Ingredients (makes approx. 24 biscuits):

For the shortbread biscuits:

To decorate:

Note: Make sure you have a grown up with you to help with baking!

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 160°C (Gas mark 2/325°F).
  2. Line 2 large baking trays with baking paper.
  3. Place the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl, then whisk together until pale and fluffy.
  4. Sieve in the flour, then add the vanilla extract.  Whisk again until the mixture comes together in a dough.
  5. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to around 1cm thick.  Using a small round biscuit cutter, cut circles from the dough then carefully transfer them to the baking trays.
  6. Bake for around 15 minutes until golden.
  7. Once cooked, leave the shortbread rounds to cool on the baking trays for a few minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
  8. Once the biscuits are completely cool, make the icing:
  9. Sieve the icing sugar into a bowl then add a splash of water. Stir well until the sugar has dissolved and the icing is smooth. Add a little more water if needed to get the correct consistency of icing, suitable for piping.
  10. Divide the icing between three small bowls and colour with the gel food colourings.
  11. Spoon each portion of coloured icing into a disposable piping bag.
  12. Cut the tip from each piping bag and pipe footprint shapes onto the biscuits, in a variety of shapes and colours.
  13. Leave the icing to dry and set.
  14. Once the icing has completely dried, store the biscuits in an airtight container, layered with baking paper to separate them, until ready to serve.