Easter Tomb Biscuits Recipes

Steps:

• Weigh the flour and sugar in a bowl. Add the butter and rub together with your fingertips until the mixture resembles wet sand, with no buttery lumps. Beat the egg with the vanilla, then add to the bowl. Mix briefly with a cutlery knife to combine, then use your hands to knead the dough together - try not to overwork the dough, or the biscuits will be tough. Shape into a disc, then wrap in cling film and chill for at least 15 mins. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Line two baking sheets with baking parchment.
• Dust a work surface with flour. Halve the dough, then roll one half out to the thickness of a £1 coin. Use an egg-shaped cookie cutter (ours was 10cm long; you could also make a cardboard template to cut around) to stamp out as many cookies as you can, then transfer them to one of the baking sheets, leaving a little space between the biscuits. Repeat with the other half of the dough. If you want to make jammy biscuits, use a small circular cutter to stamp holes in half of the biscuits (where the yolk would be). If you intend to make both iced and jammy biscuits, only stamp holes in a quarter of the biscuits.
• Bake for 12-15 mins, until the biscuits are pale gold. Cool on the sheets for 10 mins, then transfer to a wire rack to cool fully. Once cool, decorate to your liking (see next steps). Will keep in an airtight container for up to five days.
• To decorate the biscuits with icing, add enough water to the icing sugar to make a thick icing - it should hold its shape without spreading when piped. Transfer about a third of the icing to a piping bag fitted with a very small round nozzle (or just snip a tiny opening at the tip). Pipe an outline around the biscuits, then draw patterns in the middle - lines, spots and zigzags work well. Leave to dry for 10 mins. Divide the remaining icing between as many colours as you'd like to use, then use the gels to dye them. Loosen each icing with a few drops of water, then transfer them to piping bags. Use the coloured icing to fill the empty spaces on the biscuits. You may need to use a cocktail stick to tease it into the corners. Once covered, leave to dry for a few hours.
• To make the jammy middle biscuits, dust the biscuits with holes in the middle with a heavy coating of icing sugar. Spread the jam or curd generously over the whole biscuits, then sandwich the dusted biscuits on top of them.

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 180C/160 fan/gas 4. Place the butter and sugar in a bowl and beat together with a wooden spoon until well combined. Add the egg yolk, lemon zest and nutmeg and beat again.
• Add the flour, salt and currants and mix everything together to make a firm dough, using your hands if necessary. Form into a puck-shape, wrap and chill in the fridge for 30 mins.
• Line two large baking sheets with baking parchment and lightly dust your work surface with flour. Cut the dough in half and roll out to a ½ cm thickness. Cut out biscuits using a 6cm fluted cutter, lift onto one of the baking sheets with a palette knife, leaving a little space in between. Repeat with the remaining pastry to make a second tray of biscuits, re-rolling the off-cuts. Chill for 30 mins.
• Bake for 7 mins, then remove from the oven, brush with egg white, sprinkle with extra sugar and return to the oven for 7-8 mins or until lightly golden brown. Leave to cool on the trays for 5 mins then carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees--you MUST do it now. Also, gather a cooking mallet, kitchen mixer, masking tape and Bible.
• Read John 19:1-3 ~ Jesus was beaten for our sins; beat the nuts with a cooking mallet; set aside.
• Read John 19:28-30 - Jesus drank something like vinegar (gall), sniff the fragrance, dip finger in and taste, too; place the vinegar in a mixing bowl.
• Read John 10:10-11 - Egg whites symbolize Jesus' holy, innocent life; add whites to the bowl with the vinegar.
• Read Luke 23:27 - the bitter tears of the women; taste a few grains, remember your own sins; add the salt to the bowl.
• Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16 - Sweet salvation! Taste and see; add to the bowl.
• Crank up the mixer and let it go while you read from Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3; let the mixer go for about 12-15 MINUTES; this needs to be VERY stiff!
• Read Matthew 27:57-60 - Fold the nuts into the egg-sugar mixture; this symbolizes the rocks in the garden.
• Using a scoop or knife & spoon, drop by spoon into mounds (to resemble a rocky tomb); put into the oven and turn it OFF!
• Read Matthew 27:65-66 - The tomb is sealed; use two pieces of tape (5-6 inches long) to "seal" the door edges (symbolically).
• Read John 16:20 & 22 - Consider these passages, then go to bed!
• NEXT MORNING: Read Matthew 28:1-9 - Jesus is risen! Behold--the empty tomb! Unseal the oven door, take out the cookies, break or bite one in half -- it should be hollow inside---empty---just like the Tomb!
• He is risen! He is risen indeed! Hallelujah!

Steps:

• 1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet lightly with cooking spray.
• 2. On waxed paper, press the rolls into flat circles. As your child is pounding the dough, remind them how Jesus was beaten by the soldiers who had arrested Him.
• 3. Place a marshmallow in the center of each roll. The marshmallow represents Jesus, pure and white.
• 4. Pinch the dough around the marshmallow, telling your child that the you are sealing Jesus (marshmallow) in your "tomb" (biscuit) just like the soldiers sealed Jesus' body in His tomb after He died.
• 5. Roll the marshmallow-filled rolls into round balls.
• 6. Brush each ball with butter. This wetness is like the tears of sorrow that Jesus' friends cried when He was gone.
• 7. Mix the cinnamon and sugar together in a small bowl. This represents the dirt and the rocks at the tomb. Sprinkle each ball with the mixture of cinnamon and sugar.
• 8. Let the rolls rise on your cookie sheet for 30-45 minutes. This waiting time is like Holy Saturday, when we are waiting in anticipation. Then bake them at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, until they are golden brown.
• 9. Let them cool; serve warm (if served the next day you can microwave a few seconds). Just like the tomb on Easter Sunday, these rolls are empty! Jesus (the marshmallow) is gone :)