Festive iced biscuits

Preheat the oven to 150°C. Line 2 baking trays with greaseproof paper.

Mix the butter and sugar together, and add the sifted flour and salt to form a biscuit dough.

Roll out the biscuit dough to 5mm thickness and cut out desired shapes using festive cutters. Place the cut-outs on the greased baking trays and bake until lightly golden and cooked through, 5 – 7 minutes.

Remove the biscuits from the oven. Immediately pierce the top of each biscuit with a skewer, to make a hole. When they are all pierced, place the biscuits on a wire rack to cool.

To make the icing, beat the egg whites to stiff peak stage and slowly add 15ml (1 tbsp) of icing sugar at a time, until you have a thick, glossy icing. Make sure it is of piping consistency; if it is a little thick, add a drop of water.

Place icing in a piping bag and pipe decorations. Thin the icing with a little water if you would like it to be runnier.