Halloween biscuits recipe

You can whip these Halloween biscuits up in under half an hour, and then take your time to decorate them - or leave it to the kids.

There's nothing like some baking to get them in the mood for the spooky season and these Halloween cookies are both delicious and incredibly easy to make. Actually almond biscuits in disguise - they have a lovely sweet and nutty flavour when you tuck into them and can be decorated as the kids see fit. Plus, the dough is super soft and easy for little hands to mould. Households with nut-allergy sufferers can substitute the ground almonds for flour here, so as not to miss out on the fun.

Ingredients

• 100g (3½oz) butter
• 100g (3½oz) caster sugar
• 1 medium egg
• Finely grated rind of ½ a lemon
• 150g (5oz) plain flour, sifted
• 60g (2oz) ground almonds

For the decoration:

• Icing sugar
• Food colourings
• Chocolate strands or chips

Method

1. Set the oven to Gas Mark 4/180°C/350ºF.
2. Soften the butter with a wooden spoon, then beat in the sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Beat in the egg and lemon rind, flour and ground almonds.
4. The dough is very soft, so dust the work surface with flour. Roll the dough out in 2 or 3 batches and cut out shapes with cutters.
5. Place the shapes on baking trays and bake about 12-14 minutes. Cool for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.
6. To decorate: Make up icing with sifted icing sugar and water. Leave some white icing in the bowl and colour the rest of it in separate bowls with the black, orange and green food colourings, or whatever colourings you have. Let the children ice the cookies, spreading it on with a palette knife, or piping patterns on using icing tubes. Finally, decorate the biscuits with chocolate strands and chocolate drops.

Watch how to make our Halloween cookies

Top tips for making Halloween biscuits:

If you don't have cutters, form the mixture into 4 rolls about 1.5cm (½in) wide. Cut each roll into 4 pieces and make whatever shape you like.

What do children learn from icing biscuits with you?

Baking with kids is helpful for motor skills with pouring, mixing and kneading. But it also helps for communication and social skills. It also improves children's interest in food and trying new things.

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