Ingredients

• 100g/4oz slightly softened butter
• 50g/2oz caster sugar
• 175g/6oz plain flour
• Pinch of salt
• A few drops of vanilla essence

For the icing:

• 175g/6oz icing sugar sifted
• ½tbsp lemon juice or water

For the decoration:

  
Small tubes red, yellow, green and black writing icing (available in most supermarkets)
Mini coloured sugar balls used for cake decoration for the eyes

Tools

• K-beater

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4. Place the butter and sugar into the mixer bowl with k beater and mix on speed 2 until thoroughly mixed. Sift together the flour and salt into the butter mixture together with a few drops of vanilla essence and mix on speed 2 to form a fairly stiff dough. If the dough is too dry add a little water.
2. Form the dough into a ball using your hands, then roll out thinly on a floured work surface using a rolling pin dusted with flour. Cut into heart shapes using biscuit cutters. Collect all the trimmings together and roll these out again to make more biscuits. Arrange on greased or lined baking sheets and bake for about 12 to 15 minutes or until the biscuits are lightly golden.
3. To make the icing, put the icing sugar in a bowl with enough lemon juice or water to make a good spreading consistency. Spread the icing onto the cooled biscuits with a small palette knife. When set decorate each cookie to look like a face using the tubes of writing icing and sugar balls for eyes.

 Suitable for freezing before decorating.

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