Star Shaped Sugar Biscuits Recipes

SUGAR COOKIE STARS

Steps:

• For the cookies: Beat the shortening, granulated sugar, orange zest and vanilla in a large bowl with a mixer on medium speed until thoroughly combined, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in the egg until light and fluffy, then beat in the milk.
• Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl. With the mixer on low speed, beat the flour mixture into the butter mixture until just combined. Divide the dough in half; flatten each half between 2 sheets of parchment or wax paper, wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or freeze for 20 minutes.
• For the glaze: Whisk the egg yolk, water and food coloring in a small bowl until well combined.
• Preheat the oven to 375 ̊. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll out 1 piece of dough on a lightly floured surface until about 1/4 inch thick. Cut into stars or other shapes with 2- to 3-inch cookie cutters. Arrange the cookies about 2 inches apart on the prepared pans. Brush the tops with the egg yolk glaze.
• Bake the cookies until set but not browned, about 6 minutes. Let cool 3 minutes on the pan, then remove to racks to cool completely. Decorate with royal icing and sanding sugar. Let set about 1 hour.

STAR-SHAPED SUGAR BISCUITS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/350°F/180°C.
• You will need a 10 cm / 4 inch star-shaped biscuit cutter.
• Prepare a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
• Sift the flour alongwith the sugar in a bowl and add in the butter and work with your fingertips until the mixture is crumbly.
• Add the beaten egg and a teaspoon of cold water and mix again until the mixture forms a ball leaving the sides of the bowl clean.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to about 1/3 cm thickness.
• Cut out the biscuits using a 10 cm star-shaped cutter.
• If you would like to use it as a decoration, using a skewer, make a hole in each one to thread a wire after baking.
• Transfer the biscuits onto the baking tray and bake them in the middle shelf for 15-20 minutes.
• Remove them from the oven and cool them on the tray for 5 minutes before transferring onto a wire rack to let it cool.
• Meanwhile, make the icing sugar glaze by mixing the icing sugar with the cream till smooth.
• When the biscuits are cold enough to handle, brush the top of the biscuits with the glaze to give it a thin coat and leave it on the rack to dry completely.
• If using as a decoration, once completely cool and dried, thread a thin wire through the holes and hang them on the tree. If not, then store in an airtight container.

STAR CONFETTI COOKIES

Steps:

• Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Mix the vanilla and egg with a fork in a small bowl.
• Beat the butter, granulated sugar and confectioners' sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer on low speed until the butter has picked up the sugars, about 30 seconds. (If using a hand mixer, beat about 2 minutes.) Increase the speed to medium and beat until slightly creamy, stopping halfway to scrape the bowl, about 1 minute (about 3 minutes with a hand mixer).
• Reduce the speed to low, slowly add in the egg mixture and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture a heaping cup at a time in 2 additions, stopping a few times to scrape the bowl and beaters. (If using a hand mixer, increase the speed as the dough gets thicker to keep the beaters spinning.) Once all the flour is just incorporated, add the confetti stars, increase the speed to medium (higher with a hand mixer) and beat until the dough is very smooth, about 2 minutes (about 5 minutes with a hand mixer).
• Turn the dough out of the bowl and bring it together. Divide the dough into 2 even pieces, each about 11 ounces. Shape each piece into a 6-inch square and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for at least 3 hours or overnight.
• Position the oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Take the dough pieces out of the refrigerator and let soften until just pliable but still cool and firm, about 15 minutes.
• Dust a piece of parchment with flour. Working quickly, dust one square of the dough with flour and roll it to about 1/4 inch thick. Lift the dough occasionally by sliding a metal spatula or bench scraper underneath to make sure it isn't sticking to the parchment. Cut out 3 1/2-inch star cookies as close together as possible. Cut out the centers of the stars with a 1 1/2-inch cutter. If the dough becomes too soft to cut out, place it in the freezer for 5 minutes to firm back up. Transfer the large and small stars to separate prepared baking sheets, large on one and small on the other, leaving 1 inch between them all. Gather together the scraps and repeat with the remaining dough. When the remaining dough is too small for the large cutter, just cut out small stars. Sprinkle more confetti stars over the top of the cookies and gently press down so they stick. Freeze the cookies on the baking sheets while you repeat with the second dough piece. Freeze the cookies about 10 minutes before baking.
• Bake, rotating the baking sheets from front to back and top to bottom halfway through, until the cookies are light golden brown around the edges and slightly firm when gently pressed, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool completely on the baking sheets on a cooling rack, about 30 minutes.

