Recipes from Granny’s Cookbook: December

Most of my recipes come from an old scrap- book which belonged to my great grandmother and begun
by her when she was a bride. I am told that some date from a much earlier time and were gathered
from other family members by this interesting lady. This recipe is however a more recent one, and since
it is almost Christmas, it has children very much in mind.

Stained Glass Window Biscuits

Makes about 20 cookies

350g/120z Plain flour (Plus a little extra for dusting)

Pinch of salt
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
100g/3 1/2 oz caster sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 tbsp golden syrup
50 assorted coloured boiled sweets (about 250g/ 90z chopped - I find a cutlet bat and a plastic bag
works best!)

1: Sift the flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda into a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and rub it in until
the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Place the egg, golden syrup and vanilla extract into a separate
bowl and mix together. Pour the egg mixture into the flour etc., and mix to form a smooth dough. Wrap
in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. Now is a good time to bash the sweeties!

2: Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line two large baking sheets with non-stick baking paper. Roll out
the dough on a floured work surface to 5mm or a quarter-inch thick. Using a floured pastry cutter shape
the cookies and transfer them to the baking sheet, then using the smaller cutter remove the centre of
each cookie.

3: Fill the holes with the chopped sweets then, using a skewer make a hole at the top of each cookie.

4 Bake in the pre-heated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the sweets have melted. Make sure the holes
are still there and re pierce while the cookies are hot. Leave to cool on the baking sheets until the
centres have hardened. When cold thread thin ribbon through the holes to hang the cookies.

These biscuits look lovely when hung on the Christmas tree, the bright, glossy colours catch the light and
look quite magical. When I made these for a children’s Christmas party, many years ago, I hung them
from a home- made twig tree which made a splendid centre piece for the party table. I hope you enjoy
making these unusual biscuits as much as I did, I used to find that involving little ones in the preparation
was a great cure for Christmasitis!

A Merry Christmas and a Happy and Peaceful New Year from “Granny Nora!”.