GW2 Winter Wonderland // Cheese & Ham Cookies

You probably know the movie “Nightmare Before Christmas” or have at least heard of it, haven't you? I don't owe my very personal pre-Christmas nightmare to Tim Burton, but to Arenanet and Guild Wars 2. To be precise: the Winter Wonderland jumping puzzle that rears its snow covered, ugly head every year during Tyria’s Christmas festivities.

I’ll say it now before nobody believes me anymore: I love jumping puzzles! They are my favorite activity in this MMORPG - the harder the better. I might be a tiny bit masochistic. None of these jumpy things has ever driven me as crazy as the Winter Wonderland.

Melting snowflakes, narrow candy canes, exploding gifts and giant snowballs that want to run you down like an Indiana Jones rock. And did I mention the snowball-throwing skritt?

During the release year, 2012, I hated it! In the next two years I didn't even try it, but then came 2015 and with it “Winter’s Presence”, a piece of equipment that covers your character in a permanent, private blizzard; I just had to have it. So I had to face the Winter Wonderland.

A bit of motivation was apparently all I needed, because suddenly the jumping puzzle felt as easy as pie. I was able to complete one flawless round after the other. A few Wintersdays have passed since then, I earned my “Winter’s Presence” and the Winter Wonderland is now a cherished tradition.

To complement it, I could stuff my face with gingerbread or candy canes, but I’d rather take a break from all the Christmas sweetness. So I decided to only use the visuals of the peppermint bonbons from the jumping puzzles as an inspiration. The result: savory, crispy ham and cheese ‘cookies’. The perfect reward for a successful round of Winter Wonderland or to treat your frustration, if it’s not working out just yet.

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1 package puff pastry

100g ham(dry cured/smoked)

100g grated cheese(emmental, gouda, etc)

• preheat the oven to 200C top and bottom heat

• take the puff pastry out of the packaging and unroll it

• cut it in half so you’re left with two equally sized squares

• half one of the squares again

• sprinkle 75g of cheese on top of the dough

• distribute the ham evenly on top of the cheese

• roll the dough into three rolls of the same length(1x thick and 2x thin)

• cut the rolls into 5-10mm thick slices with a sharp knife

• distribute the slices on a baking paper covered sheet pan

• flatten the ‘cookies’ a bit with the bottom of a glass

• sprinkle with the rest of the cheese

• bake them for ca 20min until they’re golden brown

• let the ‘cookies’ cool completely

• Guten Hunger!