Ingredients:
For the Iced Christmas Trees dough:
1) Plain flour - 3 1/4 cups (14 oz./392 g).
2) Butter - 3/4 cup (7 oz./168 g), chopped.
3) Icing sugar - 3/4 cup (3 1/2 oz./75 g).
4) Egg - 1.
5) Egg yolk of 1 large egg.
6) Salt - A pinch.
7) Cream - 2 tsp.
8) Sugar sprinkles, candied cherries and blanched almonds (for decoration).
Instructions:
1) Use baking parchment to line two baking sheets.
2) Pour flour onto a working surface. Sift and make a hollow in its centre.
3) Pour the butter, icing sugar, whole egg and salt into the hollow.
4) Beginning at the center, knead the mixture into a smooth dough.
5) Roll the dough into a ball. Enclose it in plastic and keep in freezer for about half-an-hour.
6) Turn up the oven temperature to 400 degree Fahrenheit (Gas Mark 6).
7) Spread out the dough to a 1/2" thick layer.
8) Cut out 50 cookies from the dough using cookie cutters.
9) Lay the cookie shapes 1" apart on the sheets.
10) Use the combined egg yolk and cream to brush the cookies.
11) Sprinkle sugar granules or chopped glace cherries on top of the cookies.
12) Bake the shortbread, one sheet at a time, for about 15 mins or until golden.