Hi Lorraine here, well its time to start thinking about making the Christmas biscuits so I have put 3 recipes which I hope you all like.

Linzer Eyes

600g  Flour (plain)
220g Sugar
2 packets vanilla sugar (16 grams)
4 egg yolks
400g butter

Redcurrant jelly
Icing sugar

Sieve the flour onto the working surface, add the sugar,vanilla sugar egg yolks( mix with a small amount of the flour).Add the cold butter and knead it all to a smooth dough.Cool in the fridge for 1/2 an hour.Roll out and using cookie cutters for linzer eyes cut the same number of bases as tops.(tops have 3 holes,but you can also use cutters with just 1 hole).
Bake in the middle of the oven for 10-12 minutes.
Electric -180°
Gas  mark  2-3

When cool spread the recurrent jelly on the bases(without holes).Cover the tops with sieved icing sugar and then put them together.



Walnut biscuits

250g  Flour (self raising)
140g Butter
80g   Sugar
1/2 packet vanilla sugar(4 grams)
50g ground walnuts
1 egg
Zest from 1 lemon
1 pinch of cinnamon
1 tsp rum

35 walnut halves
1 dsp icing sugar
1/2 packet vanilla sugar

80g icing sugar
1/2 egg white
lemon juice

raspberry jam

Make a dough out of the flour, butter, sugar, vanilla sugar, ground walnuts, egg,lemon zest,cinnamon and rum.Place in the fridge to rest for 1/2 an hour. Roll out about 4 mm thick and cut out using plain round cookie cutters (ca 5 cm).
Bake for about 10 minutes at 170° (look pale).
When cool set them together in pairs using the raspberry jam.
With the icing sugar egg white and lemon juice make a thick icing and cover the tops of the biscuits.
Shake icing sugar and vanilla sugar mixture onto the walnut halves and set onto the biscuits before the icing sets.


Lebkuchen Biscuits

600g Rye flour
2 tsp baking powder
350g icing sugar
Lebkuchen spices  --- all ground  -- 35 g cinnamon,
                                                          9 g   cloves
                                                          2 g   allspice
                                                          1 g nutmeg
                                                          2 g coriander
                                                          2 g cardammon
                                                          2 g ginger
                                                          1 g mace
5  eggs
160g honey

To Decorate
1 egg
Nuts -- skinned almonds,hazelnuts etc
Candied fruit, glace cherries
Icing

Mix everything together except the honey.Add the honey and knead into a thick dough.
Roll out to about 4 mm and using various cookie cutters cut out different shapes (e.g. stars,hearts, santa's angels etc)
Put them on the baking tray and using a pastry brush baste with the beaten egg.
Decorate as wished--eg cherry in the middle, nuts pointing out star shaped.
                                       icing decoration after baking :-)

Bake for 20-25 minutes
 Electric  150°
Gas    mark  1

Lebkuchen biscuits are often hard to begin with but soften up after a week or 2, if not, a slice of apple in the biscuit tin helps ( I have never needed to do that though)

Have fun baking, I always put Christmas music on and light a candle when I am making Christmas biscuits, just makes a nice atmosphere :-)