Christmas tree biscuits
- Published: 1 Nov 16
- Updated: 18 Mar 24
Edible decorations are a novelty at Christmas – these gingerbread biscuits look great and taste even better. Make extra for the table, or eat them straight from the tree.
Why not have a go at making traditional German lebkuchen, too?
Ingredients
- 175g plain flour, plus extra to dust
- 2 tbsp ground ginger
- 2 tbsp crystallised ginger, very finely chopped
- Zest of 1 lemon or orange
- 100g butter, chilled and cubed
- 50g caster sugar
- 1 tbsp milk
- Oil to grease
- 5 tbsp icing sugar to decorate
- Silver and white sugar balls to decorate
Method
- In a food processor, whizz the flour, ground and crystallised ginger, zest and butter with ½ tsp salt until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Gradually add the sugar and milk, pulsing to form a dough, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly until smooth. Shape the dough into a flat disc, then wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas 4. Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to the thickness of a pound coin. Use star and bauble-shape cookie cutters to stamp out about 10 biscuits, re-rolling the trimmings as needed. Transfer the biscuits to a lightly oiled baking sheet, then chill in the fridge for 10 minutes.
- Bake on the middle oven shelf for 15-20 minutes until golden and crisp. Leave to firm slightly on the sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the icing, add warm water little by little to the icing sugar and whisk to a consistency thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Drizzle or pipe the icing over the biscuits, then decorate with sugar balls.
- Recipe from January 2013 Issue
Nutrition
- Calories
- 193kcals
- Fat
- 8.6g (5.3g saturated)
- Protein
- 2g
- Carbohydrates
- 28.4g (12.8g sugars)
- Fibre
- 0.8g
- Salt
- 0.2g
delicious. tips
These biscuits make great tree decorations. When they’re still warm from the oven, punch a small hole in the top of the biscuit using a piping nozzle. When cool and crisp, thread them with ribbon and hang on your tree.
Freeze the biscuits, un-iced, for up to 1 month. Defrost at room temperature for 2-3 hours before icing and serving.
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