With Christmas coming, it can be hard to keep children away from all the sweet treats. These little biscuits a refine sugar-free shortbread for kids and do the trick in our house! Suitable for babies just getting into finger food and for toddlers and older children as an alternative to sugary treats.
For older kids you can serve them with a slice of cheese – camembert or brie is especially delicious.
It’s also great to have them help with Christmas baking. They love to help cut the dough into star shapes and decorate with currants and pine nuts or whatever you fancy. Enjoy!
Spelt and Maple Stars
Makes about 30
100g wholemeal spelt flour
100g plain white spelt flour
½ tsp baking powder
70g cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon( or as much as needed) of cold water
Preheat oven to 180 C and line a baking tray with non-stick paper. You may need two.
Sift the flours and baking powder together. Add the butter and rub in with your fingertips or blitz in the food processor until it looks like fine breadcrumbs and is completely incorporated. Mix in maple syrup and water to make a fairly soft, pastry-like dough.
Tip the dough onto a lighly floured surface and knead briefly, just enough to bring it together into a smooth lump.
Roll out to a 2 – 3mm thickness and cut into stars or other shapes as you like. Decorate with pine nuts, cranberries and currants.
Place on baking trays and bake for 15 mins until just starting to color.
Leave them on the tray for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool. These can be stored in an airtight container for a couple of days, but are also great to freeze and defrost in minutes.
Enjoy!