Sunday 29 January 2012

Christmas Tree Biscuits

A little bit belated (or extremely organised for Christmas 2012!), this is my recipe for edible Christmas Tree decorations. I'd made these for many years as an annual tradition in my wheat-eating days, but this is one of those examples of an adapted recipe which works really well with Gluten and Wheat Free flour. The original was from a BBC Good Food Calendar from a number of years ago.



3 oz (85g) Margarine
4 oz (100g) Golden Caster Sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp Vanilla extract
2tsp Mixed spice
2 tbsp Golden Syrup
9 oz (250g) Gluten and Wheat Free Plain Flour
1/2 tsp Gluten Free Baking Powder

  1. Beat together the Margarine and Sugar for about 3-5 minutes with an electric mixer.
  2. Add the egg slowly and beat in.
  3. Stir in the vanilla, mixed spice, golden syrup, flour and baking powder. It tends to be quite a sticky mixture, so if necessary, add more flour.
  4. Bring together into a ball, wrap in cling film, and chill in the fridge for at least an hour (I sometimes leave it overnight, and find that it is often better the longer it is left).
  5. Roll out half of the mixture onto a generously floured work surface until it is about 4-5mm thick. Cut out the biscuits using a tree or star cutter and place them on a lined baking sheet. Repeat this process until all of the dough is used up, re-rolling all of the off-cuts each time.
  6. If you wish to hang these as decorations, the hole needs to be made at this stage. Use a cocktail stick to create the hole, bearing in mind that it will shrink when cooking.
  7. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 160fan/gas 4 for 10 minutes until just browned.
  8. Leave to cool on a wire rack.
  9. Decorate and thread ribbon through when cooled.

3 comments:

  1. Dear Pudding Fairy, what kind of margarine do you use please? Jx

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  2. Hi jenbug! It varies! As I don't eat much cow's milk, I tend to use a vegetable margarine. Recently I've been using Sainsbury's own brand soft baking margarine, which doesn't contain milk. It does say on the packet though that it is not suitable if you have a milk allergy due to how/where it is made. They also do a hard version in a block which is great for pastry (see my Pecan pie piece!). I have also used Pure dairy free margarine or supermarket own-brand equivalent, but the Sainsbury's baking marg is definitely my favourite at the moment!

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