Iced Christmas Biscuits

Easy to make and decorate with the family #IcedBiscuits

Serves: 40 biscuits

Prep Time: 50 mins + icing

Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Source: Mary Berry's Christmas Collection, Daily Mail Part Two

Ingredients 100g (4oz) butter, softened

225g (Boz) self-raising flour Finely grated zest of 1 lemon 100g (4oz) caster sugar

1 large egg, beaten 1tbsp milk Silver balls, for decoration. For the lemon icing: 175g (602) icing sugar

About 2tbsp lemon juice Method: Preheat the oven to 190°C/ fan 170°C/gas 5. Grease and line two baking trays with non-stick baking paper. Place the butter and flour into abowl and rub together using your fingertips until it looks like breadcrumbs. Add the zest, sugar, egg and milk. Bring the dough together by hand and chill for about 30 minutes before rolling. Roll out the dough thinly on a floured work surface and cut out shapes of your choice using pastry cutters-you can use animals, stars, Christmas trees, etc or simply circles you can decorate as baubles Place on the prepared baking trays. Bake for 10-15 minutes. pale golden brown and firm the middle. Carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool. Sieve the icing sugar into a bowl and stir in the lemon juice until it's of a spreading the biscuits to decorate or spoon on top and spread to the edges. Finish with silver balls or any other decorations of your choice. Cook's Tip

The biscuits will firm up as they cool so don't be tempted to overcook them if you think they are still a bit soft in the oven.

These can be made and iced up to 2 days ahead and kept in a sealed container. They freeze well once cooked - it's best to ice them after freezing and defrosting-and will keep for up to 3 months this way.