Flower biscuits recipe

There's nothing like homemade buttery biscuits - and these ones look so pretty!

Ingredients

For the biscuits:

• 250g (8oz) butter, softened
• 150g (5oz) icing sugar
• A few drops of vanilla extract
• 350g (12oz) plain flour

For the icing:

• 350g (12oz) royal icing sugar
• Pink food colouring
• 1tbsp glycerine
• Hundreds and thousands
• 9-10cm (3½-4in) flower cookie cutters
• Baking sheets, lined with non-stick paper or baking parchment
• Large disposable piping bag

Method

1. To make the biscuits, set the oven to 190ºC (380F / gas mark 5). Beat together the butter, icing sugar and vanilla extract, then beat in the flour to give a stiff dough. If the dough is too soft to handle, then chill it until it's firm.
2. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to about 5mm (1/4in) thick. Use the cutter to cut out the flower shapes and place them on the lined baking sheets.
3. 3 Bake in the centre of the oven for about 15 mins or until biscuits are a light golden colour. Remove them from the oven to cool on the baking sheets for a few minutes, then transfer them to wire racks to cool completely.
4. To decorate the biscuits, make up the royal icing, follow the instructions on the packet, using 4tbsp cold water. Add in the food colouring so that it is pale pink and stir in the glycerine.
5. Add some extra water to the icing, so that when the bowl is tapped, the surface of the icing levels. Fill the piping bag with icing and cut off the end so you have a small hole. Working on one biscuit at a time, pipe icing over it and sprinkle over hundreds and thousands.
6. Leave the icing to set before eating. Not suitable for freezing.