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!

 

Recipe: Tear 'n' Share Swirly Whirly Bread

Bread can be a very therapeutic product to make, and also a good stress reliever! There are hundreds of different types of bread from all around the world that you can try, but here are two simple recipes to get you started.

Pizza Swirls

 

Ingredients:

• 250g strong bread flour
• 1 sachet fast-action yeast
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 150ml warm water
• 2-3 tablespoons tomato puree
• 1 small red onion
• 75g feta cheese

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200°C.

2. Add the flour, salt and yeast to a bowl, and mix to combine.

3. Add the oil and mix through using a palette knife, then GRADUALLY add the water a little at a time, and mix through until a dough is formed.

Hint: Adding too much water will make the dough sticky, and too little will make the bread dry. Adding the water gradually will help you achieve the correct consistency.

4. Turn the dough onto a work surface and knead for 10 minutes until the dough is stretchy and smooth.

5. Place the dough back in the mixing bowl, and cover the bowl with cling film. Leave in a warm place for 10 minutes so that the dough grows in size.

6. In the meantime, finely dice the onion, and cut the feta cheese into small cubes.

7. Return to the dough, and re-knead slightly to knock out any excess air.

8. On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough into a rectangular shape, approximately 30cm in length by 20cm in width.

9. Spread the tomato puree over the surface of the rolled out dough, right to the edges, and then evenly scatter the onion and cheese over the top – again, right to the edges.

10. Roll up the dough, relatively tightly, starting at the end closest to you, and rolling it away.

11. When rolled, slice the dough into even sized pieces, ideally just under an inch thick. When laid flat, the pieces should look like spirals, with the fillings showing through.

12. Arrange the dough onto a baking tray, so that the spiral centres are facing upwards.

Top tip: Make sure each piece of dough is touching so that the bread doesn’t dry out when cooking.

13. Place the bread in the oven, and bake for 15-20 minutes.

14. When cooked, the bread will be risen and golden brown, and ready to tear ‘n’ share.

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Spiced Apple Whirls

 

Ingredients:

• 250g strong bread flour
• 1 tablespoon oil
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 150ml warm milk
• 1 cooking apple
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 25g caster sugar

 

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200°C, and gently warm the milk (it should be body temperature, so when you test it with your finger it should not feel too hot or too cold).

2. Add the flour, salt and yeast to a bowl, and mix to combine.

3. Add the oil and mix through using a palette knife, then GRADUALLY add the milk a little at a time, and mix through until a dough is formed.

Hint: Adding too much milk will make the dough sticky, and too little will make the bread dry. Adding the milk gradually will help you achieve the correct consistency.

4. Turn the dough onto a work surface and knead for 10 minutes until the dough is stretchy and smooth.

5. Place the dough in the mixing bowl, and cover the bowl with cling film. Leave in a warm place for 10 minutes so that the dough grows in size.

6. In the meantime, peel, core and slice the apple into small and evenly sized cubes. Add the apple to a small bowl with the sugar and cinnamon, and mix so that all of the apple is coated.

7. Return to the dough, and re-knead slightly to knock out any excess air.

8. On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough into a rectangular shape, approximately 30cm in length by 20cm in width.

9. Spread the apple over the surface of the rolled out dough, right to the edges.

10. Roll up the dough, relatively tightly, starting at the end closest to you, and rolling it away.

11. When rolled, slice the dough into evenly sized pieces, ideally just under an inch thick. When laid flat, the pieces should look like spirals, with the fillings showing through.

12. Arrange the dough onto a baking tray, so that the spiral centres are facing upwards.

Top tip: Make sure each piece of dough is touching so that the bread doesn’t dry out when cooking.

13. Place the bread in the oven, and bake for 15-20 minutes.

14. When cooked, the bread will be risen and golden brown. When cooled slightly, drizzle the icing over the top to finish the bread before serving.

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Possible modifications

Bread is incredibly versatile, which means these recipes can be adapted and changed to suit your tastes and preferences.

For the pizza swirls, consider what savoury flavour combinations you like. The cheese could be substituted for cheddar cheese, brie or goats cheese, for example, and you could add pepper, fresh tomato, or other vegetables for colour, texture and flavour.

