These easy Christmas star biscuits are brightened with fresh clementine zest and warming cinnamon. Topped with a simple white icing and festive sprinkles, they’re a kid-friendly festive bake and an ideal homemade gift for teachers, friends, or neighbours.
This recipe is straightforward and fun to make. Children enjoy cutting out and decorating the stars, which makes it a lovely activity for rainy days in the weeks leading up to Christmas.
The recipe yields roughly 50 Christmas biscuits, depending on the size of your cutters. If you need more, the ingredients scale up easily.
✔️ Why you’ll love this recipe!
- Simple biscuit dough that’s easy to handle.
- Quick to prepare and bake.
- Perfect for homemade gifts and bake sales.
- Uses basic storecupboard ingredients.
- Festive flavours: clementine zest and spiced cinnamon.
🛒 Ingredient notes
Butter — unsalted, softened to room temperature so it creams easily.
Sugar — golden caster sugar adds a gentle caramel note, but white caster sugar works too.
Egg — one large egg at room temperature helps bind the dough.
Flour — plain (all-purpose) flour; wholemeal plain flour can be used for a nuttier flavour.
Cinnamon — two teaspoons of ground cinnamon. For a different warm profile, use mixed spice or ginger.
Clementine zest — zest from one clementine, or from a small orange, gives a bright citrus lift.
For the icing you’ll need icing (powdered) sugar, boiling water to loosen it, and Christmas sprinkles to decorate.
🔪 How to make easy Christmas biscuits
The full recipe card with quantities and step-by-step instructions is below.
1. In a large bowl, cream the softened butter and sugar together with a wooden spoon until pale and fluffy.
2. Beat in the egg until combined.
3. Fold in the flour, cinnamon and clementine zest until the mixture forms a dough.
4. Bring the dough together with your hands and shape it into a smooth ball.
5. Divide the dough in two, flatten each portion into a disc, wrap in cling film and chill for 30 minutes.
6. Lightly flour your work surface and rolling pin, then roll each chilled disc to about 2.5mm thickness. Tip: rolling the dough beneath a sheet of cling film can make this easier.
7. Use star-shaped or other festive cutters to stamp out biscuits. Place them on lined baking trays and bake for 10–14 minutes at 180°C (160°C fan / 350°F / Gas 4), until the edges are lightly golden. Cool on the trays for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
8. For the icing, sift the icing sugar and whisk in boiling water a little at a time until you reach a spreadable consistency. Spoon or spread the icing over the cooled biscuits and finish with Christmas sprinkles. Leave to set for about an hour before serving or packing.
Top Tips
- Try different cookie cutter shapes for variety.
- Keep one disc of dough chilled in the fridge for unexpected guests or last-minute baking.
- For simpler biscuits, omit the icing and enjoy them plain.
🍴 Serving suggestions
These star biscuits make thoughtful homemade gifts when wrapped in a tin or box. They’re also perfect for bake sales, a festive afternoon tea, or as part of a holiday cookie platter.
📖 Variations
- Swap the clementine zest and cinnamon for a splash of vanilla extract.
- Fold 100g dried cranberries into the dough for a tart contrast.
- Make a chocolate version by replacing 50g of plain flour with cocoa powder.
- Use vanilla buttercream to sandwich two biscuits together for festive sandwich cookies.
🥡 Storage
Store: Keep the biscuits in an airtight container or biscuit tin at room temperature for up to one week.
Freeze: Freeze uniced biscuits in a freezer-safe container for up to three months. Defrost at room temperature before icing.
❓ Frequently asked questions
You can make these biscuits up to three months in advance if you freeze them uniced. Defrost at room temperature before decorating.
No—these biscuits keep well at room temperature in an airtight container. Refrigeration is unnecessary and can dry them out.
😋 More easy Christmas baking
- Cranberry White Chocolate Blondies
- Mincemeat Muffins
- Puff Pastry Mincemeat Pinwheels
- Chocolate Orange Muffins
- Chocolate Orange Cookie Bars
- Christmas Cake Muffins
Tried it? Let me know how it went and leave a rating. Tag @effortlessf00d on Instagram—I’d love to see your bakes! Subscribe for more recipes.
Recipe
Easy Christmas Star Biscuits Recipe
Equipment
- Kitchen scales
- Measuring spoons
- Mixing bowl
- Wooden spoon
- Rolling pin
- Baking sheets and baking paper
Ingredients
- 225 g Butter
- 125 g Golden caster sugar
- 1 large Egg
- 450 g Plain flour
- Zest of 1 clementine
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
For the icing
- 300 g Icing sugar, sifted
- 2–3 tablespoons boiling water (add gradually to reach spreadable consistency)
- 6 tablespoons Christmas sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan / 350°F / Gas 4). Line two large baking trays with baking paper.
- Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until pale and fluffy.
- Beat in the egg until combined.
- Fold in the flour, cinnamon and clementine zest, mixing to form a dough.
- Shape the dough into a ball, divide in two and flatten each piece into a disc. Wrap in cling film and chill for 30 minutes.
- On a lightly floured surface roll each disc to about 2.5mm thickness. For ease, roll the dough under a sheet of cling film.
- Cut out star shapes and place on the prepared trays. Bake 10–14 minutes until the biscuits are lightly golden at the edges. Cool on the trays for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.
- When cool, mix the sifted icing sugar with boiling water a little at a time until spreadable. Ice each biscuit and add sprinkles. Allow icing to set for about one hour before serving or storing.
Notes
- Change up the cutter shapes for variety.
- Keep extra chilled dough for quick bakes later.
- Skip icing for plain biscuits.
Variations:
- Use vanilla instead of clementine and cinnamon.
- Add dried cranberries for texture and tang.
- Swap 50g flour for cocoa powder for chocolate biscuits.
- Sandwich biscuits with vanilla buttercream for festive sandwich cookies.
Storage:
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week. Freeze uniced biscuits for up to three months; defrost before icing.
Nutrition:
The nutritional information is approximate and will vary depending on ingredients and portion sizes.