christmas cookies 2025 - GF orange and passionfruit shortbread creams

christmas cookies 2025 - GF orange and passionfruit shortbread creams

• 22 Dec 2025

I wasn't planning to post again before Christmas but after delivering this year's cookie boxes, a clear favourite emerged and it felt mean not to share the recipe with you. 

I tried out a few new recipes for this year's cookie box and none were a success so I returned to old favourites like these thumbprint cookies, an assortment of amaretti and glazed gingerbread.

Some of my friends can't eat nuts, so chocolate crinkle cookies and brown pumpkin snickerdoodles made their way into their cookie box, whilst others are gluten intolerant. In the end each cookie box contained a different selection. I posted some of the boxes to my interstate friends and in general the cookies arrived unscathed.

Here's what I made - hazelnut baci sandwiched with dark chocolate, thumbprint biscuits, sour cherry and pistachio amaretti, rum glazed gingerbread and chocolate crinkle cookies. The standout however were the orange and passionfruit shortbread creams, a reworking of an old Stephanie Alexander recipe for passionfruit shortbread I've made in the past. The recipe has been updated and adapted by Natalie Paull. 

I made 3 batches of the recipe for Christmas. I used reduced lemon juice matched with lemon rind for one batch; I used reduced orange juice with orange rind for another batch and strained passionfruit juice with lemon rind for the third batch and all were delicious. The cookies do spread during baking and more so when I used GF flour, so make sure you allow for this.

Here's the recipe for you which makes 12 sandwich biscuits, although the batch is easily multiplied. For all my recipes, I use a 250 ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon. All eggs are 60 grams and my oven is a conventional oven not fan forced, so you may need to reduce your oven temperature by 20°C. 

Orange and passionfruit shortbread creams - makes 12
Ingredients
90g unsalted butter, softened
50g icing sugar mixture
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
30mls orange juice, regular or reduced (see below)
90g GF or regular self-raising flour, sifted
50g cornflour/cornstarch, sifted
¼ tsp sea salt flakes

Filling
30g room temperature unsalted butter
Pinch salt
75g icing sugar mixture
The pulp of 1 medium passionfruit

Reduced orange juice

Squeeze the zested orange and place the juice into an oversized plastic container as the juice will froth and bubble as it cooks. Place the container in the microwave and microwave the strained fruit juice on High(100%) heat in bursts of 2–3 minutes until the target amount of 30g has been reached. Refrigerate the juice until needed.

Method
Place butter, sugar and zest in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 8 minutes, or until fluffy. Add the orange juice and beat until combined. Sift over flours and add the salt flakes. Reduce speed to low and mix until combined and dough looks like a soft, thick paste. Working quickly, transfer mixture to a piping bag with a 1cm star nozzle. Do not let dough stand, or piping will be difficult.

Grease a large baking tray and line with baking paper. Pipe 24 swirls allowing room around each swirl for spreading and puffing. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.

While the biscuits are in the fridge, preheat oven to 170°C, conventional. Bake for 15 minutes on the centre rack of the preheated 170°C, conventional oven or until golden on edges. Cool on tray for 15 minutes before placing on a cooling rack.

Passionfruit filling
Place butter in a bowl and beat until smooth and fluffy. Add the icing sugar mixture, then mix to combine. The mixture will be a bit thick. Add the passionfruit pulp and mix until well combined. If the filling is very soft return to the fridge for 10 minutes or so to firm.

Sandwiching
Match the shortbreads for size then place half the cooled swirls, bottom side up, on a clean tea towel and pipe (or spoon) a blob of the filling on each one. Sandwich with the top swirl and lightly press (with a little swirly wiggle) to bring the filling just flush with the biscuit edge. Swipe a finger around the edge to neaten any stray frosting. Chill for 15 minutes to set the filling before serving.

I'ts been quite a year for me, so l'll be taking a break from the blog for a few weeks. I'll see you all again some time in January.

I'd like to wish a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all my readers.

See you all again in 2026.

Bye for now,

Jillian