Shortbread Christmas trees recipe

Beat the holiday rush and start your Christmas prep early this year. Kids will love decorating these festive biscuits and you can freeze the dough ahead of time.

11 Ingredients

* 250g butter, softened

* 1/3 cup (75g) Coles Caster Sugar

* 2 cups (300g) plain flour

* 1/4 cup (45g) rice flour

* 2 tsp mixed spice

Royal icing

* 1 Coles Australian Free Range Egg white

* 1/2 tsp lemon juice

* 1 1/2 cups (240g) pure icing sugar

* Green, blue, pink and yellow liquid food colouring

* Coles Australian Free Range Egg white, extra

* Lemon juice, extra

9 Method / Steps

Step 1

Line 2 baking trays with baking paper. Use an electric mixer to beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add the plain flour, rice flour and mixed spice, in 3 batches, beating well after each addition.

Step 2

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Roll out the dough between 2 sheets of baking paper until 5mm thick. Cover with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for 30 mins or until firm.

Step 3

Preheat oven to 150°C. Use a 7.5cm tree-shaped cutter to cut shapes from the dough, rerolling excess. (To freeze, see tip in notes.)

Step 4

Place on lined trays, 3cm apart. Bake for 15 mins or until lightly golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Step 5

To make the royal icing, whisk the egg white and lemon juice in a medium bowl. Gradually add the icing sugar, stirring well after each addition, until smooth paste forms. Divide into 5 portions. Use food colouring to tint 4 portions of different shades of green, leaving 1 portion white.

Step 6

Divide the white icing portion in half. Reserve 1 portion to make the baubles. Place half the remaining white icing portion in a piping bag fitted with a 1.5mm plain nozzle. Pipe around the edges of the tree bases to make a border. Set aside to set. Add a little extra egg white and lemon juice to the remaining white icing portion to make a runny paste. Spoon a little runny icing into the centre of the bases and use the back of the spoon to spread to the border. Set aside to set.

Step 7

Place half of 1 green icing portion in a piping bag fitted with a 1.5mm plain nozzle. Pipe around the edges of one-quarter of the trees to make a border. Set aside to set. Add a little extra egg white and lemon juice to the remaining green icing portion to make a runny paste. Spoon a little runny icing into the centre of the trees and use the back of the spoon to spread to the border. Set aside to set.
Step 8
Repeat, in 3 more batches, with the remaining green icing portions and the remaining trees.

Step 9

Pipe the remaining white icing in a piping bag over the green trees in a zig-zag pattern to make the garlands. Divide reserved white icing into 3 portions. Use food colouring to tint each portion blue, pink or yellow. Place yellow icing in a piping bag fitted with a 1.2mm nozzle. Pipe over the biscuits to make baubles. Repeat, in 2 more batches, with pink and blue icing. Set aside to set.

source – cooking365coza