d find wrapping paper and greeting cards with puddings on them and I thought it was so cute. So I’m always looking for puddings. I have a couple of Christmas tree ornaments that are puddings and one year I even found some wrapping paper that had puddings on it. When I saw these I knew I had to make it.

This isn’t a cookie that you make on a whim. I ordered a special leaf fondant cutter so that I could make nice looking leaves. With my artistic ability, I knew it would be a mess otherwise. I was able to find mini M&Ms to use as decoration, which would be really hard to find in England. This recipe, like many other recipes from the UK, uses self-rising flour, so I’ve given a recipe on how to make that. I used a squeeze bottle to help pipe the white chocolate so that it looked like dripping frosting. I really love how these turned out! I hope you also enjoy them!

Christmas Pudding Cookies

3 ounces dark chocolate
5 ounces self-rising flour*
1 ounce cocoa powder
4 ounces butter, cut into small cubes
3 ounces brown sugar
¼ teaspoon vanilla
1 egg, beaten
Dark brown mini M&Ms or mini chocolate chips

6 ounces white chocolate
Green ready-to-roll fondant
Red mini M&Ms

Using a food processor, chop the dark chocolate into small pieces, remove from processor and put to one side. Into the same processor, add the flour, cocoa powder, butter, sugar and vanilla. Pulse until you have a fine mixture. Add the chopped dark chocolate and the egg; pulse until the dough comes together. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Roll out the dough to a ¼” thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut out rounds with your cookie cutter and place on the prepared baking sheet. Randomly push the mini M&Ms or chocolate chips into the bottom half of the cookies, to resemble currants.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until they are just starting to brown. Cool for about 5 minutes on the baking sheet before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

To decorate: melt the white chocolate in the top of a double boiler or in the microwave. Spoon or pipe the white chocolate onto the top of the cookies, to resemble icing. Roll out the fondant and cut out small leaves. Before the white chocolate has set, press two fondant leaves and one red M&M to the top of the cookies to resemble holly leaves and berries.

*You can make your own self-rising flour by combining 2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda and a pinch of salt. This will be more than you need for this recipe.

Recipe from Cherrapeno