spiced seasonal biscuits by ellery

Spiced seasonal biscuits

Ingredients

• 100g/3½oz butter (vegan or dairy), at room temperature
• 50g/1¾oz caster sugar
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground ginger
• 150g/5½oz plain flour, plus extra for rolling
• 1 tbsp cornflour

For the icing

• 150g/5½oz icing sugar, sifted
• 2–3 tbsp lemon juice
To decorate (all optional)
• edible sprinkles
• edible sparkles
• edible glitter
• metallic balls
• icing pens
• crushed candy canes

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4.
2. In a bowl, whisk together the butter, sugar, cinnamon and ginger for a couple of minutes until light and fluffy. Using a wooden spoon, mix in the flour and cornflour. Stir until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, then use your hands to form a ball of dough.
3. Lightly dust your work surface and rolling pin with a little plain flour and roll the dough out to a thickness of about 5mm/¼in. Cut out shapes using the biscuit cutters, re-rolling the leftover dough as you go. Spread the shapes out on the lined baking trays.
4. Bake for 10-15 minutes, swapping the trays round half way through cooking (to ensure the biscuits cook evenly). The biscuits should still be pale, but cooked. If making tree decorations, punch a small hole in the biscuit using a wooden skewer as soon as they come out of the oven. Leave on the tray to cool completely.
5. In a small bowl stir together the icing sugar with 2 tablespoons lemon juice, adding a little extra if the mixture is very thick.
6. Once the biscuits are cool, pipe or spoon the icing over each biscuit and top with your choice of edible decorations. If you’re making tree decorations, leave the icing to set before tying a piece of ribbon or string through the hole.