Vanilla snowflake biscuits
Golden, buttery and flavoured
with vanilla, these bickies are
as tasty as they are pretty.VANILLA SNOWFLAKE
BISCUITS
Preparation time 25 mins
plus 30 mins chilling
Cooking time 50 mins
Makes 24250g unsalted butter,
chopped, softened(^2) / 3 cup CSR caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 free-range egg yolk
2 cups plain flour
Cooking oil spray, to grease
STEP 1 Put butter in a large
bowl and beat with a wooden
spoon until smooth. Add sugar
and beat until light and fluffy.
STEP 2 Add vanilla and egg
yolk, mixing until smooth.
STEP 3 Sift in flour, mixing
until combined.
STEP 4 Use your hands to knead
until a smooth dough forms.
STEP 5 Divide dough in half and shape
each into a disc. Wrap with plastic
wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
STEP 6 Preheat oven to 180°C fan-
forced (200°C conventional). Grease
a 6-hole festive cakelet pan with
cooking oil. Put it on an oven tray.
STEP 7 Push 1 Tbsp of dough into
prepared holes. Bake for 12 minutes
or until firm to touch. Set aside in
pan to cool completely. Repeat with
remaining dough to make 24.
VANILLA TREE BISCUITS
To make Vanilla tree biscuits, follow
Steps 1–5 of Vanilla snowflake biscuits.
Roll chilled dough between 2 sheets
of baking paper until 5mm thick. Use
tree-shaped cookie cutters (we used
10cm tall and 7cm tall cutters) to cut
out about 32 tree shapes. Arrange
on 3 baking-paper lined oven trays,
3cm apart. Bake for 12 minutes, or
until firm to touch, swapping tray
positions halfway through cooking. To
decorate, make one quantity of royal
icing (see below). Pipe icing around
edge of each tree and scatter with
80g finely chopped pistachios and a
single silver cachou. Set aside for 1
hour to allow icing to set hard. Serve.
HOW TO MAKE ROYAL ICING
Put 2 free-range egg whites in a
medium bowl and beat with an
electric hand mixer until they start to
foam. Sift 2½ cups pure icing sugar
onto a sheet of baking paper. Add
icing sugar to egg whites, 1 Tbsp
at a time, and beat until stiff peaks
form. Add enough lemon juice
(3–4 tsp) to thin icing until desired
drizzling consistency is reached.
CHRISTMAS TREATS
Cooking times may
vary so always test
Bake me in
your festive
cakelet pan or
a muffin tray