Name: Chocolate Christmas biscuits
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: Makes 50
Cuisine: German
Ingredients: 270g plain flour; 50g cocoa powder; 120g icing sugar; 150g butter; 2 eggs; melted chocolate or piping icing, sugar pearls, sprinkles

Chocolate Christmas biscuits on tray with decoration

270g plain flour
50g cocoa powder
120g icing sugar
150g butter
2 eggs

For decoration

melted chocolate
or piping icing, sugar pearls, sprinkles

Method

step 1
Mix the flour, cocoa, icing sugar and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Rub in the butter and then mix in eggs. Knead quickly with your hands to a smooth dough. Wrap in foil, press into a flat disc and chill for 30 minutes.
step 2
Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Line a couple of baking sheets with baking parchment. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured worksurface to about 3mm thin. Cut out shapes from the dough. Put the biscuits on the baking sheets – it’s best to put similarly sized cookies together. Bake for 7-10 minutes, depending on the size of the biscuits.
step 3
Knead the off-cuts of the dough together and chill again for 15 minutes. Roll, cut and bake as before. Cool completely.
step 4
When cooled, the cookies can be decorated with chocolate or icing and sugar pearls and sprinkles.