Christmas is getting closer and closer and the second Advent is just around the corner. The best time to bake cookies to get even more in the mood for Christmas!

Delicious cookies that you can just pop in your mouth when you feel like a little snack have always been one of my favorite parts of Christmas.

Whether it’s classic vanilla crescents and spritz cookies, macaroons, or something more elaborate like cinnamon stars or Spitzbuben, there are cookies for every taste and level of difficulty.

One of my absolute favorite recipes, however, has always been the one for the so called tears of joy. My aunt used to bake the little chocolate nougat cookies almost every year (she also had them beautifully shaped like tears – that was too tricky for me). Here’s the recipe:

• 175 g butter
• 100 g powdered sugar
• 1 pck. vanilla sugar
• 1 egg
• 6 drops of rum flavoring
• 2 drops of bitter almond flavoring
• 1 pinch cardamom
• 1 pinch clove (powdered)
• 1 pinch of cinnamon
• 250g flour
• 30g cocoa powder
• 100g nougat, warmed
• 75g cake glaze (chocolate glaze), melted

Cream the butter, then add the sugar, vanilla sugar and egg. Only knead in the remaining ingredients. Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes (this makes it easier to roll out).
Then roll it out to about 2mm thick and (if you want it authentically) cut it out with a Mutzen almond mold, it looks like a teardrop and is about 2.5cm long. 
Bake at 180°C for about 4-5 minutes.
Assemble at the bottom with the soft nut-nougat mixture and dip the top in chocolate icing.

If you prefer it a little easier: Spritzed or rolled into strips, the cookies also taste really delicious and are much less work 😉