Chilean Christmas cookies, or galletas de Navidad, are crisp butter and honey cookies spiced with cinnamon, cut into festive shapes, and decorated with colored royal icing and sprinkles. They take about 2 hours of preparation, including 90 minutes of chilling, and 10 to 12 minutes in the oven, and serve 8.
They are easy and inexpensive to make, and decorating them is a perfect activity to share with the whole family during one of the most important celebrations of the year.
How to Make Chilean Christmas Cookies?
Christmas cookies are made with a classic mix of flour, butter, sugar, and honey. The dough is chilled so it holds its shape, rolled out, cut with holiday cookie cutters, baked until lightly golden, and decorated once completely cool.
Nutritional Information
Each serving of Christmas cookies contains approximately 450 kcal, 5 g of protein, 20 g of fat, 50 mg of cholesterol, 60 g of carbohydrates, 30 g of sugars, 2 g of fiber, and 150 mg of sodium. These values are estimates and may vary depending on ingredients and portion sizes.
Homemade Chilean Christmas Cookies Recipe
Preparation: 120 minutes (including 90 minutes of chilling)
Cooking: 10 to 12 minutes
Servings: 8
Ingredients
Cookies
- 360 g (3 cups) of all purpose flour
- 250 g (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons) of butter, softened
- 150 g (¾ cup) of granulated sugar
- 80 g (¼ cup) of honey
- 1 medium egg
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- ¾ tablespoon of ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon of baking soda
Decoration
- Vanilla royal icing
- Food coloring
- Multicolored sprinkles
Instructions
- Sift the flour into a large bowl and mix in the cinnamon and baking soda. Set aside. In a medium bowl, beat the butter and sugar until creamy. Add the honey, egg, and vanilla and beat until fully combined.
- Add the flour mixture and beat with a spoon or a mixer on low speed until the dough is smooth. Place the dough in a zip top plastic bag and refrigerate for about 90 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (356°F) for at least 10 minutes and take the dough out of the fridge. Break it up on a clean, floured surface and roll it out to about 5 mm thick. Cut cookies with Christmas cutters and arrange them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until lightly golden. Let them rest on the tray for about 5 minutes before lifting them off the paper, then let them cool completely. Decorate the cold cookies with vanilla icing tinted with food coloring and finish with colored sprinkles.
Additional Tips
Do not skip the chilling time
The 90 minutes in the fridge are essential. This butter dough must be completely cold so it does not stick and keeps its shape when you cut it and while it bakes.
Use two icing consistencies
Royal icing works best in two textures, a thicker one for piping outlines and a more fluid one, thinned with a few drops of water, to quickly flood the larger areas.
Bake on a light colored tray
Dark baking sheets absorb more heat and tend to burn the bottoms. Use a light tray with parchment paper or a silicone mat and make sure your oven is calibrated.
| Original ingredient | Substitute | Ratio | Flavor note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Honey | Golden syrup or chancaca syrup | 1:1 | Deeper caramel notes |
| Ground cinnamon | Ground ginger | 1:1 | Spicier, gingerbread style |
| Butter | Margarine | 1:1 | Harder, less flavorful cookie |
| Royal icing | Melted chocolate | To cover | Richer, sets more slowly |
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. Can I replace the butter with margarine or oil?
Butter, ideally unsalted, is key to the flavor and crumbly texture of these cookies. Margarine or oil can change the texture and make them harder or drier.
Raw dough wrapped in plastic wrap keeps in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. If frozen, thaw it in the fridge overnight before using it.
Make sure your oven is calibrated and use a light colored baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Dark trays absorb more heat and tend to burn the bases of the cookies.
Once decorated and completely dry, they keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks. The icing acts as a seal that keeps them fresh.
Galletas de Navidad are the butter cookies that Chilean families bake and decorate in December. They are cut into stars, trees, bells, and gingerbread figures, and often given as gifts or served alongside pan de pascua and cola de mono.
History of Christmas
Christmas began to be celebrated in the early centuries of Christianity to mark the birth of Jesus. The Bible does not give an exact date, and the choice of December 25 is usually linked to pagan winter festivals already held in Rome at that time, such as the Saturnalia and the feast of Sol Invictus, the Unconquered Sun.
Did You Know?
Decorated Christmas cookies have a long tradition in Central Europe, especially in Bavaria and Austria, where for centuries they were shaped with hand carved wooden molds.
How to adapt this recipe to a vegan or vegetarian version?
How to adapt this recipe to a gluten-free version?
How to adapt this recipe to a keto (ketogenic) version?
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