Vickys Spiced 'n' Iced Christmas Cookies

• 225 grams gluten-free/plain flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda/bicarb of soda
• 75 grams soft brown sugar
• 60 grams dairy-free spread such as Vitalite sunflower spread or Stork margarine foil wrapped block
• 1 tbsp treacle/molasses
• 2 tsp Mixed Spice, recipe link below
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
• 2 - 4 tablespoons milk or dairy-free alternative

1. Cream the butter and sugar in a mixer.
2. Add the spices and treacle and beat again, then add 2 tbsp of the milk
3. Add the flour and baking soda then using your hands, bring the dough together into a ball.
4. Add more milk a teaspoon at a time if you need it but don't let the dough become too sticky.
5. Wrap it in clingfilm and refrigerate for half an hour
6. Lightly flour your surface and roll out the dough 3mm thick.
7. Cut out your shapes and put them on to two lightly greased baking-sheets.
8. Gather the remaining dough into a ball, roll out again and keep cutting until it has all been used
9. Put the baking sheets in the fridge for about 45 minutes, meanwhile preheat the oven to gas 4 / 180C / 350F.
10. Bake for 12 minutes.
11. They should start to feel hard round the edges as they cool and eventually become really hard.
12. They need to have a nice 'snap'
13. Decorate with icing sugar mixed with a little water or brush with marmalade as I did and cut out the same shapes from ready roll icing and stick on top of the cookies.
14. Be creative with piping icing and embellishments

flour, baking sodabicarb of soda, brown sugar, sunflower, molasses, mixed spice, cinnamon, ginger, ground cardamom, milk

Taken from cookpad.com/us/recipes/334120-vickys-spiced-n-iced-christmas-cookies (may not work)