Easter sugar cookies recipe

Learn how to make these Easter sugar cookies in just a few simple steps.

Biscuits are a great option for making with the kids over the Easter holidays. They're quick to bake and then your children can take as long as they like over decorating them. We've kept the recipe for these biscuits really simple and speedy, but make sure to leave enough time for them to cool. And leave plenty of time for the decorating, as that's the best bit.  This recipe will make between 20-30 biscuits depending on the size and shapes you decide to cut. These Easter biscuits can be stored in an airtight container for up to three days.

Ingredients

For this Easter recipe you will need:

• 100g butter, in chunks
• 100g caster sugar
• 225g plain flour
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 1 medium egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

To decorate:

• 100g each white, black, yellow, blue and pink ready-coloured fondant icing
• 3 tbsp apricot jam, melted with 1 tbsp water to loosen
• White, black, orange and yellow writing icing
• 50g white mini marshmallows
• 100g natural marzipan
• Small amount candy floss (optional) - we used Hope & Greenwood, which comes in a small tub
• small amount thin, coloured ribbon (optional)

Method

1. Line two baking trays with greaseproof paper.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, flour, salt and baking powder until you have a mixture that resembles fine breadcrumbs.
3. In a separate bowl, beat the vanilla essence into the egg. Pour this into the flour mixture and briefly combine to form a dough. Don't overwork the dough at this stage, or it can make the biscuits tough. Roll into a ball, wrap in cling film, and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes to firm it up.
4. Preheat the oven to 160°C/320°F/Gas Mark 3. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to about 3-4mm (nearly ¼in) thick and use round, oval and rabbit-shaped cutters to cut out shapes we cut twice as many ovals as other shapes, as they make the chicks and Easter eggs, but adjust to your own decorating preferences. Re-roll all the trimmings and repeat until all the dough is used up. Place the cut-outs on the lined baking trays. Return to the fridge for 15 minutes before baking.
5. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 15-20 minutes, until the biscuits are starting to turn golden on the edges. Remove from the oven and leave to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating.
6. To decorate the lambs: Cut a circle of white icing the same size as the round biscuits. Brush the top of the biscuits with melted jam and place the fondant icing over the top so that it sticks in place. Cut little faces for the lambs out of black fondant icing. Brush the top of the white fondant icing with the melted jam all over, then stick the faces into the middle of the biscuits. Cover the rest of the white fondant with mini marshmallows. Add two dots of white writing icing for the eyes. To decorate the chicks: Cut an oval of yellow fondant icing the same size as the oval biscuits, and an oval of blue icing. Attached the yellow icing to the biscuits in the same way as you did for the lambs. Cut the blue ovals in half using a zig-zag line across the middle, so it looks like half a cracked egg. Attach this to the bottom half of the yellow biscuits. Add an orange beak and black eyes using the writing icing. You can leave the blue eggs off half of the chicks and instead draw on wings with the yellow writing icing and feet with the orange. To decorate the Easter eggs: Cut ovals of pink, yellow and blue fondant icing the same size as the biscuits and attach them in the same way as you did for the lambs. Use contrasting colours to add stripes over the top, or decorate with the writing icing. To decorate the bunnies: Cut a bunny shape of marzipan the same size as the bunny biscuits, and attach it in the same way as you did for the fondant icing shapes on the lambs. Add an eye using the black fondant icing, and use white writing icing to cover the tail area. Stick a small piece of candy floss onto the white icing to make a fluffy tail. Finish by tying a little ribbon bow around the bunnies necks, if you like.

Top tip for making Easter sugar cookies

You can be as creative as you want with the decorations here - we done eggs, chicks, lambs and rabbits, but you could make flowers, ducks or butterflies too. You can get really intricate with the eggs, using writing or piping icing to create lots of interesting patterns. Add sprinkles and smarties or jelly tots too if you like.

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