Christmas vanilla biscuits

Ingredients

• 225g / 1 cup unsalted butter , softened (or use salted, skip salt)
• 1 cup (220g) white sugar , preferably caster / superfine
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg (55-60g / 1.9-2oz)
• 3 cups (450g) flour , plain / all purpose
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• Icing for Sugar Cookies

Instructions

1. Preheat Oven to 180°C / 350°F (160°C fan). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl until creamy (1 minute on speed 5)
3. Add egg and vanilla, beat until completely combined.
4. Add flour, baking powder, and salt.
5. Start mixing slowly, then beat until the flour is incorporated - it will be clumpy.
6. Dust work surface with flour, scrape dough out of bowl. Pat together then cut in half, then shape into 2 discs.
7. Roll out to 0.3cm / 1/8" (for thinner, crispier cookies) or 0.6cm / 1/4" (for thicker, softer cookies), sprinkling with flour under and over the dough so it doesn't stick.
8. Use cookie cutters to press out shapes and use a knife or spatula to transfer shapes to prepared baking sheets. (Keep dough that doesn't fit in the oven in the fridge).
9. Bake for 10 minutes, swapping trays halfway (Note 2), until the surface is pale golden and the edges are just beginning to turn light golden.
10. Allow cookies to cool completely on trays (they will finish cooking on the trays).

Decorating options:

Icing - see Icing for Christmas Cookies recipe.

Melt chocolate then dip the surface into chocolate.

Dot with icing sugar and decorated with silver balls

Dust with icing sugar

Serve plain! They are sweet vanilla biscuits so they are wonderful eaten just as they are!

Notes

Number of cookies will depend on cut out size and how thick you roll your dough. It fills 3 baking trays.

Swapping trays halfway - this means that you put both trays in the oven with one in the middle of the oven and the other underneath. Halfway through the bake time, switch them around so the one underneath moves to the top shelf, and the tray on top moves to the shelf underneath. This ensures they both bake evenly because the top shelf bakes faster than the shelf underneath.

Source: Recipetineats