Christmas tree decorations
Makes about 40
Ingredients:​
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300g wholemeal plain flour
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1 tsp baking powder
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1 heaped tsp ground ginger
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1/2 tsp of freshly grated nutmeg
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1 heaped tsp cinnamon
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1/4 tsp ground cloves (less or none if you're not keen!)
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Good pinch of ground black pepper
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100g of cholesterol spread (we use Benecol Buttery)
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100g of soft brown sugar or any unrefined sugar you like
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2 eggs, lightly beaten
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4 tbsp of runny honey or maple syrup if you prefer
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White plain flour for dusting
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Royal icing, ready made in a tube, or mixed and scooped into a piping bag if you're a masochist.
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Edible glittery things
Method:
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Preheat the oven to 160 fan.
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Mix all of the dry ingredients and spices together in a big mixing bowl.
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In a saucepan, add the butter and honey, heat extremely gently until melted together.
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Allow to cool and whisk in the beaten eggs.
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Pour half of the wet ingredients into the dry and using only one hand, combine them. Add just enough of the wet ingredients to bring the mixture together into a sticky dough. You should use most of it, if not all, as the wholemeal flour will take it up.
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Wrap the dough up in greaseproof paper and refrigerate for half an hour to firm up.
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Roll out the dough, use festive cookie cutters to cut out any shape you like and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Use a chopstick, or indeed anything pointy, to make a hole at the top of the biscuit. It will puff up a bit as it bakes so make sure the hole is big enough.
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If your cookies are small, check after 15 minutes, for larger ones, allow about 20 minutes to bake. Turn halfway if your oven gets a hotspot.
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Once the cookies are cool, decorate with royal icing and glittery things and hang from the tree with ribbon.
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Each biscuit is around 70 calories and is really low in sat fat.
