Sweet Tree Decorations

Ingredients

• 200 g Whole Wheat Flour
• 200 g spelt flour (Type 630)
• 100 g ground hazelnuts
• 125 g raw cane sugar
• 0.5 tsp Weinstein baking powder
• 160 g margarine
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Egg white
• 125 g powdered sugar
• 2 tsp cocoa powder (optional)
• 50 g dried fruit (e.g., mango, raisins, cranberries)
• 50 g almonds and seeds (e.g., sunflower, pine, pistachio)

Instructions

1. 1.

   Add both flours, nuts, sugar, baking powder, margarine, and 2 eggs to a large mixing bowl. Knead with the dough hooks of an electric mixer into a crumbly dough.

2. 2.

   Dust the work surface with flour, place the dough on it, and quickly knead into a shortcrust pastry with as cool hands as possible.

3. 3.

   Shape the dough into a ball, flatten slightly, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

4. 4.

   Roll out the dough to about 5 mm thickness on a floured surface using a rolling pin. Cut out cookies in desired shapes with cookie cutters.

5. 5.

   Poke a small hole in each cookie with a toothpick or wooden stick so that a string can be threaded later through it. (If you do not want the cookies as tree decorations, you may bake them without holes.)

6. 6.

   Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and arrange the cookies on it. Bake in a preheated oven at 175 °C (160 °C fan, gas level 2) for about 8–10 minutes. Continue until all dough is used and all cookies are baked. Remove and let cool completely on a wire rack.

7. 7.

   Separate the remaining egg yolk from the white, place the white in a tall bowl, and beat with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form, gradually adding powdered sugar.

8. 8.

   If desired, tint half of the icing with cocoa powder. Finely dice larger dried fruit.

9. 9.

   Spread the icing over the cookies. Decorate with almonds, seeds, and dried fruit as desired. Let dry completely. Then, if desired, thread thin ribbon strips through the holes.