Okay, we’re almost there. It’s Christmas Eve. Are you okay? Have you finished work yet? This is my last recipe before the big day. It’s a bit of fun for the school holidays. And if biscuits feel a step too far then use whatever’s languishing in the biscuit tin.
Lots of great recipes like this in my book, Recipes from a Normal Mum, out now… on Amazon, at Waterstones, WHSmith, The Book Depository and many smaller outlets.
Last December: My slow cooker beef bourguignon pie and Crumble topped mince pies and a very ugly but delicious cranberry & raspberry traybake
Two years ago: Mini Yorkshire pudding canapes and Christmas pudding fizz and Brandy butter icing and Rudolf morsels
Three years ago: Lime meringue pie with chocolate pastry and Christmas scones and Ginger cake with Christmas cottage and Hot chocolate on a stick
Four years ago: Moonuts and Cheese biscuits and Parsnip soup and Inauthentic chicken tagine
Melted snowman biscuits
Makes about 30 x 12cm biscuits
Ingredients:
• 200g castor sugar
• 225g soft salted butter
• 1 large egg at room temperature
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 385g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 20g orange fondant icing
• Icing sugar
• 30 white marshmallows
• A black icing tube (can easily be found in the baking aisle)
• 90 small coloured sweets
Cream together the butter and sugar until really light and creamy looking – about 4 minutes in a stand mixer, about 6 with a handheld mixer of 8 – 10 by hand with a wooden spoon. Add the egg dribble by dribble, beating well after each addition. Lastly add the flour and baking powder and mix until combined. Use your hands to pull the mixture together, wrap in clingfilm and chill for 40 minutes.
Use a little flour to dredge the work surface and coat a rolling pin then roll the biscuit dough to about 3 – 4mm thick. Cut out circles about 12cm wide using a knife (they don’t need to be completely circular, they can happily be puddle shaped)and pop onto a baking tray (you can line with non stick parchment though these biscuits didn’t stick on my baking trays without it) then chill the whole tray in the fridge for 15 minutes. Meanwhile pre-heat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4. (The chilling is what keeps the shape of the biscuits, as does the preheating of the oven – you need cold biscuits to hit a hot oven and immediately bake. Skipping either step can result in biscuits that spread. They’ll still taste fine but won’t look so pretty.)
Bake the chilled biscuits for 10 -12 minutes until they’re just starting to brown at the edges. Leave for 5 minutes to cool on the tray then carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. In the meantime make 30 carrot noses with the orange fondant icing and set aside to harden.
Make some white icing by mixing the icing sugar with water until you have a stiff icing. Spread over each biscuit, add three sweets as buttons, place a marshmallow in the middle and add a fondant carrot nose (you can use icing to do this if it won’t push into the marshmallow) and draw on a mouth and two eyes with the black icing tube. Once the icing is dry draw on two stick arms using the icing tube. Leave to dry completely.
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