"stained glass" star biscuits

Um.. a slightly late Christmas biscuit posting. These use the recipe for Laura's shortbread, with the addition of crushed boiled lollies.


They can be any shape, of course, limited only by what biscuit cutters you have access to. In previous years I've made them heart-shaped with a circular cut-out (using the end of a large icing tube to make the circle). The biscuits are best placed on non-stick baking paper before doing the 'cut-out' (as above) as they become very fragile.


The boiled lollies are crushed in a mortar and pestle, though really the pieces just need to be small enough to fit in the cut-out. Our lollies are ground into a fine powder as biscuit making is now a mother and daughter activity, and the assistant cook delights in smashing ingredients to a powder. This can be a little messy (fragments of lolly flying everywhere so it gets done outside, allowing the ants to get a treat.

As a side note, I found it very productive to give Hannah about a quarter of the dough to make her own biscuits - . Her's were Christmas trees decorated as traffic lights (three circular cut-outs). This keeps both of us happy (my desire for the perfect biscuit and her need for creativity).