Everyday dinners
Gluten-free Christmas biscuits
Orange and cinnamon Christmas stars with crisp edges and a simple white icing drizzle.
Free guide: thirty gluten-free dinners, with the shopping lists
These Christmas stars have orange zest and cinnamon in the dough, with a little white icing over the top. The recipe makes about 24 biscuits, or 12 servings of two, depending on your cutter.
Roll the dough between sheets of baking paper and chill the cut stars until firm so their points hold their shape. Allow about four hours, including chilling, cooling and setting the icing, with around 40 minutes of hands-on preparation.
The recipe
Gluten-free Christmas biscuits
- Prep
- 210 min
- Cook
- 30 min
- Total*
- 240 min
- Makes
- 12 servings
*Estimated development timings. The 240-minute total is a four-hour planning allowance, including all waits. Preparation accounts for 210 minutes: 40 minutes hands-on, 20 minutes chilling the rolled dough, up to 60 minutes chilling the cut shapes, 30 minutes cooling and up to 60 minutes setting the icing. Cooking accounts for 30 minutes for two consecutive batches. With shorter chilling and icing-setting waits, allow about three hours. Cooling the first batch while the second bakes may shorten the elapsed time. Allow longer than four hours if the dough, biscuits or icing have not reached the checks described in the steps.
Ingredients
Tick things off as you go.
For the biscuits
For the icing
Equipment
- Use digital scales and measuring spoons.
- Use a large mixing bowl, a small icing bowl and a wooden spoon or electric hand mixer.
- Use a fine grater and a citrus juicer.
- Use a rolling pin, baking paper and a star cutter about 6 cm across.
- Use two flat baking trays that fit in your fridge.
- Use a flat spatula, a wire cooling rack and a teaspoon for drizzling.
Let’s make it.
- 01
Prepare the ingredients
Wash your hands and clean the work surface and equipment, removing any flour or crumbs from other baking. Line both trays with baking paper. Finely grate the orange zest without taking the white pith, then squeeze and measure 15 ml juice. Mix the flour, xanthan gum and cinnamon thoroughly until the cinnamon is evenly distributed.
- 02
Mix the dough
Beat the butter and caster sugar briefly until smooth, with no visible butter lumps. Mix in the orange zest and vanilla, then stir in the flour mixture and the measured orange juice. Press together with your hands until there are no loose flour pockets and the dough holds together when squeezed. Do not taste raw dough: gluten-free flour also needs cooking. Wash your hands and clean utensils and surfaces after handling it.
- 03
Roll and chill
Divide the dough in half. Roll each half between sheets of baking paper to an even 5 mm thickness. Slide the sheets onto the trays and refrigerate for 20 minutes. The dough should feel firm enough to peel away from the paper without smearing; if it is still soft or sticky, refrigerate for another 10 minutes and check again.
- 04
Cut the stars
Peel back the upper paper and cut out stars, lifting them with a flat spatula onto the lined trays with 2 cm between them. Press scraps together and roll again to 5 mm; aim for about 24 biscuits. If the dough cracks, let it soften for a few minutes and press the cracks closed. Refrigerate the cut biscuits for at least 30 minutes. Check that they feel firm and that the points keep their shape when a star is gently lifted with the spatula. If they bend, smear or lose their points, chill for another 15 minutes and check again. Allow 30–60 minutes for this chill, and longer if needed: bake only when the shapes are firm. Towards the end of chilling, heat the oven to 180°C / 160°C fan / gas 4.
- 05
Bake the biscuits
Bake one tray at a time on the middle shelf for 12–15 minutes, keeping the second tray refrigerated. The edges and undersides should be pale gold and the tops should look dry and set, without glossy dough in the centre. Allow up to 30 minutes for both batches; continue briefly if these checks are not met.
- 06
Cool completely
Leave each batch on its tray for 10 minutes, until the biscuits are firm enough to move without bending. Transfer carefully to a wire rack and leave for about 20 minutes more. Check that the undersides feel completely cool before icing; leave them longer if any warmth remains.
- 07
Ice the stars
Stir the icing sugar with 10 ml water, then add the remaining water a few drops at a time only as needed. The icing should fall from a spoon in a thick ribbon and hold a visible line on a biscuit. Drizzle over the cooled stars and leave for 30–60 minutes. Before stacking, check that the icing is dry to a light touch; leave it longer if it still feels tacky.
Ingredient checks
Choose a labelled gluten-free plain flour blend, not wheat flour, self-raising flour or a single flour such as coconut flour. Check the xanthan gum, cinnamon, vanilla extract and icing sugar for gluten-free suitability and allergen warnings. Measure the xanthan gum with a level measuring teaspoon. For someone with coeliac disease, use clean trays, cutters, utensils and work surfaces, and avoid butter or sugar contaminated by shared baking utensils.
Allergens: Contains milk from butter.; No other UK declarable allergen is intentionally included in the specified ingredients; check every product label for celery, cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, lupin, molluscs, mustard, tree nuts, peanuts, sesame, soya and sulphites.; A gluten-free flour blend can still contain gluten-free wheat starch, which must be declared as wheat and is unsuitable for someone with a wheat allergy..
Make it work for you
If your gluten-free plain flour blend already contains xanthan gum, omit the separate xanthan gum; different blends may change the dough's firmness, and this alternative has not been kitchen-tested.
Replace the orange zest with the finely grated zest of one washed lemon and use 15 ml lemon juice in place of the orange juice for lemon and cinnamon biscuits.
For a milk-free version, try 150 g firm dairy-free baking block suitable for gluten-free baking; avoid soft tub spreads and check for soya or other allergens. This variation has not been kitchen-tested.
For another day
Once the biscuits are completely cool and the icing has set, keep them in an airtight container in a cool, dry place, with baking paper between layers.
For best texture, eat within three days; the keeping quality of this recipe has not been kitchen-tested.
Keep these biscuits separate from foods containing gluten and use clean hands or utensils when serving.
Exploding food
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The ingredients, seen a little differently. This image is an illustration of the main ingredients; use the written recipe for the full list and quantities.
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