Chocolate Shortbread Trees

Kids will love making and decorating these. And eating them, too!

Hands-on time 45min, plus chilling, cooling and setting. Cooking time about 20min. Makes 8 trees

FOR THE BISCUITS 250g (9oz) unsalted butter, chilled and chopped 150g (5oz) caster sugar 400g (14oz) plain flour, plus extra to dust 4tbsp cocoa powder TO DECORATE 150g (5oz) white chocolate 25g (1oz) pistachios, roughly chopped

1 Whizz biscuit ingredients in a food processor until mixture starts to clump together. Tip on to a lightly floured work surface and knead to make a smooth dough. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for 1hr.

2 Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan) mark 4 and line 2 large baking sheets with baking parchment. Roll out dough on a lightly floured work surface to 7.5mm (⅓in) thick. Stamp out 16 x 7.5cm (3in) stars, 16 x 6.5cm (2½in)

stars and 16 x 4cm (1½in) stars, re-rolling trimmings as needed. Arrange on prepared sheets (they don’t spread much); bake for 10-12min, or until sandy to the touch (they will firm on cooling). Leave to cool completely on sheets.

3 Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. To assemble the trees, using melted chocolate as glue, stick together 2 large stars, misaligning the points. Next stick on 2 medium stars in a similar fashion, followed by 2 small stars to make a star tree. Repeat with remaining stars to make 8 trees. Drizzle over remaining white chocolate and sprinkle over pistachios. Leave to set before wrapping in cellophane. PER TREE (AVERAGE) 639cals, 9g protein, 36g fat (21g saturates), 69g carbs (30g total sugars), 3g fibre TO STORE Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.