Santa Claus is coming, Santa Claus is coming, he’s not very far away. Time to hang your stocking up, tomorrow’s (nearly) Christmas Day. I’ve had this verse of a Christmas song playing on repeat in my head since I woke up this morning. It could be because I had my first big Christmas feast on Thursday night and tonight I will be having my second (of 4!). I’m going to have to try and restrain myself in the next few weeks or I won’t fit into my wedding dress at my next fitting early in the New Year!

Luckily, Santa doesn’t have to watch his figure quite as much as this bride-to-be. I think he’d enjoy a little plate of these cookies waiting by the tree for him on Christmas Eve. What a lucky man to be given treats at all the houses he visits! If you’re very good, there might even be a few leftover for you to have.

It’s a rainbow of white to orange and all colours in between in this recipe.

Like so many baked goodies, this one starts with beating the butter and sugar together until they are fluffy.

Add the eggs and beat them through.

Now it’s time to put the orange in orange star cookies. Tip in the orange zest and mix it through until just combined.

Sift the flour into the batter and stir it through.

Stir the cornmeal into the batter too.

Tip the dough out onto a lightly-floured surface and knead it until it all comes together.

Roll the dough out to about 1cm thickness and use a cookie cutter to cut 3cm stars in the dough. Re-roll the offcuts until you have used all the dough.

Place the stars on lined baking trays at least 3cm apart and bake them at 160C for 15-20 minutes .

Leave the baked stars to cool on the trays for a few minutes and then transfer them to a wire rack.

As soon as you put them on the rack, dust them with icing sugar.

Leave the cookies to cool completely on the rack.

Leave out a little plate of cookies with some milk before you go to bed on Christmas Eve. Enjoy!

Orange star cookies - a treat for Santa

Yield: 22

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Ingredients

• 125g (4.5oz) butter, softened
• 115g (1/2 c) caster (superfine) sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tsp finely grated orange zest
• 155g (1 1/2 c) plain AP flour
• 110g (4oz) coarse corn meal (I used polenta)
• icing sugar to dust

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 160C(320F) fan-forced and line two baking trays with baking paper.
2. Beat the butter and sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer until smooth and creamy.
3. Add the egg yolks and stir them through then beat in the zest.
4. Remove the bowl from the stand and stir in the sifted flour and the cornmeal.
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly-floured bench and knead it until it all comes together.
6. Roll it out to 1cm thickness.
7. Cut out star shape (or any shape you wish) using a 3cm cutter.
8. Place the biscuits on the lined trays at least 3cm apart.
9. Bake them for 15-20 minutes or until they start to turn golden.
10. Let them cool on the trays for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack and dust with icing sugar.
11. Leave them to cool completely before serving or wrapping them up.
12. Orange stars will keep for up to 5 days if stored in an air-tight container.