Pfeffernusse

My Christmas tree is up and I'm getting into the spirit with some early festive baking!  I can't believe I've never made these before - they are divine!  They are a German biscuit and just embody that Christmas spice taste.  Perfect to wrap up as little gifts...or to eat yourself (just try and stop at one!)  I made a couple of batches, and in one I was a bit impatient in letting the mixture cool - those ones didn't turn out as well, so it's definitely worth following the instructions for the perfect taste and texture :-)  These will also freeze well, so you can get organised now (I have to hide them from my husband so they actually last until Christmas!)  Enjoy these ones, I know you will!

Did you know Charlie's can supply all of your Christmas spices?!  Check them out!

Ingredients
1/2 cup golden syrup

125g butter

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

2 cups plain flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon bicarb soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar for dusting

Method

Combine golden syrup, butter and vanilla in a small saucepan over low heat.  Cook, stirring often, until butter has melted and ingredients have combined.

Remove from the heat and set aside to cool to room temperature.  Stir in the beaten egg.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, bicarb and spices. 

Gradually add the liquid and stir until well combined.  Chill the dough in the fridge for about 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius/150 fan-foced.

Line two large trays with baking paper.  Roll dough into balls about 2cm in diameter.  Place onto the trays, allowing room for them to spread.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until they are slightly firm on top.  They may have small cracks - that's okay!

While they are still warm, roll in icing sugar to coat.  If you like, you can roll them a second time for extra coating once they've cooled.

Almond Butter Biscuits

This is a recipe I adapted from a 4 Ingredients book and I love that it's so easy and gluten free.  The original recipe uses peanut butter, but it was just as good with almond - or any nut butter would do!

I used whole almonds from Charlies and made them into a butter with my neighbour's Thermomix - but you could just buy it (go for the natural stuff from the health food section of the supermarket).

Ingredients
1 cup (250g) almond butter
3/4 cup (220g) brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 egg

Method
Preheat oven to 180C. Mix all ingredients into a bowl.

Spoon small tablespoon sized balls onto 2 lined baking trays. Flatten slightly.

Bake for 8 minutes, or until a thin crust forms on the biscuit.  Cool and enjoy.

Banana Oat Biscuits (& photoshoot sneak peak!)

 This recipe is courtesy of Maria, my workmate's wife, who saved the day last week.

The radio station I work for, 96five, is doing a giveaway for the duration of the Ekka, of a "Mums In the Kitchen Showbag".  It includes an apron, oven mit, tea towel, shopping list, radio and Romeo the Radio Dog toy - pretty cool!  So, we had a photo shoot last week to showcase the showbag.

We were doing the shots with the oven...but had an empty tray!  Thankfully, Maria had sent her husband to work with some freshly-baked biscuits, so we were able to use them for the shoot :-)  They also taste great!

Tune in to 96five for your chance to win a Mums in the Kitchen Showbag!



Ingredients
150g butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup mashed ripe banana
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
3 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line baking trays.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Beat in egg and mashed banana, then stir in vanilla.

Combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cloves; stir into the banana mixture. Mix in rolled oats and walnuts. 

Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto prepared trays. Leave room for spreading. 

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Healthy Anzac Biscuits

This week will see celebrations and tributes for Anzac Day - and of course, eating Anzac Biscuits is a big part of that!

As part of my shift towards real foods, I went on the hunt for a healthier Anzac Biscuit recipe.  This one fits the bill perfectly - it's dairy-free, refined sugar-free and gluten-free (for those who can eat oats).

I admit, it doesn't taste the same as your traditional Anzac Biscuit, but as an Oat and Coconut Biscuit Alternative, it's definitely a winner!

You can buy raw, organic honey from Charlie's Fruit Market :-)

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
1/2 cup almond meal, or chopped almonds

1/2 teaspoon mixed spice
2 1/2 tablespoons coconut oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon water

Method

Combine oats, coconut, almonds and spice into a food processor.  Add the oil, honey and vanilla.

Mix well for about 30 seconds or until combined.

Add the water and process again.

Form into about 12 biscuits and place onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper.

Flatten down with a fork (they don't spread anywhere near as much as traditional Anzac Biscuits).

Bake for about 20-25 minutes in a low 150 degree celsius oven, or until golden brown.

Teddy Bear Biscuits

We recently had a Teddy Bears Picnic theme at our Mainly Music group, so I was keen to make something to suit.  I ended up making these cute little bears and they were really easy to do.  This recipe is one I've previously posted here, but I'll copy it again for you.

