Snow Biscuits Recipes

Steps:

• Dissolve yeast in water (let set 5 minutes).
• Sift flour,add sugar and salt; mix well, slowly. Add yeast water and melted oleo, mixing well.
• Let rise 30 minutes.
• Knead out on floured cloth. Cut into biscuits. Bake 30 minutes at 425°F.

Steps:

• Blitz the flour, butter and caster sugar together in a food processor until the mix looks like breadcrumbs. Add the vanilla and milk, and pulse to larger crumbs. Briefly knead on a lightly floured surface into a smooth ball, then wrap and chill for at least 30 mins. Line two large baking sheets with baking parchment, then lightly oil the parchment.
• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Roll the chilled dough out on a floured work surface to the thickness of a £1 coin. Stamp out rounds using an 8cm cutter, then cut holes from the middles using a 5cm cutter. Cut small holes in the tops of the biscuits using the tip of a round piping nozzle or a straw - this is where you'll thread the ribbon for hanging. Re-roll the offcuts and continue to stamp out biscuits until all the dough is used - you'll need an even amount, as you'll be sandwiching the biscuits together (you should get about 20). Carefully transfer to the prepared sheets.
• Bake for 6 mins until just golden at the edges. Meanwhile, put the mints or sweets in a food processor or pestle and mortar, and blitz or crush until finely broken up. After 6 mins, remove the biscuits from the oven and spoon the crushed mints into the cut-out middles (use about 1 heaped tsp per biscuit). Bake for 5 mins more until the mints have just melted, but haven't started to colour (they will turn golden if left too long). The middles will look bubbly, but will settle as they cool. If the melted mints haven't reached the edges, use a metal skewer to carefully ease the molten middles to the sides. Leave on the sheets to harden, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• To make the icing, mix the icing sugar with 5-6 tsp water until you have a thick, pipeable icing. Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a small round nozzle. Decorate the bottoms of the biscuits (the melted mints will be flush with the bottoms, so this will leave more room for the sprinkles) by flooding them with icing, or piping on patterns or snowflakes. Leave to dry completely, setting aside the leftover icing in the piping bag.
• Once the biscuits are dry, carefully flip one over onto a clean tea towel so you won't damage the icing. Pipe a little of the reserved icing around the biscuit, being careful not to get too close to the middle or edges - the icing will spread when you sandwich the biscuits together. Spoon a teaspoon of sprinkles into the clear middle, making sure not to touch the icing, then sandwich with another biscuit, matching up the ribbon holes. Leave to dry completely before shaking, as the sprinkles will stick to any wet icing. Repeat with the remaining biscuits, icing and sprinkles. Thread ribbons through the holes and hang for decorations, or store in an airtight container for up to one week.

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Line a large baking tray with baking parchment. Tip the pecans into a food processor and blitz until they resemble a rough powder. Tip into a bowl and stir in the flour.
• In a separate bowl, beat the butter, caster sugar and orange zest together with an electric whisk until pale and fluffy. Add the flour and pecan mix and stir with a wooden spoon until everything comes together in a rough dough. Shape into 10 even-sized balls and put on the tray.
• Bake for 15 mins until set but the top is still pale in colour. Leave to cool on the tray for 5 mins, then, once cool enough to handle, gently roll the balls in the icing sugar and return to the tray. Leave to cool completely. Will keep in an airtight container for up to five days. Dust with more icing sugar just before serving.

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, then beat in the egg and vanilla. Stir in the flour and mix to a fairly soft dough. Tip onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently. Put the dough on a plate, cover and chill for at least 2 hrs.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of around 0.5cm. Use a cookie cutter or water glass to stamp out 7cm rounds. Re-roll the trimmings and repeat.
• Transfer the biscuits to two lined baking trays and bake for 8-14 mins until the edges turn lightly golden in colour. Leave to cool.
• To decorate, roll out the white fondant icing on a surface lightly dusted with icing sugar. Stamp out 7cm circles using the same cookie cutter or glass as before, then use a dab of the white tube of icing to stick a fondant round on each biscuit.
• Knead together some of the yellow and blue icing to make green icing, then do the same with the red and yellow icing to make orange (alternatively, buy separate packs of each colour). Roll out one icing colour at a time. Stamp out a 7cm circle of icing, cut in half and stick on for a hat. Cut a strip of another colour and make some markings to make it look like the elasticated band of a hat, then trim to fit and stick on. Repeat with all the biscuits, mixing and matching colours.
• Decorate the hats with icing spots and stripes, if you like. Roll out balls of coloured icing, poke holes all over with a cocktail stick and stick on as pom poms. Mould lumpy balls of the orange icing for noses and roll out balls of the black icing for eyes. Press down to flatten, then stick on with white icing. Use the tube of black icing to pipe rows of dots for the smiles. Leave to set. Will keep for up to five days in an airtight container.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• In a large bowl cream butter and sugar together until fluffy.
• Stir in baking mix, chopped nuts and almond extract.
• Shape dough by level teaspoons into balls.
• Place on ungreased cookie sheet. (I still lightly spray cooking spray onto cookie sheets).
• Bake 12 minutes.
• Cool slightly before removing from sheets.
• Roll each ball in confectioners sugar while still warm.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and line a baking sheet with baking parchment. Put the butter in a bowl and beat it with electric beaters until soft and creamy. Beat in the sugar, then the egg and vanilla, and finally the flour to make a dough. If the dough feels sticky, add a little flour and knead it in. Chill for 20 mins in the fridge.
• Roll the dough to about the thickness of a £1 coin on a lightly floured surface. Cut out snowflake shapes using a biscuit cutter, then re-roll the off-cuts and repeat.
• Bake for 8-10 mins or until the edges are just beginning to brown. Leave to cool for 5 mins before trying to move them. Cool completely.
• Roll out the fondant icing to the thickness of a 50p piece. Use the same cutter to stamp out the icing. If you have smaller cutter you can stamp out holes in the middles of some of them. Brush each biscuit with a tiny amount of honey and press an icing snowflake on top.
• Mix the icing sugar with enough water to make a pipeable icing, and spoon it into a piping bag fitted with a straight piping nozzle. Pipe patterns onto the snowflakes and add silver balls and sprinkles as you decorate. Leave to dry completely.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Cream the butter with 1/2 cup of the confectioners' sugar and the vanilla. Mix in the flour, pecans, and salt. Roll about 1 tablespoon or so of dough into balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake in preheated oven until bottoms are golden, about 15 minutes. Do not allow these cookies to get too brown: it's better to undercook them than to overcook them. While cookies are still hot, roll them in confectioners' sugar. Once they have cooled, roll them in confectioners' sugar once more.

Steps:

• Melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water (make sure the base doesn't touch the water), or in a microwave in short bursts. Set aside to cool.
• Beat the butter and sugar using electric beaters, then beat in the eggs, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and chocolate. Pour in the milk to make a soft dough, but don't overmix it. Cover and chill for 1 hr.
• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Line one or two baking sheets with parchment. Put the icing sugar in a bowl. Scoop heaped tablespoons of dough and roll each ball in your hands before dropping it into the icing sugar and rolling it around. Put on baking sheets and repeat, spacing the balls apart.
• Bake for about 12-15 mins until the biscuits feel firm when touched. The biscuits should puff up and cracks should open up, too. Leave to cool on the trays, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Will keep for up to a week in an airtight container.