While we are all busy running around, thinking about the food for the actual day, and of course preparing the house with decorations, besides writing christmas cards to post before the last posting date, and not to mention christmas present shopping, attending the nativity plays, and carol concerts; I’m sure I’ve missed something!

Anyway, let us find a few hours to have some fun with young or old. My mother loves to help me make these great christmas biscuits, which we not only save in a tin for guests but hang on the tree too. Even my son joins in, although his icing of the angels can become a little naughty by the end of the night, but good fun and laughter is had by all!

So inbetween the seventh batch of mince pies I have made this year, of which I am beginning to wonder if my sister is collecting them and selling them at work, its time to make our christmas biscuits!

Firstly check out the biscuit cutters available if you haven’t already got some here. Prestige actually do a cookie factory  (see left), which I have to say is a fantastic present for either children who love cooking or a cook who makes their own biscuits as the battery powered cookie maker can make 2 different sized biscuits, with 25 different shapes available at the touch of a button.  

My biscuits take only minutes to make, then simple cut out any christmas shape you fancy, including making your own template from greaseproof paper if you wish.

You will need: 275g plain flour (plus extra for dusting), 1 tsp each of ground ginger and ground cinnamon, a pinch of both ground nutmeg and ground cloves, 1tsp bicarbonate of soda, 125g butter, 40g dark brown sugar, 50g caster sugar, 4 tblsp golden syrup and 1 medium egg, beaten. Also icing sugar, natural colours and decorations and finally ribbon to hang your biscuits.

Firstly sift the flour into a large bowl and add the ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, bicarbonate of sode and a pinch of salt. In a separate bowl place the butter and add both of the brown and caster sugars. Whisk this with an electric whisk until light and fluffy and then add the golden syrup along with your flour mix you prepared earlier and anough of the beaten egg to bring it all together and mix well. Wrap this dough in clingfilm and chill. (You can make this and chill overnight if you wish.)  Preheat your oven 180c and gas mark 4. Divide your dough in two. Roll one peice out on a lightly floured surface until 5mm thick. Cut out your biscuits. (If you intend to hang your biscuits on your tree make sure you make a hole in the top of the biscuit using a skewer inorder to thread a piece of ribbon through once cooled down to hang your biscuit on your christmas tree with.) Carefully transfer your cut dough to a non-stick baking sheet (as previously covered in my blogs). Repeat with the remaining piece of dough and then bake them for 10 to 12 minutes until golden and just firm. Place your cooked biscuits onto a wire rack to cool down.

To decorate - Make up some icing sugar using cold water and pipe on to your christmas shaped biscuits to make characters or pipe the edges, decorating with any decorations of glace fruits or sweets. Allow the icing to set. You can then store your biscuits in a airtight tin for guests or gift wrap as a perfect gift for grandma or grandad or even an aunt. (They will keep for a week)

One word of warning though, watch out for the family dog, ours mastered very quickly how to remove a biscuit when we left the room, leaving only the ribbon on the tree and the tree still standing. So we have to make sure there higher up the tree now! Have fun and enjoy!