You can buy circle cutters of all different sizes, but I just found round things around the kitchen and use them!  Enjoy!

Ingredients
110g softened butter
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
3/4 cup plain flour
3/4 cup self-raising flour

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

chocolate icing, to decorate

Method
Preheat the oven to 160 degrees celsius. Grease baking trays or line with paper.

Cream butter and sugar, then beat in egg and vanilla. Add sifted flours and mix to a dough.

Separate dough in half and add cocoa powder to one half.  Knead in until well combined.

Roll out each half separately.  From the chocolate half, cut rounds about 6cm in diameter.

From the plain half, cut rounds about 2cm and 1cm in diameter (you'll need double the number of 1cm).

Put chocolate rounds on baking tray, then press the ears gently into it.  Position the 2cm rounds on top.

Bake for 8-10 minutes.  Decorate faces with icing.

Oat and Bran Biscuits

I made these biscuits for the kids - they are nothing "wow" but perfect for what I wanted - an alternative to plain, bought biscuits, where I can control the sugar & other nasties!  They're from my Women's Weekly "1000 Best-Ever Recipes" book. Another batch of these I added some finely chopped dried apricot and cut back on the sugar, and that worked well too.

Ingredients
1 cup plain flour
1 cup unprocessed bran
3/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
60g butter, chopped
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons water (approx)

Method
Process flour, bran, oats, soda and butter until crumbly; add sugar, egg and enough of the water to make a firm dough.  Knead on floured surface until smooth; cover, refrigerate 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius/160 fan-forced.  Grease oven trays; line with baking paper.

Divide dough in half; roll each half between sheets of baking paper to about 5mm thickness.  Cut dough into 7cm rounds; place on trays 2cm apart.

Bake biscuits about 15 minutes.  Stand on tray 5 minutes; transfer to wire rack to cool.

Chewy raisin and oat biscuits

Ingredients
1 cup raisins
1 cup cornflakes
3/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup self-raising flour
1/2 cup wholemeal self-raising flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 egg

Method
Preheat oven to 200°C/180°C fan-forced. Line a baking tray with baking paper.

Combine raisins, cornflakes, oats, flours and sugar in a bowl. Whisk oil, egg and 1/4 cup cold water together in a jug. Stir into raisin mixture.

Using floured hands, roll 2 tablespoons of mixture at a time into balls. Place balls, 3cm apart, on prepared tray. Flatten slightly. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until golden. Cool on tray. Serve.

Valentine's Day Biscuits

The kids and I whipped up these cute little biscuits to take to Mainly Music this week.  We also packaged some up to give to their Nanas for Valentine's Day.

They are made using my old faithful Spice Biscuits recipe, originally found here - I always get comments about what a delicious biscuit they are!

I used Pillar Box Red colouring for the icing and I love how they turned out.

Give a sweet treat to your sweet heart tomorrow!

Ingredients:125g butter, softened
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup golden syrup
2 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1/2 teaspoon ground clove

Icing
1 egg white, beaten lightly
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
2 teaspoons plain flour
2 teaspoons lemon juice (approx)
food colouring


Method:
Beat butter, sugar and egg with electric mixer until combined.  Stir in syrup and sifted dry ingredients, in two batches.

Knead dough until smoothe, then roll out between sheets of baking paper until 5mm thick.  Pop in the fridge for about half an hour. 

Cut shapes from dough and place on trays lined with baking paper.  Bake for about 15 minutes, at 150 degrees or 130 degrees fan-forced.

Cool on trays or a wire rack.  Spread with icing and set at room temperature.

Icing: 
Place egg white in small bowl, stir in half the sifted icing sugar; add remaining sifted icing sugar, flour and enough juice to make a thick spreadable icing.  Tint icing with colouring.

Rice Bubble and Sultana Biscuits

It's been a wild week of weather for Queensland - I know in my local area, many homes have been affected by floodwaters and the clean-up will be massive.  As a mum with small kids, it's easy to feel like there's nothing much you can really do - we can't just don the gum boots and shovels and get out there with the "Mud Army".  But there is something we can do - Baked Relief!

This is an amazing movement started after the 2011 by Danielle Crismani.  Essentially, it's all about getting food out to the flood victims and amazing teams of volunteers, who are working tirelessly to get our city (and state) back on track.

This whole situation has been a bit hard for my almost-three-year-old to get her head around.  But to actually get her involved in the process and explain what we were doing, has really given her a lot more understanding.  She loved taking the biscuits down to our local drop-off point and was really proud of being able to help.

