Is this doable for an amateur baker? Christmas biscuits (pic included)

[Cackley]

I wouldn’t say I’m a complete newbie when it comes to baking. I probably make choc chip cookies/brownies once a month. Can’t do much more as diabetes runs in my family!

Anyway I was thinking it would be nice to do a tin full of Christmas biscuits. I would make them for myself and also my sister’s family for nieces to enjoy. I think I’m fairly competent.

These biscuits all use the same biscuit recipe so it’s really just a question of decorating (I think).

Do you think this is doable for an amateur-ish baker. I don’t want to over extend myself

I’ve been burned by Pinterest in the past

I bake regularly and have done for around 3 decades.
I would think I could bake a beautiful tin of biscuits, in reality they would never look that good.
It would take hours, I’d end up frustrated, disappointed and cross at myself and embarrassed to hand them out, whilst having to, or it would be a costly waste of ingredients. 😂

Have done the stained glass window type biscuits with kids at Christmas- relatively easy

Oh no. Thats EXACTLY what I had visions of

I think this is a really lovely new tradition to start Cackly , find a nice Christmas tin & go for it! In my opinion homemade isn't about perfect it's about love

Yes that is do able. What you need are good cutters that are Christmas shaped.

The key with baking is accurate measurement of ingredients and knowing your own oven.

The key with homemade gifts is to know that each on is unique in its own way and is made with love.

Go for it.

Very doable. They don't need to be perfect to be lovely!

Have a think about what kind of biscuit you want to do. Sugar cookies hold their shape really well but they go stale quite fast imo. Gingerbread has better longevity but not everyone likes it. A sugar cookie with something like cinnamon or orange zest could be lovely for Christmas.

If you're using jam to sandwich them, do the jam as late as possible as it will soften the biscuits.

Fiddly icing is a pain - if I were you I would totally ditch it and instead do something like star shaped biscuits dipped halfway in chocolate, or jammy dodger style with jam and a star shaped cut out.

I recommend pinwheel choc/plain sables (shortbread) - and you can make other pretty patterns too with your sausage of choc and plain dough ( flowers, checkers). Also Italian macaroons - damn, what are they called…riciarelli. Both recipes dead easy and they look good.

the biscuits are not hard to do, especially if you do double the quantity and only put the best ones in the box.

a home-made box is not always going to look perfect like a shop box, but that is part of the charm.

Very achievable IMO.

I absolutely love all-butter shortbread, and that's not difficult to make at all. Keeps well too if stored in an airtight tin. Any mileage in doing that? (Having said that, I never make it myself - I like the Christmas tins and usually buy one of them to have around over New Year.)

I do gingerbread trees and snowflakes with some lemon icing and edible glitter on the top. It does take time but they do look and taste lovely. Getting yourself some decent piping bottles, mine are semi rigid with like a concertina effect, will help keep you icing neat. These definitely look homemade but my students seem to like them.

I'm a glutton for punishment and I'm usually up to the small hours before the last day of term doing them with sometimes a little help from my teenage children.😂

I bake a lot, I enjoy it. I really like making treats at Christmas, e.g. to bring to someone's house for a cuppa / after dinner.

But I voted YABU, because the amount of effort, time and possibly expense that it will take to make enough biscuits of different flavours and shapes, to make a gift like this, just won't be worth it, and they'll be gone in seconds.

Instead, bake cookies for yourself and guests, or smaller amounts to give to your sister, but not as a gift, per se. You are setting yourself up for lots of work and you'll end up being flustered and stressed.

These are gorgeous!

I do a Christmas cookie box every year but wouldn't do it alone, usually it's a family baking session so you could invite your nieces around to join you in baking and then they can take their festive treats home afterwards. I usually choose 5 cookies and work out who will make which recipes. Some of the dough might need time in the fridge before rolling out so work out the timings, you could pre-make a couple doughs so it just needs to be baked and decorated. Have some hot chocolates and music on!

Go for it, they are definitely doable. Good sharp cutters and a good oven and you'll be fine.

Got to ask @Justonemorecoffeeplease What's a piping bottle? I only ever use bags as they're so easy to control, is a bottle better?

Very doable, made them with a succession of children and they always turn out well.

I don't think a piping bottle would be better than a bag...

Also, chocolate if not tempered can bloom and not look good after a while, unless you use them quickly. Also you could dust in cocoa or icing.

You can freeze dough and biscuits at various stages which can make for much easier time management!

I'd definitely go for it. If you have time and you won't get stressed, it should be enjoyable. You'll learn a lot and be developing skills to achieve effects you're really proud of.

My DH's cultural traditions includes making Christmas biscuits - lots of different types with totally different ingredients and methods. It's lovely but it's a major faff and lots of work. However, it would be a lot less work if you only used one dough. If the dough is one that freezes well you are onto a winner, and can get this done in three phases: 1) make and freeze dough, 2) cut out and bake, 3) decorate.

Unless you have the patience of a saint (or if you do want it to look like in the pic), don't do this with small children. If you want to do with small children, I'd recommend you do step 1 & 2 before getting them involved, except for a small amount of cutting out shapes during step 2. The make or break with biscuits is knowing your oven (e.g. does it bake evenly) and timings - they go from underdone to burnt in a flash!

Give it a go! I love getting a tin of homemade Christmas biscuits, and since it's unusual in the UK, people love receiving them as gifts. We get quite unsubtle hints about whether or not we will be making them again this year!

Just go for it, you can eat any ones that caught a bit in the back of the oven (I always do).

I made some bauble-shaped shortbread last year for a neighbours gathering and they were popular. Any imperfections are usually hidden under a sprinkle of sugar and no one is going to be examining them in detail.

Homemade is so much nicer even with slightly wobbly icing.

@YoureKillingMyPeace I think I'd be the same! One year I made all my friends some flavoured shortbread and made a nice bag and bow, it turned out pretty nice but nothing like that picture above!

You are giving me ideas OP! I might do the same after reading this.

Would it be OK to bake then freeze immediately and defrost before icing? I'm thinking I could give it as a gift but couldn't be baking the day before and they tend to go off quickly.

There’s only one way to find out - make a practice batch. From my own experience (and I mean this as no slight), a mediocre baker can turn out some pretty decent stuff with a good amount of perseverance, patience, and trial and error. If you’re looking to make them as gifts (and subject budget) then have a few practices to work out what you can (and can’t) do, make way more than you need so you can pick the good ones, and pack them into a nice presentation box.

I don’t tend to bake biscuits more American style cookies. But I once made these and added a dollop of jam and they were lovely. Very easy. I was thinking it would be similar but just using different shaped cutters, dipping some in chocolate etc.

I make almost industrial quantities of gingerbread men for my village Christmas fête every year. They aren’t stacked in a presentation box, but they are sufficiently uniform to look good together. I think people want homemade biscuits to have natural variability, so don’t worry about perfection.

Wow that is incredible!