Video Transcript

Hi today we'll be making a very easy biscuit, all you need is three ingredients and all you need is three ounces of plain flour two ounces of butter and one ounce of sugar to make this biscuit mix. I've already weighed out the three ounces of flour one ounce of sugar and just to show you a dead easy way of being able to calculate how much butter it is - this is a four ounce butter so around about here should give us the two ounce

Using the same bowl they can all be put together what's called a rubbing in method this is all I need to do you're just going to be making with the tips of your fingers what looks like bread crumbs it's like a crumble stage

Okay so we've now got it to what looks like a sandy crumble texture you can add any ingredients that you want at this point whether you want to add cinnamon or ginger and a little bit of rinds of lemon to just dress them up and give them a nice fresh taste you can also just keep them quite plain simple.  With the three ingredients just carry on mixing them in and you'll  to feel that it's going to come together a bit more just give it a bit more pressure between your fingers this can take some time.  You can do it in a food processor but with the amount that I'm doing today I don't think that you actually need to go that far and some people may not have a food processor -  I don't actually have one and I have got very basic setup at home.

So now we can start to feel it's coming together. Now this is a very straightforward biscuit mix but to be honest one of the best I've eaten and I've eaten a lot biscuits!

Okay so there we go, so it's come together I'm going to move onto the next stage so now the biscuit mix is all together -  if it does feel a little bit dry then you can add a tiny bit of a bit of oil just to kind of manipulate it all just so it's a nice pastry kind of feeling  - play dough if you so wish just so it's nice and easy in your hands.

So there's nothing that stays on the work surface it is just the biscuit mix.  So with a tiny bit of flour just dust and then you're going to need a rolling pin, now I don't know where my rolling pin is but I'm guessing that it's in the play dough box upstairs, so I have to use what is known as cling film and this is really good for just obviously rolling out and what you're going to be needing is the thickness that you require

Keep it moving all the time so then it doesn't get stuck to the surface that you're rolling it on top keep flouring it up but not too much flour because you don't want to make it too dry now that to me is what I would like the thickness of my biscuits and with your own cling film.

I should pantent this to be honest take off the residue of the flour throw it away and then you've got yourself a new rolling pin.

So as it's Easter it would be good to do like an Easter theme and at work I was doing the Easter bunnies and the GFaL bunnies but unfortunately I don't have one of the cutters at home all I have is just a circular cutter so my theory that I was going to go for I was just turning them from a circle into an egg shape placing them onto your baking tray so I'm just going to make three egg shapes because there's three of us at home yet if you want to feel really adventurous you can cut out and try and be creative that way it's not a tooth this is going to be my rabbit!

The mixture will easily come back together and form as one so there is no waste like I said with biscuits you can make them as easy or as hard as you like and then keep them played maybe just a little bit of sugar I'll go for the full chocolate them up, icing sugar, you can be as creative as
you like fill them with Jam it's completely up to yourself I'm just going to do a circle make it really really easy!  Just with a fork press into the cookie mix the indentations the tray is ready to go in the oven okay so these are bout 10 minutes in the oven they've literally come out I place them onto a tea towel so they don't burn your work surfaces whilst these are still hot I'm just going to place some chocolate drops that I accidentally found in my daughter's Easter Egg that she doesn't know about, so I'm just going to pop these in here and they will just melt and mould around the biscuit and while it cools down it should hold it in place I'm just going to go let the other ones fully cool down now before we start to ice them okay so off to speed up cooling down process you can actually put them onto another plate which will obviously help cool them down faster if you have a cleaning wire all the better, while they're cooling just make a tiny bit of icing so it's just a small amount in a bowl I like to use a tiny bit of lemon
juice just a few drops and they still just obviously make it quite lemony to go with my biscuits just keep adding a tiny bit at a time so gently incorporate the lemon juice it's all the corners you're just going to want the consistency that just slowly drips off a spoon if it gets too runny we can always add more sugar and obviously if it's too dry add lemon if you don't have lemon juice you can use normal water it's the same effects that you get here.

Okay now that biscuits are fully cooled I'm just going to work on them one by
one just using the tiny bit of icing sugar that I've made I'm just going to flood the biscuit with a spoon sprinkle some in the ears - It's just having fun and I'm going do this with my children. 

You're going set this one back over here to set - moving on for just a couple of the eggs this is just all I have in my cupboard I've got nothing special and these are just some icing pens that I've had from decorating a cake a while back - don't know if there's anything in it and it's just using up what you have in your cupboards just to have a bit of fun you can meltdown chocolate and like I said just dust them with icing sugar when they come out of the your oven is the best time if you're going to sprinkle them with sugar because it just sets some of them a bit more and gives it a bit more of a crunch, you can obviously make more icing sugar and if you want if that's all you have maybe add a bit of sprinkles. I'm just dusting it slightly moving back to our little bunny here you can just start its little eyes, it nose, just again, dust them all and there we have them ready for Easter!


Ingredients

* 56g/2ozÊbutter
* 28g/1ozÊcaster sugar, plus extra to finish
* 85g/3oz plain flour
Optional (to decorate):
Icing sugar
Lemon juice
Sprinkles
Chocolate buttons




Method:

Weigh out all the ingredients and putÊtogether in a bowl.

1. Using the tips of your fingers incorporate all the ingredients togetherÊusing the Ôrub in methodÕ.Ê
2. When the mixtureÊis all rubbed in (it should resemble a crumble mix or sand)?add your optional ingredient. This can be lemon,Êorange rind/ ground ginger/ chocolate drops/ cinnamon etc.Ê
3. Keep mixing together until it binds together like a pastry/ play dough texture.Ê

Top tip:ÊIf it doesnÕt feel like it will ever come together then add a tiny drop of oil.

5. Optional: PlaceÊthe shortbread mix in the fridge for 1 hour to rest. This solidifies the fat and prevents it spreading in the baking process.ÊÊ
6. On a lightly floured work surfaceÊroll out the dough to your desired thickness.?Cut into the shapes you want.ÊÊ
Top tip:ÊIf you want thick biscuits then prick with a fork,Êthis helps the baking process by releasing the steamÊand prevents the biscuitsÊfrom puffing up.Ê
7. Bake at 180 degreesÊor gas mark4. Cooking timesÊwill varyÊdepending on thickness. After about 8-10 minutes check and once they start to change to a light golden colour they will be ready.Ê
8. Place gently onto a cooling wire orÊa plate as this will speed up the cooling process. BeÊcarefulÊas your biscuits will be very fragile!ÊYou can leave on the baking tray to cool but remember that the biscuits will still keep on slightly cooking.Ê
9. Once cool, you can decorate withÊyour chosen ingredients.ÊÊ
Decoration top tips!Ê
1. Use pre-made icing in easy pipe tubes/ melted chocolate.
2. Make perfect home made icing by adding small amount of lemon juice to icing sugar powder until it binds together with the consistency of thick glue. It should slowly fall off the spoon. If it is too runny then simply add more icing sugar and add more lemon juice if it is too thick.
3. Be more creative by adding sprinkles, chocolate drops, or sugar flowers.