Christmas Cookies from Switzerland - Totenbeinli
“Totenbeinli” are - despite their macabre name - a very delicious traditional Swiss Christmas Cookie that may also be enjoyed during the year with a cup of steaming coffee or hot tea. “Totenebeinli” means “bones of the death”. Their shape and their crunchiness gave these hazlenut cookies their name. They are not very pretty to look at but their taste with a touch of cinnamon and roasted hazlenut is fantastic.
Mix
150 g soft butter
150 g sugar
1 pinch of salt
2 fresh eggs
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
to ribbon stage.
Roast
100 g hazlenuts
and chop them into pieces.. I roast the hazlenuts without oil in a large frying pan at middle heat constantly moving them. I chop them in my NutriBullet for about one second, otherwise you will end up with ground hazlenut
Mix the roasted and ground hazlenut with
150 g ground hazlenut
250 g flour
the rest of the ingredients and knead into a dough. Cover the dough and let it rest in a cool place for about 2 hours.
Roll out the dough on a bit of flour to the thickness of about 1 cm. Cut rectangles 1 x 7 cm. Place the cookies on some baking sheet, lets rest for another 15 min in a cool place, and - if you want to - mix one extra egg and glaze the cookies. Baker in the middle of the preheated oven for about 12 min at 200° C.
Chocolate lovers melt some chocolate and dip the “Totenbeinli” in the chocolate. The cookies can be kept in a cookie jar for about two weeks… however, I think they will be gone quicker than that!
Fancy some more Christmas cookies?
Did you already try my vanilla crescent cookie recipe?
Did you already try my cinnamon star recipe?
Did you already try my Mailänderli recipe?
Did you try my Chocolate Cookie Balls yet?
Did you try my Spitzenbuben yet?