Bake Off Bake Along: Week 2 - Iced Biscuits

Another week has flown by, with this week in the tent of dreams seeing the contestants try their hand at biscuits. Not my most favourite week, its pretty much the same each year. Challenge one being something iced, challenge two being something fiddly and the final challenge always being a 3d sculpture.

I don't have the nerve to make eleventy hundred pieces and make a sculpture so it was a choice between Viennese whirls and iced biscuits. In the spirit of challenge, I don't really rate myself as being the most patient when it comes to decorate so I opted to make these doughnut iced biscuits.

No intricate designs here I'm afraid, but you've seen make jaffa cakes, I can't really ice within the lines so I'm surprised these turned out so tidy! Almond sugar biscuits topped with either plain or chocolate icing and plenty of doughnut sprinkles.

I C E D D O U G H N U T B I S C U I T S
(Makes 2 dozen biscuits)

170g unsalted butter, softened

170g white caster sugar

1tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract

1 egg

2tsp baking powder

500g plain flour

For the icing:

225g icing sugar

few drops of chosen flavouring/colouring

2-3tbsp boiling water

sprinkles to decorate

Heat the oven to 180 degrees and line two cookie sheets with baking parchment.
Beat together the butter and sugar on a medium heat until pale and fluffy.
Add the egg and the extracts and continue to beat on a low speed until well combined.
Sift the flour and baking powder into a large separate bowl. Add slowly to the wet mix whilst continuing to beat on a medium speed until well incorporated and the dough forms one ball around the beater attachment.
Flour a work surface and roll out the dough to a quarter inch thickness. Use round cutters to cut the doughnut shapes and a drink lid to cut out the centre of the doughnut hole.
Place evenly spaced on the prepared cookie trays and bake for 6-8 minutes until they just start to turn golden. Leave to cool for 5 minutes before transferring onto a wire rack to cool fully.
To make the icing, sieve the icing sugar into a bowl. Add one tablespoon of water and begin to stir, add a few more drops as necessary until the icing mixture is smooth but thick enough to decorate the biscuits. If you want other flavours or colours, divide the icing mixture into smaller individual bowls for each flavour or colour. To make chocolate icing, from the 225g icing sugar, substitute 2tsp for cocoa powder.
Once the biscuits are fully cooled, pour the icing into individual piping bags to frost them. Sprinkle with toppings and leave to fully set before serving.