Peppermint cream biscuits recipe

This Woman's Weekly recipe was first published in June 1956. The biscuits are sandwiched with peppermint cream and for the finish, it is now jazzed up with a swirl of chocolate

Ingredients

• 50g (1¾oz) plain chocolate
• A little icing sugar, for dusting

For the biscuit:

• 125g (4oz) plain flour
• 30g (1oz) ground rice
• Pinch of salt
• 60g (2oz) butter
• 60g (2oz) caster sugar
• ½ med beaten egg
• A little milk

For the cream filling:

• 45g (1½oz) butter, softened
• 45g (1½oz) icing sugar
• A few drops of green food colouring
• A few drops of peppermint essence
• 4.5-5cm (1¾-2in) fluted pastry cutter

Paper piping bag

Baking sheet lined with Bakewell paper or Teflon sheet

Method

1. To make the biscuits: Sift the flour, ground rice and salt into a bowl. Rub in the butter and mix in the sugar. Add beaten egg and milk to bind the mixture (use all the egg rather than adding milk, if you like). Knead lightly.
2. Set the oven to 160°C/Gas Mark 3.
3. Roll out the dough, on a lightly floured surface, to about 0.5cm (1/8in) thick, then cut out shapes with cutter. Re-roll and cut out more biscuits to make 40. Put them on baking sheet. Bake for 12-15 mins. Cool on a wire rack.
4. To make the cream filling: Beat the butter and sifted icing sugar to a soft cream. Add a little green food colouring and peppermint essence (one drop at a time), and then sandwich the biscuits with the cream.
5. Melt chocolate in microwave on Medium and spoon into a piping bag to drizzle chocolate over the biscuits. Dust with icing sugar for serving.
6. The biscuits will keep for a week in an airtight tin.