BACK TO SCHOOL BISCUITS

Hopefully these might make you smile on those first dreaded days of being back at school, early starts, homework.......or maybe you are thrilled to see your friends again!

Preparation time: 20min

Cooking time:15min

Makes 20

for the biscuits

100g butter, softened

100g caster sugar

1 egg

275g plain flour

to decorate

200g icing sugar

750g soft white or fondant icing

hundreds and thousands

edible writing icing pens

• Place the softened butter in a bowl, add the sugar and beat with a wooden spoon until pale and creamy. Break the egg into a cup and whisk with a fork. Gradually add the beaten egg to the butter and sugar mixture, stirring all the time. Add the flour and then using hands bring the mixture to make a ball.

• Roll the dough out out on a lightly floured work surface to the thickness of a £1 coin. Using cutters stamp out rounds and place on greased baking sheets. Gather up the trimmings and roll out to make more biscuits. . Bake the biscuits at 200°C for 10-12min or until golden brown. Leave to cool for a couple of mins then transfer onto a wire cooling rack.

• For the icing, sift the icing sugar into a large bowl, add about 2-3tsp hot water to the icing sugar to make a spreadable icing.

• Roll the fondant icing out on a lightly floured work surface and cut out 20 circles with the biscuit cutter, spread each biscuit with a little runny icing then cover with a circle of fondant, pressing down lightly. Then cover the edge of the biscuits with a little of the runny icing and then dip the edge in the hundreds and thousands. Leave to set for 30min before decorating with the edible writing pens.