Ingredients
Giant father christmas cookies
Royal icing
Method
Giant father christmas cookies
1.Have butter and egg at room temperature.
2.Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan forced). Line two oven trays with baking paper.
3.Beat butter, egg and sugar in small bowl with electric mixer until combined, stir in sifted flour, in two batches. Enclose dough in plastic wrap, refrigerate 30 minutes.
4.Roll dough between sheets of baking paper until 5mm (¼-inch) thick, refrigerate 15 minutes.
5.Using picture as a guide, cut out six father christmas shapes from dough, re-rolling scraps as necessary. Place shapes about 2.5cm (1-inch) apart on trays. Press currants onto cookies for eyes. Bake about 15 minutes. Cool on trays.
6.To make royal icing. Beat egg white in small bowl with electric mixer until just broken up. Gradually beat in sifted sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. Beat in 1 teaspoon of the lemon juice. Keep surface of icing covered and airtight with plastic wrap and a damp cloth.
7.Half-fill a piping bag fitted with a small plain tube with royal icing. Using picture as a guide, pipe icing in an unbroken line to outline the white parts of the hat and pompom, stand until icing has dried. Secure tic tacs to faces with a little royal icing to make eyebrows.
8.Spread a thin layer of the icing over one cookie to make a beard, press some of the coconut onto the icing before it dries. Repeat with remaining cookies.
9.Stir enough of the remaining lemon juice into icing to make it the consistency of pouring cream. Carefully spoon or pipe the icing onto the hat for white fur and pompom, stand several hours or until icing is dry.
10.Colour remaining icing red, pipe or spoon onto hats, stand until dry
11.Use writing gel to make noses on the cookies.
If you don’t have a piping bag and icing tube, you can use a small strong plastic bag instead. Spoon the icing into a corner of the bag, twist the bag to close it. Snip the corner from the bag, then use it to pipe the icing.
Note
