Sugar biscuits

Instructions

1. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream together the butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, 1 tbsp milk and vanilla, beating well. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the egg mixture a little at a time until just blended.
2. Divide the dough into 4 balls and shape into fat discs; wrap each with clingfilm and refrigerate until firm (overnight, preferably, or for at least 4 hours).
3. Preheat the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas mark 4 and line 2 large baking trays with baking paper. Remove 1 disc of dough from the fridge (leaving the remaining dough in there), unwrap it and roll it out to a thickness of 0.5cm between 2 sheets of lightly floured baking paper. Remove the top layer of baking paper and cut the dough into cookies with a 5cm cutter.
4. Transfer the raw biscuits on the baking paper to the freezer and leave until firm. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes, until the edges turn light golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Repeat with the remaining dough, rerolling the scraps, until you have 56 biscuits.
5. To make the icing, whisk the icing sugar with enough of the remaining 2-3 tbsp of milk in a small bowl to make a smooth icing of drizzling consistency. Use 1⁄2 tsp icing and 1⁄2 tsp coloured sugar to decorate each biscuit, as desired. Let the icing set before serving.