Easter Spiced and Iced Biscuits Recipe

Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas mark 4. Lightly grease two baking trays lined with baking paper and set aside.

Measure the butter and sugar into a bowl and beat together until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks. Sieve in the flour and spices and add enough milk to make a fairly soft dough. Bring together, using your hands, to make a soft dough.

Knead the remaining half of the biscuit dough lightly on a lightly floured work surface, do not over knead at this stage or you'll end up with tough biscuits. Roll out to a thickness of 5mm/¼in. Cut out Easter biscuits using an assortment of shaped cutters, such as bunnies, Easter eggs, chicks or spring flowers.

Place the biscuit shapes on the prepared baking trays and bake in the preheated oven for 10–15 minutes or until golden brown. 

Mix the icing sugar with the lemon juice and then add about two tablespoons of cold water, adding it little by little until you have a relatively stiff but smooth icing. Add a splash more sieved lemon juice if necessary. Divide the icing into separate bowls and mix in food colourings of your choice into the separate bowls of icing, until you achieve the desired shade. 

Spoon a little icing into a piping bag and pipe your decorations onto the biscuits. For a smooth finish, you can pipe the outline of your design in the firmer icing, then slacken it down a bit by mixing in a little more water, giving the icing more of a runny consistency, and use this to fill in the designs. Enjoy!!