The spiced apple whirls could have raisins or dried cranberries added to them, or you could substitute the fruit for something else entirely. The spice could also be changed, depending on your taste preferences.

Recipe: Scones

In my opinion, summer is not summer without a cream tea, and although scones served with jam and cream sound incredibly simple, the delicious British treat has to be one of my favourite bites to eat.

The warmth of the freshly baked scones, coupled with the tart raspberry jam and the smooth clotted cream is simply irresistible, and although it does feel slightly naughty, the indulgence is definitely worthwhile.

So why not celebrate the forthcoming bank holiday weekend and host your own British tea party, with home-made and freshly baked scones taking centre stage?

Ingredients

Makes 6-10, depending on the size of your cutter

• 250g self-raising flour
• 70g butter or margarine (you can reduce this if desired, but use no less than 40g)
• 40g caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 2-3 tablespoons milk

 

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200°C and place a sheet of baking parchment on a baking tray.

2. Add the flour and butter to a bowl, and rub the butter into the flour using your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

Top Tip: Give the bowl a little shake every now and then so that any lumps that are in the mixture come to the surface. Then continue rubbing in.

3. Add the sugar and mix through.

4. In a small jug or cup, beat the milk and egg together with a fork.

5. Gradually add the eggy mixture to the breadcrumbs and mix in using a knife until a dough is formed.

Hint: Only add a little bit of the eggy mixture at a time so that you can control the texture of the dough being formed. Too much liquid will make the dough sticky.

Top tip: If the dough does go too sticky, add a little extra flour.

6. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface, and evenly flatten it using the palms of your hands until the mixture is 1 inch thick.

Top tip: The dough should be the thickness of the top part of your thumb – no rulers required!

7. Cut out the scones using a cutter and space them out on the lined baking tray.

Top tip: If you would like a glossy finish to your scones when baked, brush the tops with milk or egg.

8. Place the scones in the oven, and bake for 12-15 minutes.

9. When risen and golden brown, remove the scones from the oven and allow them to cool slightly before serving.

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If you can't decide whether to have jam before cream or cream before jam, you could make your scones savoury instead with the addition of grated cheese or herbs. Add these to the bowl in place of sugar, and before adding the eggy mixture.

If you want to be even more creative, think about the toppings that you would have on a pizza and see how they can transform the dough. 

Happy baking!

Recipe: White Chocolate and Raspberry Blondies

Some foods are made to be together, and white chocolate and raspberry is definitely a marriage made in heaven.

Whether it’s white chocolate and raspberry muffins, cookies, or trifle (one of my favourite desserts), I love the combination in any form, and the other day it was my tummy’s (and colleagues’) turn to enjoy white chocolate and raspberry blondies (appropriately named brownies because of their colour). 

Ingredients:

• 125g butter, cut into cubes
• 200g white chocolate, broken into pieces
• 165g caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 110g plain flour
• 75g self-raising flour
• 150g raspberries
• 100g chilled white chocolate, roughly chopped
  

 

Method 

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C and line a 23” tin with baking parchment.

2. Place the butter and 200g white chocolate in a pan and melt it over a low heat until the mixture is combined and smooth.

Hint: It may take a while for the butter and chocolate to melt together, and it may seem as though the mixture will not go smooth, but it will, eventually – just keep stirring.

3. When melted, leave the mixture to cool, and prepare the other ingredients. The 100g white chocolate needs to be roughly chopped into chunks.

Top tip: To speed up the cooling process, place the pan of butter and chocolate in a bowl of cold water.

4. When the chocolate and butter mixture has cooled slightly (don’t panic if it separates a little), mix in the sugar and eggs, and sift in the flours. When these are combined, stir through the raspberries and chunks of chocolate so they are evenly distributed.

5. Pour the mixture into the lined tin and place in the oven to bake for 40 minutes.

Top tip: Brownies / blondies are cooked when the middle no longer wobbles. A good brownie is gooey in the middle, so make sure you don’t overcook the mixture and make it too dry.

6. When cooled, slice your blondies into even-sized pieces, and dust with icing sugar to finish.

White Chocolate and Raspberry Blondie