Spooky Pumpkin Spice Shortbread
Perfect way to start midterm break and just in time for Halloween! Decorating these cookies is fun for kids and adults alike. Even I had a great time decorating these cookies for my little cousins as a midterm break treat. So get baking and make your own pumpkin spice shortbread to decorate and enjoy over a cup of coffee!
Pumpkin Spice mix:
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
2 tsp Ground Ginger
1 tsp Ground Nutmeg
1 tsp Ground Cloves
Method:
Mix everything together and keep in an airtight container. Store out of direct sunlight.
Pumpkin Spice Shortbread
Temperature: 170°C Fan
Cooking Time: 12 -15 minutes depending on size of biscuit
Preparation Time: 5 Minutes
Chilling Time: 50 Minutes
Yield: Approx. 30 Biscuits
Ingredients:
375g Gluten Free Plain Flour (Dove's)
7g Xanthan Gum
3 tsp of Pumpkin Spice mix
2g Salt
90g Caster Sugar
250g Cold Salted Butter, diced
1 Whole Egg (70g)
Method:
In a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, mix together all the dry ingredients to evenly disperse the sugar & xanthan gum.
Add the cold diced butter and continue mixing with the paddle attachment until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Add the egg and mix until the dough just comes together. You can't overwork this dough because there is no gluten to develop or overwork.
Roll the dough out between two sheets of baking parchment using two rulers as levels. Chill for 30 minutes.
Preheat fan oven to 170°C.
Put the cut out shapes on the baking tray lined with baking parchment or a reusable silicone mat. Chill for another 10 minutes.
Bake for 10-15 minutes. Cooking time will vary depending on the size of the shortbread. The shortbread should be evenly risen and firm to the touch.
Let cool on the baking tray. Store in an airtight container if not decorating straight away. If decorating right away, just wait until cool. Biscuits will keep for 4-5 days.
Note: If you are not a coeliac or avoiding gluten, this recipe works perfectly with normal flour!
Icing:
250g Icing Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
4-5 tbsp Milk
Gel Food Colouring
(Really important to use gel food colouring. Gel food colouring is much more concentrated and less likely to affect the consistency of the icing than liquid food colouring.)
Method:
Sieve the icing sugar though a fine sieve. Add the vanilla essence and 2 tbsp of milk, whisk together until combined. If it
After the addition of every tbsp of milk, check the consistency. The desired consistency is on that is thick but drops off a spoon when it is tilted.
Divide icing into 4-5 bowls, use a tooth pick to add in few dots of colour. (The Icing will white so no need to add white colouring for ghosts. I made green, black, orange and white icing for decorating these.)
Use piping bags to pipe an icing outline of the shape you want to use to decorate. Once the outline has dried slightly, add a teaspoon of icing to the centre of the outline and use a tooth pick to fill in the all the edges with the icing.
Example: Pipe an orange outline and then pipe a green outline for the stem. Fill the outline with orange icing, leave the icing to firm up before piping black eyes and mouth for jack O' lantern pumpkins.
Happy Halloween!