Love Heart Biscuits

Beat together the butter and sugar until the mixture is creamy, this can either be done using and electric mixer or wooden spoon. Do not over beat the mix or the cookies will spread when you cook them.

Add the vanilla extract and egg beating together until combined. Gradually incorporate the flour, mixing gently.  We recommend using a very low speed if using an electric mixer to avoid mess. Continue to mix until the all the flour is incorporated.

Collect all the dough into a ball. Cover with cling film and chill for at least an hour.

Knead the chilled dough on a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough to a thickness of 5mm and using the cutter of your choice, cut out the shapes and carefully transfer to the lined baking sheet. Chill for a further 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan, 350°F, gas mark 4). Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes. The cookies will be ready when they are a golden brown colour around the edges. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

These cookies can be made in a range of flavours, just omit the vanilla extract and replace with the same quantity of a different flavoured extract.

To decorate the cookies by flooding method, make a batch of royal icing. Instructions can be found on royal icing sugar packs or here if using icing sugar. Mix the icing to a consistency that holds it shape but is still slightly fluid. Divide the icing into small bowls and colour each using a few drops of the food colouring of your choice.

Spoon a little of the icing into a small piping bag. Pipe an outline of icing around the edge of the cookies. Leave to dry for a few minutes. When ready to flood the cookies. You can either use the same colour icing or a contrasting colour.

Add a few drops of water to the remaining icing in the bowl so it is slightly more runny. Spoon a small amount of icing in the centre and spread the icing to fill the area within the piped line. Leave the cookies to dry. Place the piping bags into a plastic bag to keep moist while the cookies dry.

When the icing has dried you can decorate the cookies by piping a loving message. Hold the bag and touch the starting point with the tip of the bag and slowly squeeze out the icing. As you squeeze lift the bag and move along a little away from the surface, squeeze the icing out with a constant pressure, and let the line of icing fall naturally into place as you guide it. As to come to the end, stop squeezing and drop the line, touching the finish point.