Candy Cane Gingerbread Hearts

Written by documentingmydinner Published on 14th December 2017 in Recipes

A super Christmassy bake, these take a little bit of attention but are fairly easy. The timings are not accurate as all ovens vary greatly, so try not rely on them too much. I’d recommend keeping an eye on these or do what I did for testing and bake one to start with to judge timings. If you don’t have a heart cutter you can make a template to cut out with a knife by cutting out a heart shape on card- I picked mine up from the Range for £1. These would also make really nice tree decorations- simply cut a hole at the top of the circle with a straw when you cut out the heart the second time. Let me know if you try these out- I’d love to see photos of them on your tree!

RECIPE

DIFFICULTY LEVEL: Home Cook

Makes around 10 depending on cutter size

You will need: greaseproof paper and a small heart cutter.

INGREDIENTS

75g brown sugar
3 tablespoons of stem ginger syrup (from the jar- or use golden syrup)
Teaspoon each of ground ginger and ground cinnamon
90g butter
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
225g plain flour
2/3 candy canes

METHOD

Melt together the sugar, syrup, spices and butter gently.
Take the pan off the heat and stir in the bicarbonate of soda. Gradually add the flour until it is a thick dough.
Wrap the dough in cling film and put in the fridge for around 30 minutes- 1 hour.
Heat the oven to 180C. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
Roll the dough out to the thickness of two pound coins. Cut out circles in the dough and then a heart in the middle of each circle. Place on the baking tray and bake for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, crush up the candy canes into small pieces.
After 5 minutes, remove the biscuits. They will have spread and so use the heart cutter to re-cut the heart shape in each circle. Fill the heart carefully with the crushed candy cane pieces.
Bake for a further 5-6 minutes until the biscuits are golden brown and the candy cane centres have melted.