Bake these super cute and fun Easter treats with your little one
The Easter holidays are upon us, and what better excuse than to spend more quality time with your little ones by whipping up some tasty treats together! Leave chocolate off the menu this year and get creative by baking a batch of adorable animal biscuits that your children can decorate, hang on a tree, and gorge on over the holidays.
From chirpy chicks and fluffy bunnies to wooly lambs and eggstravagant eggs, the talented team at the Biscuiteers have created an ingenious recipe for super cute iced biscuits that you can easily follow in the steps below.
Top tips: Don’t forget to cut a medium-sized hole towards the top of the biscuits, before baking, so you can thread your ribbons through later. Use the end of a straw to cut out the perfect-sized hole from your uncooked dough!
Long, sturdy twigs from the garden are perfect for your Easter tree, the experts at the Biscuiteers like to paint theirs white. A couple of branches of pussy willow are equally as lovely.
Ingredients
For dough
350g plain flour
100g self-raising flour
125g granulated sugar
125g salted butter softened, diced
125g golden syrup
1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste
1 large egg lightly beaten
For icing
150ml cold water
900g royal icing mix
Light Brown, Yellow, White, Black, Baby Pink, Pastel Green colouring for line icing
Light Brown, Yellow, White colouring for flood icing
Method
For dough
Sift the flours together into a mixing bowl, add the sugar and mix well.
Add the butter. Using just the tips of your fingers, rub the ingredients together until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
When all the butter is evenly mixed in, make a well in the centre and add the syrup, vanilla and the egg.
Mix well, drawing in any of the flour left at the side of the bowl, and stop as soon as a ball has formed.
Now have a look at our golden rules of rolling dough
Bake in the oven for 15-25 minutes depending on the size of your biscuits at 170°C, or until golden brown.
For line icing
Your line icing should be the texture of toothpaste. If it seems a bit stiff add a little water.
If you are making an outline to fill with flooding icing you need to make sure that you join up your trail to form an unbroken wall around the shape you need. If there are any gaps the flood icing will flow through.
When you first start, or if you are icing with children, either choose a larger plain nozzle (no.3) or cut a larger hole in the end of the disposable piping bag. Let the walls dry for about 5 minutes before filling with the flood icing.
For flood icing
The flood icing is a little runnier than the line icing - you just need to add a bit of water slowly to the basic recipe to get the right consistency.
At Biscuiteers we squeeze our flooding icing in place using little clear plastic squeezy bottles. For any tiny areas it's easier to use a piping bag. Fill the area in just the same way as with the line icing but be careful as the icing will pour out of both ends if unsecured.
For simple designs, or when you are starting out you can just spoon the icing on the biscuits and spread out using a cocktail stick or a little skewer.
Return your biscuits to the oven to dry for around 30 minutes. At Biscuiteers we put our biscuits in a very very low temperature oven (the lowest your oven can go) to make sure the icing is totally dry. Don't worry, the biscuit won't burn and the icing will not melt! The heat helps set the biscuits so they have that glossy and smooth effect on top.
How to make the Easter tree biscuits
Firstly, you will need to bake your biscuits. When baking don’t forget to cut-out a medium sized hole towards the top of the biscuits so you can thread your ribbons through later. You can do this by using the end of a straw to cut out the perfect size hole from your uncooked dough!
Method
How to ice the lamb shaped biscuits
Using white line icing, outline the shape of the lamb on each biscuit. Leave to dry for 5 minutes at room temperature.
Once dry, use white line icing and in lines horizontally across the biscuit, pipe in back in a back and forth motion until the shape is full.
Place the biscuits onto a baking tray and pop into an oven that has been set to the lowest temperature. Leave for approx. 40 minutes, or until the flood icing has set hard.
Use pastel green line icing to pipe a line across the lambs neck. And then pink line icing to give the lamb a nose, and two dots of black line icing for eyes. Allow to fully dry.
How to ice the chick shaped biscuits
Using yellow line icing, outline the shape of the chick on each biscuit. Leave to dry for around 5 minutes at room temperature.
Once dry, flood the centre of the shape with yellow flood icing - be careful not to over-fill.
Place the biscuits onto a baking tray and pop into an oven that has been set to the lowest temperature. Leave for approx. 40 minutes, or until the flood icing has set hard.
Use yellow line icing to pipe the chicks feet.
Use pastel green line icing to pipe a bow around the chicks’ neck. And then pink line icing to give the chick a beak, and one dot of black line icing for an eye. Allow to fully dry.
How to ice the brown bunny shaped biscuits
Using light brown line icing, pipe the outline of the bunny on your biscuit. Leave to dry for 5 minutes at room temperature.
Once dry, use your light brown flood icing to fill in the shape, but don’t over-fill.
Place the biscuits onto a baking tray and pop into an oven that has been set to the lowest temperature. Leave for approx. 40 minutes, or until the flood icing has set hard.
Use white line icing to pipe the bunnies fluffy tail.
Use yellow line icing to pipe a bow around the bunnies’ neck. And then pink line icing to give the bunny a nose, and one dot of black line icing for an eye. Allow to fully dry.
Recipe taken from the Biscuiteers Book of Iced Gifts, £20.
Have any Easter recipes to share? Let us know by tweeting us @rascalbabies or post on our Facebook Page.