Stained Glass Biscuits

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Stained Glass Biscuits PostPerfect hanging on the Christmas Tree guests will love choosing their own stained glass biscuits to enjoy come party season. In star shape too, these yummy twinkling treats will leave guest wanting to know the recipe. 

Makes 25-30 

Cooking time: 1 hour and half

What You’ll Need:

  • 4oz/110g butter
  • 8oz/225g plain flour
  • 6oz/175g soft brown sugar
  • 1 small egg, beaten
  • 1 level teaspoon of ground ginger
  • ½ level teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves (optional)
  • Some good quality boiled fruit sweets

What To Do:

  •  Sieve the flour and spices into a bowl and then add the butter, chopped into bits.  Rub it into the flour between your thumb and fingers, as you do with shortcrust pastry.
  • When you have a mix like fine breadcrumbs, add the sugar and most of the egg and then knead lightly into a firm dough.  Add the rest of the egg if necessary or, if you’ve overdone the egg, a little more flour.
  • Put the dough in a bowl, cover with cling film and place in the fridge for at least half an hour.  (This makes it easier to roll out and cut.)
  • Heat the oven to 375F/190C/ gas mark 5.  Grease a couple of baking trays or line them with baking paper.
  • Roll the dough out fairly thinly on a lightly floured board, and then cut out the shapes as desired.  Using the smaller cutters, make the central ‘window’ holes.
  • Pierce each biscuit so it can be hung from a thread or ribbon (I use a chopstick for this), then place on the baking tray, well spaced. A kitchen spatula is helpful for transferring the delicate pierced shapes from the board to the baking tray.
  • Place a coloured boiled sweet in each window hole.
  • Bake for about ten minutes, until light golden brown at the edge, but keep an eye on them, so they don’t catch!
  • Remove and place on wire racks to cool.  If you used baking paper, you can lift the whole sheet onto the rack, which is easier, and it will peel off easily when they are cool.
  • If you want to ice them as well (which is fun for children to help with), mix a little icing sugar and water with natural food colouring in egg cups (add water in drips, it needs to be quite thick) and then use a small nylon paintbrush (wash new ones before use) to blob, trickle and write on the biscuits.
  • Allow to go completely hard before storing in a tin or hanging on the tree.

Recipe from Trisha Ashley, author of Wish Upon A Star (Avon)

While you are at it why not make these spiced Christmas buns? 

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