Evelynne and Henry have been so understanding about the limited things we can do at the moment. They miss having friends over and going swimming but they’ve been very creative with keeping busy at home. Icing biscuits is such a fun activity we can do together and we all get something to eat at the end. I give the kids children’s paintbrushes (that I keep just for baking) so they can paint with the icing, which they love. You don’t have to chill this dough before baking and it’s extremely kid-friendly who like to touch the dough a lot. Adding the lemon zest gives these lovely little biscuits some zing.
INGREDIENTS
300g plain flour
150g caster sugar
150g butter
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
lemon zest
The Icing
200g icing sugar
40g golden syrup
food dyes
- Cut the butter into cubes then in a large mixing bowl beat them with electric beaters until they’re smooth. Add the sugar and beat again then stir in the egg, vanilla and the zest of the lemon. Gradually add the flour and stir into the wet ingredients until you have a dough then knead with your hands until the dough is smooth. Add more flour if necessary.
- Cut the dough into 3 or 4 equal pieces then roll out on a floured piece of greaseproof paper until the dough is the thickness of 2 pound coins.
- Press your cutters into the dough then peel away the excess dough and re-roll to cut more shapes.
- Pre-heat the oven to 200°F (180°F fan). Bake the biscuits for 8-12 minutes on a high shelf until the biscuits are golden around the edges and paler in the centre then put onto a cooling rack.
- Mix the icing sugar and golden syrup then diving the paste between a few bowls. Add a different colour to each bowl. The liquid colour will loosen the mixture, add a teaspoon of water if you need to loosen it further. Ice the biscuits and leave for 4-6 hours to harden completely then place in an airtight container or share with friends and neighbours.
onetoughcooker.com 