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Makes: 20-30, depending on the size of your cutter
Prep time: 50 mins
Total time:
Recipe photograph by Kris Kirkham
Recipe by Tamsin Burnett-Hall
A Christmas market favourite, you can hang these on the tree or use them as gift tags or place-setting markers
Makes: 20-30, depending on the size of your cutter
Prep time: 50 mins
Total time:
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Desserts Cookies and biscuits Christmas Snacks Edible gifts Baking
Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
144Kcal
Fat
3gr
Saturates
2gr
Carbs
19gr
Sugars
19gr
Protein
2gr
Salt
0.2gr
Tamsin Burnett-Hall
Tamsin learned the tricks of the trade from cookery legend Delia Smith. A trusted recipe writer for the magazine for over 25 years, she is now our Senior Food Producer, overseeing testing and editing to ensure that every recipe tastes great, is straightforward to follow and works without fail. In her home kitchen, Tamsin creates fuss-free flavour-packed food for friends and family, with baking being her ultimate form of comfort cooking
See more of Tamsin Burnett-Hall’s recipes
Tamsin Burnett-Hall
Tamsin learned the tricks of the trade from cookery legend Delia Smith. A trusted recipe writer for the magazine for over 25 years, she is now our Senior Food Producer, overseeing testing and editing to ensure that every recipe tastes great, is straightforward to follow and works without fail. In her home kitchen, Tamsin creates fuss-free flavour-packed food for friends and family, with baking being her ultimate form of comfort cooking
See more of Tamsin Burnett-Hall’s recipes
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Ingredients
- 150g clear honey
- 75g dark brown sugar
- 50g butter
- 225g plain flour
- 40g cocoa
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- 1 tbsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- 1 medium egg yolk
To decorate
- 1 medium egg white
- 200g icing sugar, sifted
- 1 tsp lemon juice
Step by step
- Place the honey, sugar and butter in a saucepan and gently heat until they have melted together, avoiding letting the mixture boil. Leave to cool slightly.
- Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder, spices and salt into a mixing bowl and mix in the egg yolk. Gradually add the honey mixture, mixing it in with a knife. Bring together as a smooth dough, wrap and chill for about 3 hours or until firm (longer is fine too).
- Preheat the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas 4 and remove the dough from the fridge for 10-15 minutes before rolling out. Place half of the dough between 2 sheets of baking paper and roll out to 4-5mm thick. Use cutters to stamp out hearts, stars and bauble shapes, measuring about 8-10cm each. Peel away the dough from between the biscuits, leaving a little room to spread. Re-roll the trimmings and cut out more biscuits.
- Transfer to a large baking tray on the lining paper and bake for 8-10 minutes until set. If you are planning on hanging the biscuits, use a straw or chopstick to make hanging holes as soon as the biscuits come out of the oven, before they harden. Leave to cool on the tray and repeat with the rest of the dough.
- To decorate, whisk the egg white until just frothy then gradually mix in the sifted icing sugar, followed by the lemon juice, until the icing holds a soft peak. Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a fine writing nozzle.
- Pipe decorations and leave the icing to set at room temperature. Thread with ribbon to hang.
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