Here's a perfect Baked Relief recipe (taken from www.bestrecipes.com.au) - super quick, easy, great for the kids to help out, and a great little energy-boosting snack for all the hard-working flood recovery crews.

Keep up the great work everyone!  And hear our radio chat about Baked Relief below :-)

Ingredients
1 cup self-raising flour
1 cup Rice Bubbles
1 cup coconut
½ cup sultanas
¾ cup caster sugar
125 g butter, melted
1 egg, lightly beaten

Method
Place flour, Rice Bubbles, coconut, sultanas and sugar in a bowl.  Stir in butter and egg, mix well.

Roll level tablespoonfuls of mixture into balls.  Place about 6 cm apart on lightly greased trays.  Flatten biscuits slightly with a fork.

Bake at 180°C for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.


Here's Liam & Robbie's verdict on the Baked Relief bikkies...

Butterscotch Biscuits

These are a simple little biscuit that are super fast and easy to make.  Kids love the rice bubbles in them!  Taken from the CWA "Classics" book.

Ingredients
120g softened butter
1 cup soft brown sugar
vanilla essence, to taste
1 egg
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1/2 cup rice bubbles

Method
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.  Grease baking trays.

Cream butter and sugar, then beat in vanilla and egg.  Sift in flour, add rice bubbles and mix.  Knead until dough is smooth.

Place spoonfuls onto prepared trays and press with the back of a fork.  Bake until golden-brown, about 15 minutes.

Christmas Pudding Shortbread

Any type of shortbread is a delicious Christmas Treat - but Christmas Pudding Shortbread just gives it that extra level of deliciousness!  This is an easy, tasty little biscuit that's sure to impress :-)

Ingredients
125g butter, at room temp
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup plain flour
1/3 cup rice flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
extra flour for kneading
1 eggwhite, whisked
1/3 cup demerara sugar (I used some combined caster sugar and cinnamon on mine instead)

Method

Preheat oven to 160C. Line 2 large oven trays with baking paper. Put butter, brown sugar and vanilla in a bowl and beat using electric beters until light and creamy. 

Sift flour, rice flour, cinnamon, cloves, mixed spice and nutmeg over butter mixture and stir until well combined. turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently until mixture comes together.

Roll out dough between 2 sheets of baking paper until 4mm thick. Using a 7cm round fluted biscuit cutter, cut 15 rounds from dough, re-rolling as required. 

Cut rounds from dough, re-rolling as required. Put rounds on prepared trays, brush with eggwhite and sprinkle with demerara sugar. 

Bake for 15-20 mins or until light golden and firm. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Package them up in a little bag and ribbon like this and you have a perfect little Christmas gift!

Kris Krinkles

Today's Christmas recipe (can you believe we're up to #22 already?!?) is a guest post from my dear friend, Jess.  She gives us a jar of these biscuits every Christmas, and I always look forward to receiving them and eating them!  I love also that they come with a great story - thanks Jess! :-)

"This is the easiest recipe and came from a magazine my mum had about 35 years ago! They have such a lovely story these cookies- mum started making them when my eldest brother went to school for his teacher and it progressed from there until she was doing them for all three of our teachers, neighbours, family and friends every year and they all still talk about them! She has moved to a whole new town and workplace and now bakes them again every year for her colleagues and they love them. Now I'm carrying on the tradition for my friends and hopefully my kids' teachers!"

Ingredients
250g butter
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla essence or rum
2 1/2 cups plain flour
3/4 cup glace cherries, chopped
1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup desiccated coconut

Method
Cream butter and sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy.  Add vanilla/rum.

Stir in flour, cherries and nuts.

Form into 2 logs then roll in coconut, scattered on some foil (see pictures below).  Wrap in the foil and chill overnight.

Cut into cookies and bake at 190 degrees for 12 minutes or until just gold - watch carefully as they burn quickly!

Choc Candy Cane Bites (& a Christmas Treats Exchange!)

You might remember back in this post, I promised you I'd give you a great idea of what to do with the unused middle of the wreath biscuits.  Of course, you could always re-roll the scraps and make more wreaths, but I was on a time frame, so instead, I just baked the rounds as they were, spread with a touch of melted white chocolate and sprinkled with crushed candy canes.  SO EASY!  They look great, taste delicious and make a perfect little gift.

I also want to share with you a lovely afternoon I had the other day with some mum friends - one of the girls organised a Christmas Biscuit Exchange (although, I've called it a Christmas Treats Exchange because we ended up with a variety of things, not just biscuits).  We all took along 24 biscuits or sweets and laid them out on a central table.  The wonderful hostess had stocked up on plates, cellophane, ribbon and tags, and we all filled our plates with an amazing variety of sweet treats, which we then packaged up beautifully to give away as gifts.

