Christmas Shortbread Biscuits

Shortbread Biscuits are such an essential in my house at Christmas, especially when they are festively shaped and complete with peppermint icing!! Baking shortbread is a perfect activity for the weekend before Christmas as its so simple and easy, and if paired with Christmas music and either friends or family members, its sure to get you in the festive spirit! You can even make your biscuits into Christmas decorations to hang on the tree, or wrap them up for your friends as presents!

As there are only 4 ingredients in this simple recipe there isn't much of an opportunity to substitute, however I did run out of plain flour whilst baking and had to use Gluten Free plain flour, and it seemed to turn out fine! So if you did want to make these gluten free then feel free to try it out! And don't forget to let me know how it goes over on my social media (linked above).

[ Yields 25 - 30 ]

What You Need ;

200g Dairy-Free Butter 

100g Caster Sugar

300g Plain Flour

1 tsp Vanilla (extract / paste)

Icing Sugar

Water

1tsp Peppermint Extract

Cream the butter, vanilla and sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and creamy 

Slowly add the flour into the bowl and mix using a wooden spoon until thoroughly combined

Use your hands to mould the mixture into a dough and then wrap in clingfilm before placing in the fridge for 30 minutes - an hour

Once chilled, preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius

Roll out the dough and cut into festive shapes before placing in the oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown

Remove from the oven and if using for Christmas Tree Decorations, use a skewer to create a small hole in your soft biscuit before it cools and hardens 

Once cool, prepare the icing : combine sieved icing sugar, peppermint extract and water until a thick paste forms, place this into a piping bag (or if you're like me and don't possess such a thing, use a ziplock bag / sandwich bag, cut a small hole in a bottom corner and insert a piping nozzle) 

Pipe your desired designs onto the biscuits before leaving them to set

ENJOY with a hot chocolate or class or non-dairy milk