We started with Ginger Christmas Cookies - they smell wonderful baking in the oven and the uncooked dough is delicious to eat too!
Ginger Christmas Biscuits
• 70 g butter
• ½ cup (80g) brown sugar • ¼ c cup (87g) treacle
• ½ t ground cinnamon
• ½ t ground ginger
• ¼ t ground cloves
• 1 egg
• 1 t vanilla essence
• 2 c (300g) plain flour
• 1 t baking powder
• Icing, to decorate
• Thin ribbon, to hang
Method
1. Measure the flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl.
2. Place the butter, brown sugar, treacle, cinnamon, ginger and cloves in a saucepan and melt over a medium heat. Set aside.
3. Stir in the egg and vanilla essence.
4. Stir in the flour and baking powder until a smooth dough forms.
5. Divide the dough into 2 portions. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or until firm.
6. Preheat oven to 180°C. Line two baking trays with non-stick baking paper.
7. Roll out 1 portion of the dough to 4mm thick between 2 sheets of baking paper.
8. Use Christmas cookie cutters to cut out biscuit shapes. Place on the trays.
9. Use the end of a piping nozzle to make a hole in the top of each biscuit (if you want to hang them on the Christmas tree)
10. Bake for 5-10 minutes or until golden and firm. Repeat with the remaining dough.
11. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
12. Decorate biscuits with icing. Thread with ribbon to hang on the Christmas tree.
Tips
- Make sure the treacle mixture has cooled before you add the egg, otherwise the eggs start to cook in the hot mixture and you will end up with scrambled egg through your cookie dough.
- Double the recipe to make more cookies.
- You can use golden syrup in place of treacle, even though treacle works really well.
- Place cookies about the same size on a tray together. A small star will burn before a large angel is ready if they are on the same tray.