JAMMY STAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Blitz the butter, flour and a pinch of salt in a food processor until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and blitz again. Add the vanilla and egg yolk and blend until balls of dough have formed. Tip the dough onto a work surface and knead briefly to make a smooth ball. Cut into two equal pieces, pat them into discs, then wrap and chill for at least 30 mins. Line two baking sheets with baking parchment.
• Remove the dough from the fridge 15 mins before you roll it out. Lightly flour your work surface and rolling pin. Unwrap 1 piece of dough and roll it out to the thickness of a 50p coin. Use a 6cm star cutter to stamp out stars (you should get about 15) and transfer to a baking sheet.
• Unwrap and roll out the other piece of dough. Stamp out 15 more stars and transfer to the second baking sheet. Stamp holes from the middle of 15 of the biscuits using the smaller cutter. Cover and chill for 15 mins. Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Bake for 10-15 mins (the stars with a hole need less time), cool for 5 mins, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Meanwhile, make the filling. Whisk the butter, sugar and 50g of the jam with an electric whisk. Transfer to a piping bag with a small round nozzle, or snip off the end to make a ½cm opening. Put the remaining jam in another piping bag and snip off the end to make a slightly smaller hole.
• Pipe blobs of the filling around the edge of each whole biscuit, leaving a space in the centre. Fill the space with jam, then sandwich a biscuit with a hole cut out on top of each one. Will keep in an airtight container for up to three days.

BROWN SUGAR BISCUITS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet, or use parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and cream of tartar. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Mix in milk and vanilla. Knead briefly on a floured surface. Roll out into a large rectangle, 1/2 inch thick. Spread softened butter onto surface of dough. Mix together brown sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle evenly over butter. Roll tightly, and cut into 12 equal slices. Place on prepared baking sheet.
• Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

GRANDMA'S STAR COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream the butter, shortening and sugars until light and fluffy. Add 1 egg at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in orange juice concentrate and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Cover and refrigerate until easy to handle, about 2 hours., On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with a 3-in. star-shaped cookie cutter dipped in flour. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° until edges are firm, 7-8 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool., For frosting, combine the confectioners' sugar, butter, orange juice concentrate, vanilla and enough milk to reach spreading consistency. Tint with food coloring if desired. Frost cookies; decorate as desired.

SUGAR BISCUITS

Steps:

• Brush tops of frozen biscuits with whipping cream; sprinkle evenly with sugar and ground cinnamon.
• Place biscuits on a lightly greased baking sheet.
• Bake at 350° for 20 minutes.
• Cool.

SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Beat the butter and sugar with an electric whisk for 4 mins until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then add the vanilla. Whisk in the cornflour and plain flour until the mixture comes together into a dough. Put the dough between two pieces of baking parchment, and roll out to a 6mm thickness using a rolling pin. Chill for 30 mins.
• Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Peel the top layer of parchment off the dough and stamp out circles using a 6cm round cutter (or the shape of your choice). Re-roll any offcuts and continue stamping out rounds until all the dough is used. Transfer the cookies to a second large baking sheet lined with baking parchment, spacing them 2cm apart (you may need two sheets). Bake for 7-10 mins. Leave to cool on the sheet for 15 mins, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Will keep in an airtight container for one week.

RASPBERRY STAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
• In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg. Combine the flour and salt; stir into the creamed mixture. Dough will be stiff. On a lightly floured surface, roll half of the dough out to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into star shapes using a cookie cutter. Set cookies 1 inch apart onto the prepared cookie sheets. Place a teaspoon of jam onto each cookie and spread out towards the points of the stars. Roll out remaining half of the dough and cut into stars the same size. cut holes in the center of each star, then place them onto the jam stars.
• Bake for 7 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden around the edges. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks. In a small bowl, mix together the confectioners' sugar and almond extract to form a glaze. Add water a teaspoon at a time if the mixture is too thick to drizzle. Drizzle glaze over cooled cookies.

STAR-SHAPED SHORTCAKES

Steps:

• Line a baking sheet with a Silpat (French nonstick baking mat), and set aside. Into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, sift together flour, 6 tablespoons granulated sugar, the baking powder, and salt. Add butter and zest, and mix on low until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about 2 minutes. Combine 1 cup cream with the milk, and add to the mixer bowl. Mix until the dough comes together. Remove dough to a lightly floured surface, and shape into a rectangle about 1/2 inch thick.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Using a 3-inch star-shaped cutter, cut out 12 stars from the dough. Place stars on prepared baking sheet. Brush lightly with heavy cream, and sprinkle with sanding sugar. Bake until the shortcakes are barely brown, about 15 minutes. Transfer shortcakes to a rack to cool.
• Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine berries; sprinkle berries with orange juice and remaining 2 tablespoons granulated sugar. Set aside. In another medium bowl, beat the remaining 2 cups cream with the confectioners' sugar using a hand mixer until soft peaks form. Using a serrated knife, split the cakes in half horizontally. Place each bottom half on a plate, and cover with a dollop of whipped cream; top with berries and another dollop of whipped cream. Cover with top shortcake halves, and serve.