Once upon a time, there was a forest where snow was coarse sugar. Among the red firs, there was a towering Christmas tree and a house.
Lemony shortbread tree, vanilla biscuit house, and ginger cinnamon shortbreads.
Ingredients
Christmas Tree
- 250 g Plain flour + extra for dusting
- 30 g Almond powder
- 70 g Icing sugar
- 140 g Butter
- 1 Egg
- 1 Lime zest ( Untreated Organic Lime)
- 1 tbsp Lime Juice
Forest Cabin
- 250 g Plain flour + extra for dusting
- 125 g Butter
- 1 Egg
- 120 g Caster sugar Superfine
- 1 tbsp Vanilla extract
Ginger and Cinnamon Extra Biscuit
- 250 g Plain flour
- 125 g Butter
- 1 Egg
- 80 g Caster sugar Superfine
- 40 g Dark brown sugar
- 1 tsp Ground ginger
- 1½ tsp Cinnamon powder
Equipment (Recommended)
zester
cookiecutterstar
cookiecutterhouse
To glue the parts of the tree and house, use melted chocolate, a writing icing pen, chocolate piping tube…
Instructions
Knead the doughs!
- Finely zest the lime;
- In a bowl, sift the flour; add the almond powder, the icing sugar, the butter, and egg; knead;
- When the dough begins to be set, add the lime zest and one tablespoon of lime juice; adjust the texture of the dough with some extra lime juice (a very small amount each time), knead before adding more;
- When the dough is set, dust your hands with flour and shape a ball;
- Place into a plate and cover with cling film; refrigerate for 30 minutes;
- In a bowl, sift the flour; Add the caster sugar, the butter and, egg; knead;Add the vanilla extract; adjust the texture with a tablespoon of water;
- When the dough is set, dust your hands with flour and shape a ball;Place into a plate and cover with cling film; refrigerate for 30 minutes;
- In a bowl, sift the flour; add the sugars, butter, egg, and ginger and cinnamon; knead well;
- When the dough is set, dust your hands with flour and shape a ball;Place into a plate and cover with cling film; refrigerate for 30 minutes;
Shape the cookies!
- Preheat the oven 170-180°C;
- Dust a clean flat surface with flour; Roll out the lime dough; use your hands to press it down into a flatter thick circle; with a rolling pin, roll out the dough; dust with flour if it begins to stick. Roll out the dough until the sheet is about 1 cm ( ⅓") thick;
- With a cookie cutter ( star or flake shape) cut out all the cookies you'll need for the tree; place on a baking tray (use baking parchment);
- Knead and roll out dough leftover; shape new biscuits as you wish;
- Bake for 12 minutes until lightly golden;
- Wait 2 minutes before transferring on a wire rack to cool down;
- Roll out the vanilla dough until the sheet is about 1 cm ( ⅓") thick; Cut out the walls and the roof shapes; knead and roll out dough leftover, shape new biscuits as you wish;
- Cut out the house parts with the knife if you don't have house cookie cutters;
- Bake for 12 minutes until lightly golden; wait 1-2 minutes before transferring on a wire rack to cool down;
- Roll out the ginger and cinnamon dough until the sheet is about 6-7mm ( ¼") thick;
- Cut out the shapes; knead and roll out dough leftover, shape new biscuits as you wish;Bake for 10-12 minutes until lightly golden;
- Wait 1-2 minutes before transferring on a wire rack to cool down;
- The first steps are completed! Congratulations!
- Prepare the shapes needed for the Christmas tree;
- Stack the star-shapes one by one;
- Stick the star shapes with melted chocolate or use an edible glue or a writing icing pen;
- Build the house walls (I used coffee cups to secure the process and keep the walls straight up until set);
- Proceed the same for the roof parts;
- Decorate the Christmas tree biscuit with chocolate (piping tube, icing pen…);
- Be imaginative!
- Decorate the house;
- Decorate the ginger and cinnamon cookies;
- Enjoy Christmas Season!
Notes
To glue the parts of the tree and house, use melted chocolate, a writing icing pen, chocolate piping tube…
