Method (cookies)

1. Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Sift in the flour and spices, mix into a thick dough. You may want to add in a teaspoon or two of ice-water to get it to the right ‘dough’ consistency. Transfer the dough into plastic wrap or baking paper and chill in the fridge for at least 40 minutes -1 hour to firm up.
2. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 170°C fan and line a baking tray with grease proof paper.
3. Once the dough is chilled and firm to the touch, roll out to approximately ½ cm thickness on a heavily floured work surface (this prevents the dough from sticking). Cut into shapes using a gingerbread man cookie cutter. Place the shapes on the lined baking tray. An upside down gingerbread man is the perfect shape for a reindeer.
4. Use a small round cookie cutter or the end of a nozzle to chomp out a circle where the reindeer ‘nose’ is (refer to photos for reference).
5. Add the boiled sweets / hard candies into a blender and blitz until fine. Spoon into the holes made for the reindeer nose. You want to be very neat and not get any of the sweets on the cookie dough itself.
6. Bake in the middle of the oven for 10-12 minutes. You can even turn the tray half way through to ensure an even baking. The cookies will bake to a light golden brown and the sweets should be melted and slightly bubbling.
7. Once baked, remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool FULLY on the tray before transferring to a wire rack. Repeat until all the cookies are baked. Tip: The sweets will harden once out of the oven, you’ll want to leave them to cool for at least 10 minutes before picking them up.
8. You can use a skewer of cocktail stick to poke a hole in the top of the cookies and tie on some string for hanging on the trees.
9. Fill a small saucepan 1/4 full with water and place on the hob over medium heat. Add the dairy-free chocolate into a heat proof bowl. Place the bowl over the pan, creating a bain-marie. Allow the chocolate to melt, stirring with a heat proof spatula. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes then transfer into a piping bag, snip off the tip.
10. Pipe two dots above the red nose for the eyes and two antlers. 
11. Allow the chocolate to set. You can also put the cookies in the fridge to speed up the process. Alternatively you could use a chocolate spread such as vegan ‘Nutella’ but it won’t set.
12. Serve and enjoy.