You can see in the picture above what we ended up with - reindeer biscuits, melting moments, oreo truffles, brownies, white Christmas bites and cake pops to name a few!  It was such a great idea to spend some time with each other (while the kids played together) and leave with these gorgeous plates to gift.  It's such a great and easy way to spread some Christmas cheer!

Cinnamon Holly Biscuits

I found this recipe in a library book called "Festive Cooking" and it's definitely one of my new favourite Christmas recipes!  They are so tasty and look  fantastic!  As you can probably see, I ended up cutting my mint leaves in half as they were too big to put two on each biscuit - I think it still looks cute - but you could always just make bigger biscuits!  Although there are a few steps involved, these are easy to make and look so festive and bright :-)

Ingredients
2 cups self-raising flour
90g butter, chopped, at room temperature
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup golden syrup
1 egg, lightly beaten
mint leaves
red Mini m&ms

Icing
2 1/2 cups icing sugar, sifted
100ml lemon juice

Method
Place flour, butter and cinnamon in a food processor.  Process until combined.  Add sugar, syrup and egg until mixture comes together.  Turn dough onto a floured board.  Knead until smooth then roll out between sheets of baking paper (in 2 batches if necessary) until 5mm thick.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to moderate, 180 degrees celsius.

Using a 6cm fluted cutter, cut rounds from dough.  Place rounds on lined baking trays.  Bake 8-10 minutes, until firm.  Cool on trays.  Repeat with remaining dough.

Icing: meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine icing sugar and juice until a thick paste forms.  Spread over cold biscuits.

Arrange mint leaves and m&ms onto wet icing to form holly.  Set aside to set.  Store in an airtight container, layering between sheets of baking paper.

Chocolate Wreath Biscuits

I borrowed a fabulous little book out of the library recent called "200 Christmas Recipes" and made this tasty little treat.  So you're not deceived, they're just individual biscuits, not one big wreath - I just arranged them like that on the plate!  If you want to go nut-free you could always decorate them with chopped-up candy canes, silver balls or sprinkles.  I actually found this mixture a bit on the soft side, so I'd add more flour next time.  I also have a great spin-off recipe for what to do with the inside rounds of the biscuits (to save re-rolling and cutting), so stay tuned for that!

Ingredients
250g plain flour
25g cocoa powder
250g butter, diced
140g icing sugar
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
125g white chocolate
1/2 cup pistachios, chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped

Method
Put the flour, cocoa powder and butter in a bowl and rub in with fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the sugar, egg yolks and vanilla and mix to a smooth dough. Wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

Roll out the dough between two sheets of baking paper. Cut rounds using an 8.5 cm fluted biscuit cutter and a 3cm cutter for the centres.

Place on a lined baking tray and bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes. Cool.

Melt the white chocolate (microwave is easiest!). Spread white chocolate over biscuits then scatter with pistachios and cranberries. Leave to set for about an hour before using.

Christmas Pudding Shortbread

I found this recipe in the Better Homes & Gardens magazine, and it's a great one to keep on hand!  Chances are, you'll have most, if not all, of the ingredients on hand. They're super easy to whip up and make gorgeous little gifts if wrapped up in some cellophane.  It's a great chance to pull out those Christmas Cookie Cutters and get the kids involved too!  I didn't have any demerara sugar, so I just mixed up some caster sugar and cinnamon and sprinkled that on instead - delicious!

Ingredients
125g butter, at room temp
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup plain flour
1/3 cup rice flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
extra flour for kneading
1 eggwhite, whisked
1/3 cup demerara sugar

Method
Preheat oven to 160C. Line 2 large oven trays with baking paper. 

Put butter, brown sugar and vanilla in a bowl and beat using electric beaters until light and creamy. 

Sift flour, rice flour, cinnamon, cloves, mixed spice and nutmeg over butter mixture and stir until well combined.  Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently until mixture comes together.

Roll out dough between 2 sheets of baking paper until 4mm thick. Using a 7cm round fluted biscuit cutter, cut 15 rounds from dough, re-rolling as required. Cut rounds from dough, re-rolling as required. 

Put rounds on prepared trays, brush with eggwhite and sprinkle with demerara sugar. 

Bake for 15-20 mins or until light golden and firm. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Vanilla (and Chocolate) Kisses

A simple, gorgeous little treat that's sure to impress!  You can spice these up with some flavour variations - my suggestions are at the bottom of the recipe.  But most importantly - what did Liam & Robbie think?  Listen to their controversial verdict in the Family Show Taste Test below!

