Fill your home with the scent of inviting, cosy Christmas spice by making these Spiced Christmas Biscuits. These simple-to-make treats are full of warming festive flavours such as cinnamon and ginger, treacle and a hint of grated orange zest. Make a batch to give away as Christmas gifts or hang them on your Christmas tree, or enjoy a few with a cup of tea while present wrapping!
the perfect festive bake for children
When my boys were little I made these spiced gingerbread biscuits for them every Christmas.
I would lay out bowls of icing, spoons and an array of sprinkles and let them go crazy on the decorating.
It would keep them entertained for a good couple of hours and I have fond memories of every surface of my kitchen being covered in sticky icing, silver balls and edible glitter.
Once we were finished decorating the biscuits and every square millimetre of them were covered in sprinkles, I would make some hot chocolate and we would all pile on the couch to watch a Christmas movie and eat our iced creations.
ingredients for spiced Christmas biscuits
- Spices. These ginger cookies contain a generous amount of ground ginger, ground cinnamon and ground mixed spice.
- I also add a touch of finely grated orange zest which complements the spices really well. If you don’t have any oranges, 1/2 teaspoon of orange extract is a nice addition.
- Soft Dark Brown Sugar complements the spices and helps keep the cookies soft – this is not a “snappy” ginger biscuit recipe.
- Golden syrup and Treacle add sweetness and a unique flavour. If you can’t find them, honey and molasses are good substitutions.
- A large egg binds the dough together.
- Block butter works best for this recipe. It should be at room temperature and cut into small cubes.
- I must admit I don’t make my own Royal Icing – life is just too busy in December for that! I use a packet of instant Royal Icing – all you need to do is mix it with water until you get the right consistency for piping/flooding.
To make things even simpler, you could use a writing icing pen like this one.
If you fancy making it yourself, it’s fairly easy to do so. I’ve used this Mary Berry royal icing recipe a few times and it’s very good.
how to make spiced Christmas biscuits
For a full printable recipe card with ingredient amounts and detailed instructions, please scroll to the bottom of this post! Don’t worry if you don’t have a food processor – I’ll also tell you how to make the dough by hand.
1. Place the flour, all of the spices and a pinch of salt in the bowl of a food processor. Briefly pulse to combine them all together.
2. Add the butter and blitz until the mixture resembles small breadcrumbs of various sizes.
3. Add the brown sugar, treacle, golden syrup and the egg. Turn the machine back on and mix until the mixture forms a dough.
4. Remove the blade, then turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Give it a very light knead. It will be quite sticky, but will firm up after a rest in the fridge.
5. Cut the dough in half, then wrap each half in cling film. Rest in the fridge for a minimum of one hour.
6. When the dough is firm, remove it from the fridge and let it rest on the kitchen counter for about 15-20 minutes.
7. On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough out to a large circle around the thickness of a pound coin.
8. Cut out shapes with Christmas cookie cutters and transfer to a couple of large baking sheets lined with baking parchment.
Transfer the baking sheet to the fridge for about 15-20 minutes – I know this lengthens the process, but chilling the biscuits will help them keep their shape after baking.
9. Bake in a preheated oven (180C/160Fan/350F) for 12-15 minutes or until the biscuits are firm around the edges (they will still be quite soft in the middle.) Leave them on the baking sheets for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack.
10. When the biscuits are completely cold, ice them with the Royal Icing and decorate them with edible glitter or Christmas sprinkles (or leave them plain – minimal, but still beautiful!)
how to make Christmas biscuits for tree decorations
If you wish to hang the biscuits on the Christmas tree, you’ll need to cut out a hole in the top of the biscuits for the ribbon or string. I use the pointy end of a small icing nozzle, but anything small will work.
storing
Iced Biscuits will keep for up to one week in an airtight container, but they are at their best eaten within 3-4 days.
can you freeze iced christmas biscuits?
Yes, Christmas biscuits can be frozen after icing them. Wrap each biscuit in baking paper, then transfer to an airtight container or a ziplock freezer bag and freeze for up to 2 months. Defrost the biscuits at room temperature before eating.
More festive bakes
🎄Looking for a recipe? Take a look at my Christmas Recipe Collection, you might just find what you’re looking for! 🎄
Spiced Christmas Biscuits
These easy Spiced Christmas Biscuits are a fun project to do with the kids over the Christmas holidays, or make them for gifts or for hanging on the tree!
Ingredients
- 300 g plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground allspice
- Zest of one large orange or two Clementines
- 100 g butter
- 100 g soft dark brown sugar
- 2 tbsp golden syrup
- 2 tbsp treacle
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 500 g packet instant royal icing
- An assortment of Christmas sprinkles and edible glitter for decoration
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix together the plain flour, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, allspice and orange zest.
- Rub the butter into the flour mixture until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar. Add the golden syrup and treacle to the mixture, then add half of the beaten egg, using a table knife or your hands to bring the mixture to a dough.
- If the dough is dry and there are still a lot of crumbs at the bottom of the bowl, add a little more egg, a drop at a time, until the mixture begins to cohere. When the mixture starts coming together, gently knead to form a soft dough, then cut in half, wrap each half in cling film and place in the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 180C/160Fan/350F. Grease and line a couple of large baking trays.
- Remove the dough from the fridge. Sprinkle a work surface with some flour and place one half of the dough on top.
- Sprinkle a little more flour on your rolling pin and roll the dough out evenly, giving the dough a quarter turn after every 2 rolls to make sure it isn't sticking to the work surface. If it is, add a little more flour to your surface.
- When the dough is around the thickness of a £1 pound coin, cut out your shapes and transfer to your lined baking trays.
- If you're planning to hang the biscuits on the Christmas tree, you'll need to cut out a hole at the top for your ribbon. Just bear in mind the hole will close up if it's too small - I use the pointy end of a small icing nozzle.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes or until cooked through. Leave on the baking trays for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Make up the royal icing according to packet instructions and decorate the biscuits however you like - you can get fancy and use a piping bag for pretty patterns, or simply use a teaspoon to drip the icing on the biscuits and cover in Christmas sprinkles!
Notes
This dough is much easier to roll out after chilling in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 25 Serving Size: sAmount Per Serving: Calories: 185Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 23mgSodium: 90mgCarbohydrates: 29gNet Carbohydrates: 0gFiber: 1gSugar: 17gSugar Alcohols: 0gProtein: 2g
Such pretty cookies!
Thank you!
they look so beautiful and festive!
Thank you Anna! ?
These are so pretty and neat. I fear they would turn out nothing like this if I decorated these. Sharing these now.
Aw thank you so much! I have to admit though, the piping took a bit of practice!
Oh wow, these are so beautifully iced. I love gingerbread biscuits, but it’s very rare for me to try icing them – I have no patience.
That icing makes such a cute decoration.
They turned out wonderful!
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas.
Looking forward to your New Year recipes.
Thank you so much! I had a great Christmas, hope you did too. Happy New Year ?
Thank you Choclette ? Happy New Year!