
Christmas Tree Treats
Enjoy an afternoon of fun with the kids baking up these tasty Christmas tree-shaped treats.
Quick Stats
Moderate
Makes 10-12
15 minutes bake time
Christmas Tree Treats
Enjoy an afternoon of fun with the kids baking up these tasty Christmas tree-shaped treats.
Ingredients
- 1 x 320g pack Jus-Rol™ Ready Rolled Puff Pastry Sheet
- 30g softened butter
- 60g pecan nuts, blitzed until finely chopped
- 20g light soft brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Icing sugar, for dusting
Equipment required
- Knife
- Bowl
- Wooden spoon
- 10-12 long wooden skewers
- Small star cookie cutter
- Baking sheet
Techniques Used
-
How to Roll Puff Pastry
How to Roll Puff Pastry
- For best results when rolling out puff pastry use a large, clean dry area of the work surface and lightly dust it with plain flour.
- Place pastry dough on surface and lightly dust it and the rolling pin with flour.
- Roll pastry firmly, always rolling away from you, give the dough 2-3 rolls.
- Then turn the dough a quarter turn.
- Dust again if necessary and continue rolling out, frequently turning the pastry so it is not always rolled in the same direction as this causes shrinkage.
- When the pastry has increased in size, pick it up to turn by rolling it round the rolling pin.
- Lift the pin with the pastry around it carefully and turn it to lay out and continue rolling. Again this is done to prevent the pastry from stretching as you lift it which in turn would result in shrinkage in baking. Puff pastry should be rolled out to approx. 4-5 mm depth.
- To re- roll puff pastry once you have cut something out from the main piece, layer up all the trimmings, folding to achieve approximately an even stack.
- Press stack lightly together with fingers.
- Then roll out as before.
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C for fan assisted ovens)/Gas Mark 6. Unroll the pastry sheet, cut off a quarter from the length and set aside.
- Combine the butter, nuts, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl, mix well with a wooden spoon and spread over the remaining three-quarters of the pastry.
- Using a sharp knife, cut strips of pastry from the shorter side, approximately 2cm wide. Carefully pick up a strip of pastry and fold back and forth on itself, starting wider at the bottom (5-6cm) and narrower at the top, like a Christmas tree (see video for reference ). Take a wooden skewer and push through the middle of each layer, making sure that the layers are spread out evenly. Leave enough skewer at the top for the stars. Repeat until you have 10-12 trees.
- Stamp out 10-12 small stars from the remaining pastry with a small cookie cutter. Skewer a star onto the top of each tree.
- Transfer the trees to a baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes, until the pastry is puffed up and golden. Sprinkle with a light dusting of icing sugar to serve
Tips:
- Take the pastry out of the fridge and remove from the packaging about 10 minutes before you are ready to use it, as it will be easier to work with.
- You could make savoury trees with pesto and a little grated Parmesan!