Brown butter & cardamom lebkuchen

Make a twist on the classic lebkuchen over Christmas. Spiced with fragrant cardamom, brown butter gives these chewy cookies a nutty edge

Tip the butter into a saucepan over a medium heat. Once melted, cook until the butter foams, stirring regularly. It should start to smell nutty and the milk solids at the bottom will turn golden brown in around 7 mins. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar and honey. Return to the heat on low. Cook for 3-5 mins until the sugar has melted. Set aside to cool slightly.
Combine the flour, ground almonds, spices, cocoa powder, baking powder and bicarb together in a bowl. Whisk the egg into the cooled butter mixture then pour into the dry ingredients and add the lemon zest. Mix well and bring into a ball. Set aside in the fridge for 1 hr to firm up.
Lightly dust a clean work surface with flour and line two large baking trays with baking parchment. Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Tip out the dough and roll out to around 1cm thick. Use cutters shaped like hearts, gingerbread people and stars of varying sizes, around 5-8cm, to stamp out the lebkuchen. If you want to hang them, use a skewer to poke a little hole in the top. Arrange on the baking tray, with a little space in between. Bake for 13-15 mins until golden on the edges and just set, then leave to cool fully on the trays.
To ice the cooled biscuits, whisk together the icing sugar and egg white to form a smooth, pipeable icing. Pour into a reusable piping bag and pipe decorations onto the top of the biscuits. Set aside for the icing to set, at least 1 hr. Will keep in an airtight container for five days.