Even Santa can’t escape the weekly wash! These washing line biscuits are a perfect Secret Santa gift or an alternative Christmas decoration for your home.
These novel, spiced Christmas biscuits will brighten up any home around the festive period! Topped with colourful fondant icing and decorated however you fancy, these biscuits are perfect for keeping the kids entertained over the Christmas holidays. They are also the perfect Secret Santa gift and home-made decoration.
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Yields:
25
Prep Time:
30 mins
Cook Time:
13 mins
Total Time:
43 mins
Cal/Serv:
102
Ingredients
For the biscuits
225g
plain flour, plus extra to dust
50g
unsalted butter
75g
caster sugar
Finely grated zest 1 orange
1/2tsp.
ground cinnamon
1/2tsp.
ground nutmeg
1
medium egg
25g
golden syrup
For the decoration
Icing sugar, to dust
250g
ready roll fondant icing, assorted colours
Writing icing pens, assorted colours
You will also need
Various biscuit cutters, we used a sock, underpants, baby’s bib (for beard) and vest
Directions
Step 1To make the biscuits, pulse flour, butter, caster sugar, orange zest and spices in a food processor until mixture resembles breadcrumbs (or, rub butter into flour mixture using your fingertips). In a small bowl, mix egg and syrup with a fork until combined. Add to pastry mixture and pulse/mix again until just clumping together. Tip on to a work surface and bring together with your hands. Shape into a disc, wrap in cling film and chill for 15min.
Step 2Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan) mark 4 and line two large baking sheets with baking parchment. Lightly flour work surface and roll out dough to 3mm (1/8in) thick. Stamp out shapes, re-rolling trimmings as needed. Arrange biscuits on prepared sheets, spacing a little apart. Make two 5mm (1/4in) holes in the top of each biscuit with a skewer (to thread string through for hanging).
Step 3Bake biscuits for 10-13min until edges are lightly golden. Cool on sheets for 5min, enlarging holes, if needed, while biscuits are still warm. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Step 4Lightly dust a work surface with icing sugar and roll out fondant (one colour at a time) to 3mm (1/8 in) thick. Use cutters to stamp out shapes to match the biscuits. Brush biscuits (one at a time) with a little water, then, with a palette knife, transfer fondant shapes on to corresponding biscuits. Using a skewer, make holes in the icing to line up with the biscuit holes.
Step 5Decorate the iced biscuits with writing icing. Allow to set firm before threading with ribbon or string and hanging.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
