Spiced Christmas Biscuits

5 from 1 vote

Subtly spiced Christmas biscuits with ground mixed nuts and a hint of lemon. The icing sugar in the biscuit dough and the dusting gives the biscuits an incredibly moreish melt-in-the-mouth texture.

Prep Time30

Cook Time20

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American, British

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings: biscuits

Calories: 117kcal

Author: Helen

Equipment

Ingredients

For the biscuit dough:

100 g unsalted butter at room temperature
75 g icing sugar(confectioners sugar) or 2.5 oz or ½ cups - sieved
100 g ground mixed nuts (Note 1)
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp cocoa powder sieved
½ unwaxed lemon (zest) finely grated
2 small drops Vanilla essence optional
150 g plain flour (all-purpose)

For dusting:

30 g icing sugar (confectioners sugar) sieved
¼ tsp vanilla sugar (Note 2)

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 160°C or 320°F.
Cream together the butter and icing sugar using an electric whisk or stand mixer (Note 3)
Incorporate the ground nuts, cinnamon, cloves, cocoa powder and lemon zest into the mixture and add vanilla essence if using.
Add the flour to the bowl and mix until a dough is formed.
Lightly dust a clean surface with flour and roll out the biscuit dough until approx 7mm thick.
Cut the dough into festive shapes (stars, Christmas trees or snowflakes) and place onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat. (Note 4)
Roll the remaining scraps of dough into a ball, roll out and cut into shapes. Repeat this process until all dough has been cut into biscuits.
Bake the biscuits in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes until slightly golden. (Note 5)
Remove the biscuits from the oven when they are ready and gently place on a wire rack to cool
Prepare the dusting mixture by combining icing sugar and vanilla sugar.
When the biscuits are cool, place each one into the bowl of vanilla icing sugar until covered and gently dust off the excess.
Store the biscuits in an airtight tin if you are not eating them straight away.

Notes

Mixed nuts: A ground mixture of any of the following nuts is fine. (almonds, pistachios, cashews, hazelnuts)
Vanilla icing sugar: Leave a vanilla pod in a jar of icing sugar for a few days as an alternative to using vanilla sugar. This is ideal if you are making a large batch.
Mixing the ingredients: You can be mixed by hand if you do not have an electric mixer.
Removing the biscuits from the surface: I recommend using a slotted turner to gently remove the biscuits from the surface, especially if they have become slightly stuck under the weight of the rolling pin.
Checking doneness: If in doubt, gently touch a biscuit with your finger. If this leaves a mark you need to bake the biscuits for a little longer. If it doesn't leave a mark your biscuits are done.

Nutrition