Unique and elegant Christmas-themed biscuits that make a great homemade gift – perfect for a hamper. The lemon and white chocolate provide a simple, sweet flavour combination. The toppings are interchangeable and you can experiment with your own flavours and colours. I went with Pistachio and Cranberries, the slightly salty flavour from the nuts is complimented by the sweet white chocolate and slight bitterness from the cranberries.
Ingredients:
250g unsalted butter (softened)
250g caster sugar
Finely grated zest of 3 lemons
1 large egg
500g plain flour
Toppings (these can be changed for your favourite flavours):
150g white chocolate
50g dried cranberries
50g de-shelled pistachio nuts
Method:
- Pre-heat the oven to 175° C and line 2 baking trays with greaseproof paper.
- Place the butter, sugar and lemon zest in a bowl and cream together.
- Whilst whisking, add the beaten egg into the mixture.
- Sift in the flour bit by bit and mix with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together.
- Bring the dough into a ball and leave in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill.
- Dust the worktop with flour and use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to approximately 5mm thickness.
- Use a large fluted circular cutter to make the outer wreath, then use a smaller fluted circular cutter to remove the middle so you have a classic wreath shape. Place straight onto the lined baking tray.
- Bake in the oven for 6 minutes until the biscuits are golden brown around the edges.
- Remove from the oven and let the biscuits rest for 30 minutes.
- Decorate. First melt some white chocolate (either in the microwave or over a pan of boiling water). Drizzle the melted chocolate over the wreath. Finely chop up your toppings and distribute across the wreath on top of the white chocolate before it sets – this enables the toppings to set in place.
- Let the chocolate and toppings set before wrapping up with fancy bows as a beautiful Christmas treat!
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