Serves 4
Ingredients:
For the tree:
- Staffords Cinnamon sugar shaker
- 2 rolls store-bought puff pastry
For the cookies:
- 2 cups flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 170g butter, softened
- 200g sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ tsp vanilla
- Staffords Cinnamon sugar shaker
Method:
- Preheat oven to 180˚C.
For the cookies: - Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl.
- Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl until pale and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla until smooth. Add flour mixture and mix until just combined.
- Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 2 hour.
- Once dough is chilled roll out into ½ cm sheet and using a star cookie cutter, cut out shapes and place on a lined and greased baking sheet. Brush the tops of the cookies with a small amount of melted butter and sprinkle very generously with Staffords Cinnamon Sugar.
- Bake the cookies at 180˚C for 12 to 15 min or until the edges begin to brown. Remove from oven and transfer onto a cooling rack.
For the tree: - On a lined baking tray spread out one roll of puff pastry. Generously sprinkle Staffords Cinnamon Sugar in a generally tree shaped area. Roll out the second piece of puff pastry and place it over the first piece of puff pastry. Press down gently to bond the two pieces. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for one hour.
- Once the puff pastry is chilled return the tray to your working surface (do not remove from the lined tray). Cut out your tree shape with special attention to the trunk which should be wider at the bottom than the top. Cut the sides of the tree to form branches every 2 cm, with a 1 cm gap between each branch. Remove the 1cm wide gaps to allow the puff pastry to expand slightly. Do not cut all the way to the top, allow 2-3 cm of flat pastry at the top. Twist each branch as many times as you can, this will depend on the length of each branch.
- Brush the “trunk” of the tree, those areas which are not twisted with melted butter and sprinkled those areas with Staffords Cinnamon Sugar.
- Bake the tree at 220˚C for about 20-25 minutes or until the pastry has fully “puffed” and turns golden brown.
- Once baked remove from oven and serve with star cookies placed as baubles along the branches and top of the tree.