Easterbiscuits Recipes

Steps:

• Place currants in small bowl, add brandy and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment.
• Place flours and salt in mixer. Mix briefly on low speed to blend. Dice butter, add to mixer bowl and mix on low speed until blended with flour to make a crumbly mixture. Whisk sugar and spices together and add to mixer. Mix on low. Add egg, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, currants and brandy, and mix on low just until clumps of dough start to form. Turn dough out on work surface. Knead briefly to smooth.
• Roll out about 3/8-inch thick. Use a 2 1/2-inch-round cutter, preferably fluted, to cut rounds. Reroll scraps. Place rounds on baking sheet. Bake about 25 minutes, until lightly browned. Transfer cookies to a rack. Mix confectioners' sugar with milk and remaining vanilla, and brush on warm cookies. When glaze has set, brush on a second coat. Allow to cool completely. If desired, wrap in packages of three and tie with pastel ribbon.

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 180C/160 fan/gas 4. Place the butter and sugar in a bowl and beat together with a wooden spoon until well combined. Add the egg yolk, lemon zest and nutmeg and beat again.
• Add the flour, salt and currants and mix everything together to make a firm dough, using your hands if necessary. Form into a puck-shape, wrap and chill in the fridge for 30 mins.
• Line two large baking sheets with baking parchment and lightly dust your work surface with flour. Cut the dough in half and roll out to a ½ cm thickness. Cut out biscuits using a 6cm fluted cutter, lift onto one of the baking sheets with a palette knife, leaving a little space in between. Repeat with the remaining pastry to make a second tray of biscuits, re-rolling the off-cuts. Chill for 30 mins.
• Bake for 7 mins, then remove from the oven, brush with egg white, sprinkle with extra sugar and return to the oven for 7-8 mins or until lightly golden brown. Leave to cool on the trays for 5 mins then carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Steps:

• Weigh the flour and sugar in a bowl. Add the butter and rub together with your fingertips until the mixture resembles wet sand, with no buttery lumps. Beat the egg with the vanilla, then add to the bowl. Mix briefly with a cutlery knife to combine, then use your hands to knead the dough together - try not to overwork the dough, or the biscuits will be tough. Shape into a disc, then wrap in cling film and chill for at least 15 mins. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Line two baking sheets with baking parchment.
• Dust a work surface with flour. Halve the dough, then roll one half out to the thickness of a £1 coin. Use an egg-shaped cookie cutter (ours was 10cm long; you could also make a cardboard template to cut around) to stamp out as many cookies as you can, then transfer them to one of the baking sheets, leaving a little space between the biscuits. Repeat with the other half of the dough. If you want to make jammy biscuits, use a small circular cutter to stamp holes in half of the biscuits (where the yolk would be). If you intend to make both iced and jammy biscuits, only stamp holes in a quarter of the biscuits.
• Bake for 12-15 mins, until the biscuits are pale gold. Cool on the sheets for 10 mins, then transfer to a wire rack to cool fully. Once cool, decorate to your liking (see next steps). Will keep in an airtight container for up to five days.
• To decorate the biscuits with icing, add enough water to the icing sugar to make a thick icing - it should hold its shape without spreading when piped. Transfer about a third of the icing to a piping bag fitted with a very small round nozzle (or just snip a tiny opening at the tip). Pipe an outline around the biscuits, then draw patterns in the middle - lines, spots and zigzags work well. Leave to dry for 10 mins. Divide the remaining icing between as many colours as you'd like to use, then use the gels to dye them. Loosen each icing with a few drops of water, then transfer them to piping bags. Use the coloured icing to fill the empty spaces on the biscuits. You may need to use a cocktail stick to tease it into the corners. Once covered, leave to dry for a few hours.
• To make the jammy middle biscuits, dust the biscuits with holes in the middle with a heavy coating of icing sugar. Spread the jam or curd generously over the whole biscuits, then sandwich the dusted biscuits on top of them.