Recipe: Cinnamon Smiley Faced Biscuits

How to make cinnamon biscuits (cookies) with iced smiley faces. These are really great to decorate with children - the simple recipe involves few danger hazards and a high mess factor. Enjoy!

Recipe makes about 20 • Preheat oven to 190˚ C/375˚ F/ Gas Mark 5 • Vegetarian/Halal

Ingredients:

• 175g/6oz unsalted butter, softened
• 100g/4oz light brown sugar (white sugar will do)
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tbsp clear honey
• 280/10 oz plain flour (and a little extra for dusting)
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• For decorating: 115g/4oz icing sugar + 1/2 tsp cold water
• 3 tbsp chocolate sprinkles
• 20 jelly sweets, M&Ms® or whatever candy you want
• Coloured writing icing in tubes

1. Measure out your ingredients - add the butter and sugar in a large bowl and whisk together until it's fairly light and fluffy.

2. Add the beaten egg, the honey and stir to combine. Then sift in the flour and cinnamon and mix again to form a soft dough. This dough needs to be stiffer before you can roll out therefore wrap in clingfilm and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

3. Preheat the oven to 190˚ C and line a large a couple of large baking sheets with parchment (greaseproof paper). I ran out out parchment Take out the dough, cut it in half to make rolling easier and place one half in cling film. Rolling out the dough between film keeps the flour-to-butter ration balanced. Peel back the cling film and using a cookie cutter cut out ten or so discs and place onto the baking sheets.

4. Bake for 10-12 minutes - the biscuits will be tan brown and hard. Transfer to a wire rack to allow to cool, before decorating.

5. Sift the icing sugar into a bowl, mix in the water until the mixture is of smooth consistency. Spread a thin layer of icing on the cookies then use sprinkles or chocolate dragees, candies etc, to create faces. Leave to set and then draw in the eyes and mouth.

Wa `alaykum salam.
Zaufishan, the eco muslim