Christmassy Spiced Stars

I'm a big advocate of the concept 'eat-whatever-you-want-because-it's-Christmas'. As the big day draws ever closer, what more of an excuse could you need to bake these yummy biscuits? Not only are they a delicious to eat, but these cute little stars would make the perfect gift for anyone you're scrambling to find a present for 5 days before Santa arrives, or even lovely tree decorations. 

I have adapted a recipe to make these treats my own, but the original recipe is linked here. 

For 17+ star biscuits, you will need:

For the biscuits: 

• 100g of diced butter - I used a Stork margarine that was apparently 'perfect for biscuits' 
• 175g of dark muscovado sugar 
• 80g of golden syrup
• 300g of plain flour, extra needed for dusting
• 1/2 tbsp of ground ginger 
• 1 tsp of ground cinnamon
• Zest of 1 orange
• 1 tsp of bicarbonate of soda
• 1 egg 
• A pinch of salt

For the decoration (optional)

• White icing, I used a pre-made icing in a pocket from Dr Oetker 
• White shimmery edible balls 

Method: 

• On a low heat, melt the butter, sugar and syrup in a medium/large pan. Stir with a wooden spoon until combined and the sugar has dissolved.
• Whilst the butter, sugar and syrup mixture is cooling, zest the orange and mix it in with the flour, ginger, cinnamon and pinch of salt.
• Add the bicarbonate of soda to the ingredients in the pan.
• Add the dry ingredients into the pan a quarter at a time. Mix well until combined. Add the egg half way through. Keep mixing until the ingredients have combined to form a dough. Add some more flour if the mixture is sticky. 
• When you're happy with your dough, place on some foil and leave to chill in the fridge for half an hour. 
• Pre-heat your oven to 190 C (170 fan, gas mark 5). 
• Remove your dough from the oven and dust your surface and rolling pin with flour. Roll out your dough until you have reached your desired thickness.
• Cut out star shapes using a cookie cutter and place onto a lined baking tray before putting them in the oven for around 10 minutes. This recipe makes quite a lot of dough so its likely you'll need to bake your biscuits in two-three batches. 

• Once all your biscuits have been baked and completely cooled, decorate with icing and shimmering balls. Me being incompetent with icing made quite the mess, but I think they look a lot more sentimental and rustic when they look a bit crazy. 
• When the icing has dried, eat and enjoy!

All the much-loved tastes of Christmas rolled into one little star - hope you enjoy baking them! They've definitely got me in the Christmas spirit; 5 days to go! 

See you soon, 

From, 

Eleanor