Gingerbread Xmas Trees

These gingerbread Christmas trees are both fun and easy to make, and, what's more, the kids will love them!
Hang them as part of decorations on your Xmas tree or give them away to friends and family as gifts :)

You can use any shaped cookie cutter you like to make these gingerbread cookies.

Makes 20

Ingredients

125g butter, at room temperature
½ cup (firmly packed) brown sugar
½ cup golden syrup
1 egg, separated
2¼ cups plain flour
1 tbs ground ginger
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Plain flour, to dust
1 cup pure icing sugar, sifted
20 drops red liquid food colouring (adjust as required)
10 drops green liquid food colouring (adjust as required)
Smarties, to decorate

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 2 large baking trays.
2. Use an electric beater to beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl until pale and creamy. Add the golden syrup and egg yolk and beat until combined. Sift over the flour, ginger, mixed spice and soda then use a large spoon to fold and combine. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Press dough into a disc. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.
3. Meanwhile, place egg white in a clean, dry bowl. Use an electric beater to beat together the icing sugar and egg white until stiff peaks form. Divide icing among 2 bowls (3:1 ratio). Add green colouring to the bowl with more icing and stir until combined. Add red colouring to remaining bowl and stir until combined. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge.
4. After 30 minutes, bring dough to room temperature, then divide in two. Place the dough between 2 sheets of baking paper and roll out until about 4mm thick. Use a Xmas tree cutter to cut out shapes. Place on trays about 3cm apart to allow for spreading. Repeat with any excess dough.
5. Bake in oven for 7 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven. Transfer to a rack to cool. If you're making these as part of Christmas decorations, use a skewer to quickly make 5mm holes at the top of the warm biscuits to thread ribbon.
6. When biscuits have cooled completely, place prepared icings in small plastic/snap-lock bags or disposable piping bags, pushing icing into a corner, then cut a small hole in a corner of each bag. Pipe icing over gingerbread trees to decorate. Finish with Smarties. Thread ribbon in holes if using as Xmas decoration.
7. The biscuits will keep in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Decorating Tips

Allow biscuits to cool completely prior to decorating.

When you fill the bag with icing, use a spatula and be sure to fill it only halfway. It may help to fold the bag over a few times before filling it. Next, twist the end of the bag, removing any air bubbles and forcing the icing toward the tip. For most techniques, you’ll be holding the bag at a 45 or 90 degree angle. Your dominant hand exerts the pressure while your other hand simply guides the bag’s path on the biscuit.

If you accidentally over-bake your gingerbread cookies, place them in a sealed container layered with some fresh bread for a few hours to overnight (depends how hard your gingerbread are). The cookies will draw moisture from the bread making it nice and soft again. This trick also works if you have hard sugar.