BASIC BISCUITS WITH 6 VARIATIONS 250 g butter - softened 150 g castor sugar (180 ml) 1 extra large egg 10 ml vanilla essence 450 g cake flour (750 ml) Preheat oven to 160 ° C. Cream the butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add egg and vanilla essence and mix well. Sift in flour and mix to form a stiff dough. More flour can be added if mixture seems too soft. VANILLA BISCUITS - Makes 30. Preheat oven to 160 ° C. Make up a batch of basic dough. Roll out on a floured surface and cut out shapes as desired. Bake on baking tray covered with Teflon or non stick baking paper for 15 - 20 minutes until pale golden in colour. Transfer to wire rack and cool. SQUIGGLY HEARTS - Makes 30. Preheat oven to 160 ° C. Prepare basic biscuit dough. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface and use a 7 cm heart shaped cookie cutter to cut out biscuits, then bake as above. Whilst biscuits are cooling melt 100g each of white and milk chocolate, separately in microwave for 2 minutes on medium. Pipe lines of chocolate across hearts. Allow to set hard. LEMONY FINGERS - Makes 40. Preheat oven to 180 ° C. Make basic biscuit dough adding finely grated rind of 2 lemons to the sugar and butter mixture. Divide dough in half then roll out into two rectangles, 30 cm x 20 cm. Place each rectangle on a lined baking tray. Using a sharp knife cut dough into 10 cm x 2 cm fingers. Chill dough on tray until firm then separate fingers before baking. Bake as above. ICING Mix 140 g sifted icing sugar with enough lemon juice to make a soft spreadable icing. Spread icing over one half of cooled biscuits and sprinkle with a little lemon zest. Place on a cooling rack to harden. CRANBERRY BISCUITS - Makes 30. Add 100 g chopped dried cranberries to the basic biscuit dough when mixing in the flour. Roll into a thin log, wrap in cling film then chill or freeze. To make the biscuits, slice the log into 5 mm slices and bake at 180°C, about 8 - 10 minutes. CHOCOLATE CHIP BISCUITS - Makes 30. Add 100 g chocolate chips to the basic biscuit dough when mixing in the flour. Roll into a thin log, wrap in cling film then chill or freeze. To make the biscuits slice the log into 5 mm slices and bake at 180 ° C, about 8-10 minutes. CRUSHED ALMOND FOUNDS - Makes 20. Prepare the basic biscuit dough, substituting 10ml almond essence for the vanilla. Shape the dough into a large log about 5 cm in diameter, then roll in 100 g nibbed almonds, pressing the nuts onto all sides. Carefully wrap in cling film, then chill. Slice into rounds and bake at 180 ° C for 10 - 12 minutes until golden then transfer to a cooling rack. *Elmarie*
Posted on: Tue, 25 Jun 2013 08:54:57 +0000