Forget shop bought shortbread and stale mince pies
Get creative in the kitchen and tuck into a plate of festive treats with these four amazing Christmas biscuit ideas.
Melty snowmen
Sweet and snowy, have some fun creating these cute snowmen cookiesIngredients
Biscuits:
- 125g soft butter
- 125g caster sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 250g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 2 tbsp milk
Icing:
- 250g white ready-to-roll icing
- 25g strawberry jam
- 12 marshmallows
- Writing icing pens (blue, red, yellow and green)
Method
- Cream the butter and caster sugar together before beating in the egg yolk and vanilla extract.
- Sift in the flour then add enough milk to create a dough. Lightly knead the dough before wrapping it in Clingfilm and refrigerating for 20 minutes.
- Roll out the dough on a floured surface to 0.5cm thickness. Cut out 10 circles and place them on a lined baking tray. Cook for 16 minutes at 180˚C and then leave to cool.
- To decorate, roll out the white icing to 3mm thick and cut out 10 circles slightly bigger than the biscuits. Flatten the edge of each icing circle to make an uneven texture.
- Spread 1/2 tsp jam on each biscuit, leaving a gap around the edge. Put a marshmallow on the jam.
- Place the icing on each biscuit and smooth it over the marshmallow to make the collapsing snowman shape. Use icing pens to draw scarves, hats, buttons and faces.
Rudolph shortbread
A twist on a classic buttery favourite, these reindeer versions feature an unusual ingredientIngredients
- 200g soft salted butter
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 85g golden caster sugar
- 85g ground rice (grind dry rice in a food processor)
- 225g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 3 tbsp. icing sugar
- 8 red sweets
- 16 chocolate buttons
Method
- Mix the butter, vanilla and sugar in a large bowl. Stir in the ground rice and flour until the mixture forms a ball.
- Line a baking sheet with baking paper and place the dough ball in the centre. Flatten into a circle using a rolling pin and then use a small plate to cut around for perfect edges.
- Mark the circle into 8 wedges using a knife but don’t cut through the dough completely. Prick each with a fork to create holes and press down along the edges to make lines.
- Cover with cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Cook the shortbread at 180˚C for 35 minutes or until golden brown.
- Let it cool before cutting the wedges along the lines you previously made.
- Mix icing sugar with a small amount of water. Use this to help stick a red sweet on the point of each wedge and two chocolate buttons at the wide ends to create a fun Rudolph face!
Snowy owl biscuits
Inject some winteriness into your baking with these delicious nutty snowy owl delightsIngredients
- 125g soft salted butter
- 125g caster sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 250g plain flour
- 100g blanched almonds
- 125g bag giant white chocolate buttons
- 20g pack regular white chocolate buttons
- 50g chocolate chips
- Icing sugar
Method
- Combine the butter and sugar in a bowl. Beat in the egg and add it to the butter mix with some vanilla extract.
- Sift in the flour and stir into a dough. Place this onto a floured surface and knead before wrapping it in cling film and chilling it in the fridge for two hours.
- Meanwhile, toast the almonds carefully in the oven.
- Take the dough out of the fridge and roll it to 1cm thickness on a floured surface. Cut into ovals.
- Place the biscuits on a lined baking tray and push in the almonds to each one to create eyebrows and beaks. Bake at 190˚C for 8-10 minutes.
- Let them cool on the tray before decorating. Melt some white chocolate in a bain marie and use it to stick on two buttons to each biscuits as eyes. Use the white buttons as eyes and the chips as the pupils.
- Brush any remaining melted chocolate on the owls’ tummies as feathers, and enjoy!
Sparkling honey biscuits
Enjoy a taste of honey with these yummy glittering bitesIngredients
- 100g soft unsalted butter
- 30g caster sugar
- 70g honey
- 1 medium egg
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 275g plain flour
- 200g white chocolate
- Edible glitter (silver or white)
Method
- Mix the butter and sugar together in a bowl. Beat the egg in then add in the honey and vanilla extract.
- Sift in the flour and combine to create a dough. Roll out the dough to 1cm thickness on a floured surface.
- Cut circles out and place them on a lined baking tray. Bake at 180˚C for 8 minutes and then allow the biscuits to cool.
- Melt the white chocolate in a bain marie and use it to ice the biscuits. Sprinkle them with glitter and then let the chocolate set before eating.