What You Need:
- 350 g/12 oz – plain flour
- 1 tsp – baking soda
- 2 tsp – ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp – salt (half)
- 100 g/4 oz – butter
- 175 g/6 oz – soft brown sugar
- 1 – egg
- 4 tbsp – maple syrup
- different coloured hard candies (Jolly Ranchers or suckers)
- narrow ribbon
- holiday cookie cutter shapes (such as stars, bells, reindeer, etc.)
How to Make Cookies:
- Pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
- In a bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, ginger and salt.
- Cut in the butter until the mixture is crumbly. Stir in the sugar.
- In a separate bowl, beat together the egg and maple syrup. Then, add to flour mixture and mix together to form smooth dough, kneading lightly with your hands.
- On a flat surface, crush the candies in their wrappers using a rolling pin. Remove wrappers.
- Sprinkle flour on a clean work surface and roll out the dough until about ½ cm (1/4 in) thick.
- Cut out different holiday shapes from the dough and transfer to baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
- Cut out shapes in the centre of each cookie, making sure you leave a good edge all around the cookie. Completely fill that space in each cookie with the crushed candy.
- Make a hole at the top of each cookie using a drinking straw (so you will be able to thread a ribbon through it later).
- Bake cookies for 11-12 minutes until golden (the crushed candy will melt and harden giving a transparent, stained glass look).
- Cool cookies, thread a ribbon through each one to make a hanger, and hang on your tree.
Makes 25 cookies.And there you have it – 3 days of homemade decorations!
