A Christmas Cookie Recipe from the National Trust

We all know that Christmas is a time for sharing. The National Trust is cooking up some holiday spirit with a simple and tasty Christmas recipe, they will also help give your treat the “National Trust” look.

Ingredients For Your Christmas Cookie Recipe.

225g self-raising flour
115g brown sugar
115g butter
25g cocoa powder
Grated zest of 1 orange
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1 egg, lightly beaten
1-2 tablespoons of milk.

For decoration you will need:

250g white ready to roll icing
250g purple ready to roll icing
Boiled apricot jam
Cooled boiled water.

You can substitute other colours if you'd like. Be sure to get an oak leaf and acorn cookie cutter set. This Christmas cookie recipe will make a batch of 25 cookies.

Baking Your Christmas Cookies

Before you begin combining all the ingrediants from this Christmas cookie recipe, preheat your oven to 180oC/350oF.

1. Mix your flour, cocoa powder, ginger and mixed spice and sift into a bowl.
2. Add your sugar, then cube your butter and add it to the mix
3. Roll your sleeves up and rub the mix together until it resembles breadcrumbs
4. Add the orange zest, beaten egg and milk then combine until the mix becomes a firm dough. Wrap in cling film and pop in the fridge for 20-30 minutes
5. Dust your work surface with some flour and roll out the dough to a depth of about 5mm
6. Take a round biscuit cutter and press out your cookies
7. Place the cookies on a sheet of non-stick baking paper on a baking tray leaving adequate space between them
8. Bake for 12-15 minutes and then leave to cool

Decorating Your Christmas Cookies

1. Dust your work surface with icing sugar
2. Knead your white ready to roll icing until it’s pliable and soft
3. Roll it out to a depth of about 2mm
4. Take the same circle cutter you used to cut your cookies out and press out one for each cookie
5. Brush the surface of each cookie with boiled apricot jam and fix the white discs of icing in place
6. If necessary re-dust your work surface and then knead your purple ready to roll icing
7. Roll your purple icing out to a depth of about 2mm
8. Take your oak leaf and acorn cutters and press out the shapes
9. Add some cooled boiled water to the back of each shape and then fix to the white icing

To give this Christmas cookie recipe a National Trust look, add the logo using the oak leaf and acorns.

It's a simple and tasty treat to whip up on a cold afternoon. Enjoy the season and enjoy the cookies.

Do you have a special Christmas cookie recipe you'd like to share? Let the National Trust know on Twitter and/or Facebook.

Until next time,

Jada x