Ingredients

• 100g/3½oz unsalted butter
• softened
• 60g/2¼oz soft brown muscovado sugar
• 1 free-range egg
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 275g/9¾oz plain flour
• plus extra for dusting
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tbsp finely chopped candied peel
• halved blanched almonds
• to decorate

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
• Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl until pale
• light and fluffy. Crack in the egg and add the vanilla extract
• then beat again.
• Mix in the flour
• cinnamon and candied peel until the mixture comes together as a dough.
• Roll the dough out on a lightly floured work surface to a thickness of 1cm/½in.
• Using biscuit cutters or a glass
• cut biscuits out of the dough and carefully place onto the baking tray. Decorate with the almond halves. To make into Christmas tree decorations
• carefully make a hole in the top of the biscuit using a straw.
• Bake the biscuits for 8-10 minutes until deep golden-brown. Set aside to harden for 5 minutes
• then cool on a wire rack.