Moreish festive goodies – great for gifts
Preparation time: 20 minutes plus resting time.
Cooking time: 10-20 mins
Makes about 24+
Ingredients
100g cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks
100g plain flour, plus extra for flouring
pinch salt
pinch cayenne pepper
1 heaped tsp mustard powder
50g finely grated mature cheddar
50g finely grated parmesan, or similar vegetarian hard cheese, plus a little extra
1 egg, beaten
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
Place the butter and flour into a bowl of a food processor with the salt, cayenne, mustard powder, and cheeses. Rub the fat into the flour mixture then gradually bring the mixture together to form a dough. Don’t add egg or water. Wrap the dough in cling film and leave to chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Lightly flour a work surface and gently roll out the pastry to about 1cm thick. Cut out the biscuits using festive cutters. Lay them out on a greased baking tray about 2cm apart. You might need two trays.
Brush the surface of each biscuit with the beaten egg and sprinkle over a little finely grated parmesan. Bake for 10 minutes, or until they are golden-brown. They smell heavenly!
Remove from the oven and carefully lift the biscuits off the tray using a palette knife, then place on a rack to cool. They make lovely gifts and will keep well in a sealed container for a few days.