Recipes: Christmas Biscuits

The festive season provides the perfect excuse for a good old baking session, and the following biscuit recipes can act as delicious treats, home-made gifts, or perfect tree decorations. So don your festive apron and favourite Christmas album, and let the smell of Christmas spices fill your house. After all, ‘tis the season to be jolly. Enjoy!

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Christmas Spice Biscuits

Christmas Spice Biscuits

Ingredients:

• 200g self-raising flour
• 100g butter
• 100g caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon of spice (cinnamon / ginger / mixed spice, or a combination)
• 1 egg
• Decorations

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4.
 

2. Rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

3. Add the sugar and spice and mix through.

4. Beat the egg in a small jug, and gradually add to the mixture until it comes together to form a dough.

5. Knead the dough gently until it is smooth, and then turn it onto a lightly floured work surface.

6. Roll out the dough so that it is 3-4mm thick, and use Christmas-themed cutters to create festive shaped biscuits.

7. Place the biscuits on a baking tray lined with baking parchment, making sure that they are not too close together. If making tree decorations, make a small hole near the edge of each biscuit using a chopstick, or the end of a teaspoon. Ribbon can be threaded through the hole to hang the biscuits once they are cooked!

8. Place the biscuits in the oven, and bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown.

9. When cooked, remove the biscuits from the oven and allow to cool for 2 minutes, before transferring them to a wire cooling rack.

10. When cool, the biscuits are ready for decorating! I tend to use a thick icing (made from icing sugar and water), with edible sparkly bits sprinkled on top.

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Gingerbread Biscuits

Ingredients:

• 250g butter200g dark muscovado sugar
• 7 tablespoons golden syrup
• 600g plain flour
• 2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 4 teaspoon ground ginger
• Decorations

 

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4.

 

2. In a pan, melt together the butter, sugar and syrup.

 

3. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, and ground ginger. Add this to the melted mixture to form a stiff dough.

 

4. Roll out the dough until it is 4-5mm thick, and then cut out the biscuits. If easier, roll the dough on baking parchment to avoid it sticking to the work surface.

 

5. Place the biscuits on a baking tray lined with baking parchment, making sure that they are not too close together. If making tree decorations, make a small hole near the edge using a chopstick, or the end of a teaspoon.

 

6. Place the biscuits in the oven for 10-12 minutes. When cooked, they should be a little darker at the edges –they will become firmer as they cool.

 

7. When cool, decorate the biscuits.

 

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Please Tweet photos of your baked goodies to @LDN_Foodie, or share them on Facebook. I would love to see them, and I am sure my followers would too!