Christmas Tree Decorations Recipes

GINGERBREAD CHRISTMAS TREE DECORATIONS RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/Gas 6. Sift the flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda and spices into a large bowl.
• Melt the butter, sugar and golden syrup in a pan then allow to cool slightly. Combine with the flour. Beat in the egg until all combined. Chill in the fridge for 30 mins.
• Remove from the fridge and allow to soften slightly. Roll out to the thickness of a £1 coin and cut out your stars. Re-roll cookie dough remains together to use all of the dough.
• Place on lined baking trays. If using to hang on your tree, use a skewer to make a hole. Bake in batches for 10-15 minutes until golden. As soon as you remove them from the oven, check the holes and remake any that have closed up in baking, while the gingerbread is still hot. Leave to cool slightly on the trays before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
• To decorate: Using a stand or hand mixer on a slow setting, make the royal icing by placing the egg white in a bowl and gradually adding the icing sugar to build up a paste. Add a couple of tsps water if it's too thick. Spoon into an icing bag with a fine nozzle and draw on your snowflake designs onto half the biscuits. Melt the chocolate and spoon into a piping back, decorate the rest of your snowflakes. Thread with string to hang on your tree.

CHRISTMAS TREE DECORATIONS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (170 degrees C).
• Place the butter and sugar in a clean bowl and mix together vigorously with a wooden spoon until the color and texture of the mixture becomes pale. Place the mixture into the bowl of a food processor and add the flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves and freshly ground black pepper. Blend the mixture. While the food processor is blending, gradually pour the eggs and honey down the funnel of the food processor's lid into the bowl until a dough has formed (you may not require all of the liquid if the dough has come together before it is used up). If the dough is too dry add a little water to the mixture. If the dough is too wet add a little flour.
• Halve the dough. Wrap 1 half of the dough in cling film, place it into a freezer bag, and refrigerate. Place the other half of the dough onto a floured work surface. Roll the dough, with a rolling pin, into a disk to about 1/4-inch thick. Using a set of Christmas biscuit cutters, cut decoration shapes out of the dough. Re-roll the remaining dough and cut out more shapes until the dough is used up. Remove the second half of the dough from the fridge and repeat this process. With the pointed end of a small icing nozzle, puncture a hole just below the top of each decoration (through which ribbon or wire can later be threaded to hang them). Arrange the decorations on baking sheets lined with a layer of reusable silicon baking parchment and cook for 20 minutes or until they are cooked through and golden-brown in color. Transfer the decorations to a wire rack to cool.
• Prepare the icing according to the packet instructions (the icing texture should be liquid enough to be easy to apply but thick enough not to run off the decorations). Ice the decorations using a teaspoon (use the tip of the spoon for dripping the icing onto the decoration and the back of the teaspoon for smoothing). Sprinkle the gold or silver balls over the decorations and press them gently onto the icing. Cut the ribbon into short lengths and thread the ribbon through the holes in the decorations. Tie the decorations to what ever needs decorating with the ribbon.

HOMEMADE CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
• Mix the above 3 ingredients until combined thoroughly. I will add that the recipe calls for 4 cups of flour, but I probably had to add another 1/2 to 3/4 cups of flour to get a consistency that was pliable enough to roll with the rolling pin without being sticky.
• Roll out with rolling pin until it is about 1/4 in or less thick.
• FYI-depending on the size of the cookie cutter you may get more or less ornaments.
• Use cookie cutters to make individual ornaments.
• Place on cookie sheet, make a hole at the top for the ribbon to go through and bake for 2 hours at 200 degrees. Do not turn the ornaments over. However I do turn over once they are out of the oven so that the it dries completely.
• Once dried, paint and design as desired, place ribbon and hang on tree!