Spiced Honey Christmas Cookies

• 85 g Nuttelex Spread
• 200 g honey
• 200 g flour
• 100 g almond meal
• 0.25 tsp bi-carbonate soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground mix spice or all spice
• 0.5 tsp ground nutmeg
• 0.5 tsp ground cloves
• 1.5 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• fine zest from 1 small orange
• festive themed cookie cutters

Chocolate coating

• 200 g block dark chocolate

(Optional) White chocolate drizzle

• 0.5 tsp Nuttelex Spread
• 50 g white chocolate
• Or....dust cookies with a mixture of vanilla sugar/icing sugar

1. In a small saucepan over a low heat melt Nuttelex & honey and set aside.
2. In a bowl sieve all dry ingredients. Add the finely grated orange zest & vanilla along with the cooled honey & Nuttelex mixture. Bring everything together to form a sticky mixture.
3. Wrap the dough in cling film, pop it in the refrigerator to rest for 1 hour or until ready to bake.
4. Baking time: Heat oven to 200°C/180°C fan forced.
5. Roll dough out between 2 sheets of baking paper to 2 cm thickness. Cut out shapes with your cookie cutters you have on hand.
6. With lightly damp hands measure out 1 tablespoon size scoops of the mixture and carefully place on a lined tray allowing for room to spread during baking process. Bake for 15 minutes or until the have risen & feel firm to touch.
7. Allow cookies to cool completely before decorating.
8. Place 150 g dark chocolate in a heat proof bowl and place on top of a filled pot on a low heat on stove top to slowly melt chocolate - ensure the bottom of the heat proof bowl does not touch the water beneath. Stir the chocolate with a metal spoon as it melts. Once dark choc has melted, add the remaining 50 grams of dark chocolate, this is called tempering. Take bowl off the heat and allow the chocolate you've just added to melt also into the other chocolate.
9. Place cookies one by one in melted chocolate using a fork to help you pluck them out of the chocolate gently. Tap each cookie dipped in chocolate on the edge of the bowl to remove any excess. Continue until all cookies are covered.

Festive White Chocolate Drizzle

1. For white chocolate drizzle, melt the white chocolate in the same process as above but also add 1/2 teaspoon of plant based Nuttelex butter into mix & then drizzle as desired across cookies.