Christmas biscuits

Mix the sugar, syrup, spices and eggs in a jug. Tip the baking powder and flour into a bowl and add the butter, stir it through the flour and then rub it in thoroughly until it looks like breadcrumbs. Add the contents of the jug and a pinch of salt and stir the mixture to combine it. Use your hands to bring the dough together and then knead it until it’s smooth. Divide the dough into 4 and press each into a disc. Put in plastic bags and chill for at least an hour.

Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Roll the dough out in batches on a lightly floured worksurface to the thickness of a pound coin and cut out shapes. Use the narrow end of a piping nozzle to make a hole at the top of the shapes big enough to thread ribbon or string through. Lift them with a palette knife onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper.

Bake in batches for 10-15 mins, depending on size. Leave for 5 minutes before moving off the tray to cool fully on a wire rack. Keep rolling, cutting and baking until they’re all done.

Make up a batch of icing following the instructions on the packet – you’re looking for a texture similar to toothpaste – then put into a piping bag fitted with a small nozzle. Decorate the biscuits, following our designs or use your own. Leave to cool and harden.