Homemade Christmas cookies for any time of the year

Nothing says Christmas like a newly baked batch of yummy cookies. But to be honest, why wait for Christmas when you can have it any time of the year.

Try this easy cookie recipe to get the cookie monster off your back.

Ingredients:

• 100g unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
• 100g caster sugar
• 1 free-range egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 275g plain flour
• To decorate
• 400g icing sugar
• 3-4 tablespoon water
• 2-3 drops food colourings
• Edible glitter

Preheat the oven to 190C. Line a baking tray with grease proof paper. Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl until pale, light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract, a little at a time, until well combined. Stir in the flour until the mixture comes together as a dough.

Roll the dough out on a lightly floured work surface to a thickness of 1cm/½in. Using biscuit cutters or a glass, cut biscuits out of the dough and carefully place onto the baking tray. To make into Christmas tree decorations, carefully make a hole in the top of the biscuit using a straw. Bake the biscuits for 8-10 minutes, or until pale golden-brown. Set aside to harden for 5 minutes, then cool on a wire rack. For the icing, sift the icing sugar into a large mixing bowl and stir in enough water to create a smooth mixture. Stir in the food colouring.

Carefully spread the icing onto the biscuits using a knife and sprinkle over the glitter. Set aside until the icing hardens.