Sparkly Christmas Biscuits

Lorna Rhodes has teamed up with Lyle’s Golden Syrup - Britain's favourite - to help you impress family and friends with bite-size Xmas treats like these gorgeous Sparkly Biscuits.

1. 1

   
   Makes approx 25
   
   Cooking time: 15 -20 minutes
   
   1. Put the Lyle’s Golden Syrup into a small pan with the butter, sugar and orange zest. Put over a low heat and stir until the butter has melted, remove from the heat and allow to cool.
   2. Sieve the flour with the spices into a large bowl, stir in the ground almonds. Add the butter mixture and egg and mix until the dough comes together. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface. Wrap in cling film and chill for 30 minutes.
   3. Pre-heat the oven to 180C/160Cfan/gas 4, grease two baking sheets.
   4. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of 5mm and cut out stars or Christmas shapes as wished. Lift them onto the baking sheets with a fish slice or large palette knife. Gather up the scraps of dough, knead again and reroll and cut out as many shapes as possible. Bake for 15 minutes until just turning brown at the edges.
   5. Remove the cooked biscuits from the oven, while they are still warm, take a plastic straw and make holes in them so a ribbon can be threaded through to hang on the Christmas tree. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.
   6. To decorate, put the icing sugar in a bowl and add the orange juice to make a thick icing. Either drizzle over the cookies or spoon into a piping bag fitted with a small plain nozzle and pipe dots or outline the edge. Add silver balls or sprinkles as wished.