Ingredients
125g butter, softened
1/2 cup caster sugar
1egg
1/3 cup plain flour
1/4 cup self-raising flour
2/3 cup corn flour
1/4 cup custard powder

Vienna cream
60g butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup icing sugar
2 teaspoons milk

Method
Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius (180 fan-forced). Line oven trays with baking paper.

Beat butter, sugar and egg in small bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Stir in sifted dry ingredients, in two batches.

Spoon mixture into piping bag fitted with 1cm-fluted tube. Pipe 3cm rosettes on trays, about 3cm apart.

Bake biscuits about 10 minutes; cool on trays.

Make Vienna cream: beat butter and extract in small bowl with electric mixer until as white as possible; gradually beat in sifted icing sugar and milk, in two batches.

Sandwich biscuits with Vienna cream (I like to pipe it on).

Variations: mix 2 tablespoons cocoa with 2 tablespoons water and add to mixture at the end. Flavour Vienna cream with essence like strawberry, coconut or peppermint instead of vanilla.


How did Liam & Robbie rate them?  Here's the Family Show Taste Test:

Peanut Butter Choc Chip Biscuits

Not much to say but these are amazing!  Thanks to Canary Girl for the recipe!

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
a pinch of salt
1 cup chocolate chips

Preparation
Preheat oven to 375ºF (175ºC).  Line a cookie sheet or two with parchment.

Cream butter and sugars until creamy, then add egg and vanilla and beat until smooth.  Add Peanut butter and continue to beat until combined.

Add flour, baking powder and salt and stir to combine.  Add chips and stir again.

Drop small spoonfuls of dough onto parchment.  Bake 12 minutes or until just golden.

Remove from oven and allow to rest on the sheet 1 minute before removing with a spatula.

Jam Drops

As a follow-on to last week's recipes for Strawberry Jam and Banana Jam, I decided to put the jams to use and make some good old-fashioned jam drops!  I found the recipe in Good Taste magazine.  These little delights are quick, easy and delicious and perfect for the kids to help out.  In fact, I had a very helpful 2-year-old "helping" me for these ones, declaring "mummy, I NEED to taste it, I NEEEEED to!"  Well, judging by the spotless bowl at the end, she gave them a big tick of approval!  See what Liam & Robbie thought in the Family Show Taste Test below.

PS Does anyone know why the Banana Jam holds its shape so well, but the Strawberry Jam spreads and goes a bit messy?

Ingredients
125g butter, softened
100g (1/2 cup) caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 egg
190g (1 1/4 cups) self-raising flour
Plain flour, to dust
115g (1/3 cup) strawberry or raspberry jam

Method
Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 2 baking trays with non-stick baking paper. Use an electric beater to beat the butter, sugar and vanilla essence in a medium bowl until pale and creamy. Add the egg and beat until combined. Sift flour over the butter mixture and stir until combined.

Use lightly floured hands to roll teaspoonfuls of mixture into balls. Place on the prepared trays, about 5cm apart. Use a lightly floured finger to make an indentation in the centre of each ball. Spoon 1/2 tsp of jam into the centre of each biscuit.

Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, swapping trays halfway through cooking, or until the biscuits are cooked through and light golden. Remove biscuits from the oven. Set aside on trays for 30 minutes to cool completely.

But how did Liam & Robbie rate them?  Check out the Family Show Taste Test!

Basic Biscuits

This easy biscuit recipe comes from my "CWA Classics" book and I love it.  I wanted to make these because hubby recently bought our toddler some Tiny Teddies.  I wasn't really impressed by all the packaging and decided it would be so much better to make my own "special" biscuits (I love how easily pleased 2-year-olds are!)  So I added some hundreds & thousands to this recipe - they are tastier than Tiny Teddies, so quick & easy to make, great to have the kids help out, and can easily freeze to have on hand.  You can add anything to this base mixture - nuts, chocolate, dried fruit, icing, spices etc - be creative and enjoy!  PS How fun are my star cookie cutters?!?

Ingredients (makes about 50)
110g softened butter
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
3/4 cup plain flour
3/4 cup self-raising flour

Method
Preheat the oven to 160 degrees celsius.  Grease baking trays or line with paper.

Cream butter and sugar, then beat in egg and vanilla.  Add sifted flours and mix to a dough.  Roll out the dough then cut out shapes with biscuit cutters.  Place on prepared trays.  Bake for 8-10 minutes.