Gold Medal Biscuits

Cooking instructions

1. Put the soft butter into the stand mixer with the paddle attachment fitted then add the sugar. Mix the sugar and butter together until light coloured and creamy. You can do this in a mixing bowl with a wooden spoon but it is a lot more work! 
2. Add the egg and flour and mix again thoroughly. Add the icing sugar and vanilla seeds and mix until it forms a ball. You might need to add a little bit of milk if it is a bit dry. Wash your hands if you get raw egg on your fingers.
3. Wrap the biscuit dough in cling film and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
4. When ready to cook, heat your oven to 180˚C/160˚C fan/gas mark 4. Line a baking tray with a piece of baking paper.
5. While the oven is heating up, dust the clean work top with flour and roll out the dough with a rolling pin until it is 1cm thick. If you have time, chill again for 30 minutes.
6. Use a 7–8cm cutter to cut out circles and put them on to the lined baking tray at least 2cm apart.
7. If you are making medals, make a small hole in the top of the biscuits that is big enough to fit a ribbon through (I used a round piping nozzle).
8. Put the tray into the oven for 10 to 12 minutes until the biscuits are lightly golden all over.
9. Take the tray out of the oven and move the biscuits to a wire rack to cool before decorating.

To decorate

1. Spray the biscuits with edible gold food spray and allow them to dry on the wire rack.
2. Once the gold spray has dried, decorate with the white icing. Leave the icing to set for 5 minutes.
3. Just before serving, thread the ribbons through the holes that have been made and tie in a bow.

Make ahead alert: the biscuit dough needs to rest for 1 hour before cooking and then the biscuits need to be completely cold before decorating.

Tilly’s Tip

Try adding lemon, lime or orange zest or spices like ginger or cinnamon. Or replace 3 tbsp flour with 3 tbsp of cocoa powder.

Dad says...

To get the tiny seeds out of a vanilla pod, all you have to do is split the pod with a sharp knife and open it out as much as you can. Then, use a knife or a spoon to scrape the inside from top to bottom. The black stuff you have gathered is hundreds of tiny seeds ready to make your biscuits taste amazing.

Reward the kids this half-term in London with the Cookie Decorating Masterclass at Bread Street Kitchen,  free when adults dine on two-courses. Find out more.