Christmas

Brandy Snaps

by:
November 23, 2015
4.7
3 Ratings
Brandy Snaps
Photo by Linda Xiao
  • Makes 60 to 70 cookies (feel free to halve the recipe)
Author Notes

My grandmother made brandy snaps and put them in pretty tin boxes for friends around the holidays. To make the hollow logs, she wrapped the just-baked dough around pencils. According to my mother, my grandmother would have cleaned her out of her #2 pencils for school by mid-December. I never had the chance to taste the originals, but I've certainly enjoyed the recipe since it was passed down to me! —Haley Priebe

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1 cup butter
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2/3 cup dark molasses
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ginger
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 4 teaspoons brandy
  • Heavy whipping cream (optional)
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 325° F.
  2. Stir butter, sugar, molasses, cinnamon, and ginger together over low heat until melted.
  3. Remove from heat and add flour and brandy. Chill the dough until firm enough to shape, about 20 minutes.
  4. Roll into 3/4-inch balls and place on the baking sheet. Leave room for them to spread.
  5. Bake for approximately 12 to 13 minutes on Silpat- or parchment paper-lined cookie sheet.
  6. When the cookies have cooled enough that you can touch them but they are still warm (about 5 minutes), use a spatula to pull them from the sheet and quickly roll them around a pencil to form tubes (rubber gloves recommended to prevent your fingers from burning). When the cookies are flat, they should look almost like a lace cookie. They are very fragile, so if you over bake, they'll break and be too brittle to roll; under-baking just a smudge is good.
  7. If you'd like (and are serving immediately), whip up some heavy whipping cream and dot each end of the rolled cookies with it.
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  • Ma Nisha
    Ma Nisha
  • AntoniaJames
    AntoniaJames
  • Chef Devaux
    Chef Devaux
  • Haley Priebe
    Haley Priebe

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11 Reviews

Ma N.
Ma N. October 26, 2021
Can brandy be substituted for anything none alcohol?
 
linda
linda December 14, 2015
They will last at least a week unfilled in an airtight container. You can also make little baskets by draping over a ramekin or muffin tin. If the brandy snaps get too hard to roll you can pop them back in the oven briefly to soften.
 
Robyn C.
Robyn C. December 12, 2015
can you make these ahead of time? how long do they last... that is without the cream filling?
 
Elise
Elise December 11, 2015
How long will these last with cream in them? Do you just fill them when you are ready to serve or can you fill them the night before?
 
Westcoasty
Westcoasty December 11, 2015
Fill them just before serving. Otherwise they will get soggy.
 
culture_connoisseur
culture_connoisseur December 10, 2015
I silently read the entire recipe in Julia Childs' voice for some reason.
 
Westcoasty
Westcoasty December 5, 2015
My Aunt Pat in England made us brandy snaps one time. She filled the cookie tubes with whipped cream instead of dotting the ends - SO decadent.
 
AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames November 30, 2015
Incidentally, Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood wrap theirs around the handles of wooden spoons. ;o)
 
AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames November 30, 2015
Mary Berry does a master class on brandy snaps as part of the GBBO series that, as everything she does, is most helpful (video in three parts):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TShL9JYtiJk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJ_2FhC-tX0&feature=iv&src_vid=TShL9JYtiJk&annotation_id=annotation_1880357723
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf2ladm0Pb8&feature=iv&src_vid=yJ_2FhC-tX0&annotation_id=annotation_1719814609
So many tips. Well worth a look. ;o)
 
Haley P.
Haley P. November 30, 2015
Thanks, Antonia! I love Mary Berry and The Great British Bake Off!
 
Chef D.
Chef D. November 27, 2015
these little rooled up treates took amazing!