Ingredients: 100g of plain flour (3.5oz) ½ Quarter of teaspoon of salt 1 teaspoon of baking powder 1 small egg 75 g (2.5oz) butter 100 g (3.5oz) caster sugar 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder ½ teaspoon of vanilla essence ½ orange & ½ lemon Green and brown food coloring 3 to 4 teaspoons of icing sugar Water (room temperature)
Cooking instructions: 1. Weigh the butter and leave it for about an hour to soften. Sift the flour, salt and baking powder into a bowl. 2. Break the egg into a cup. Beat it briskly so that the yolk and the white are mixed well together. 3. Put the butter and sugar into another bowl and beat them until they are creamy. Stir in the egg and vanilla essence. 4. Grate the skin, or zest, off the orange and lemon using the medium holes on your grater. Stir it into the creamy mixture. 5. Add the flour and stir it until you get a smooth dough. If the dough feels very soft, put it into your fridge for an hour to harden it a bit. 6. Put a long piece of foil onto your work surface and scrape the dough onto it. Roll the dough to make a long sausage shape. 7. Wrap the foil around the dough and put it in your fridge for about an hour, until it becomes firm. Turn on your oven. 8. Take the dough out of the fridge and cut it into very thin slices. You don't need to use all the dough at one time. 9. Spread out the slices of dough on a non-stick baking sheet. Bake them for about seven minutes, until they are golden. 10. Leave the cookies on the baking sheet for a minute. Use a fish slice to slide them onto a wire rack to cool. 11. Mix 2 teaspoons of icing sugar, few drops of GREEN food coloring and water in a bowl. Keep adding water till the icing slips out of the spoon easily. 12. Mix 2 teaspoons of icing sugar, few drops of BROWN food coloring and water in another bowl. Keep adding water till the icing slips out of the spoon easily. 13. Fill the piping bag or spoon with the icing to draw the shape of a tree on the cookies. Use the green icing to draw and color in the top bit of the tree. Use the brown icing to draw and color the trunk of the tree. 14. Leave it to dry and serve the cookies with refreshing Tea/Coffee/Hot Chocolate or Juice. Note: Any leftover dough can be wrapped in a foil and store in a fridge for about ten days.