Quick and Easy Vanilla Biscuits

These are super tasty and cook really quickly - the dough can be made in advance and stored in the fridge until you need it and the cooked biscuits keep well for at least a few days. I'm sure they'd probably keep longer but they don't get a chance in this house! I can't remember where I found the original recipe for this but it's been a favourite for some years so I hope the original author will forgive any liberties taken.

Oven 200c /180c fan or Gas Mark 6

You'll need at least 2 flat baking trays and several sheets of baking paper (parchment paper).

Makes c. 40 c.2.5cm round biscuits (your quantities will obviously vary depending on shapes made)


6oz/175g margarine or softened butter
7oz/200g sugar (I use a mix demerara and granulated)
12oz/350g plain flour
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp icing sugar mixed with 1 tsp cinnamon or mixed spice for dusting on top of warm biscuits.

Mix all the ingredients (except the spiced icing sugar) in a food processor. Bring together into a soft dough and divide in 2 lumps.

Roll first lump between 2 pieces of parchment paper (cut to fit  just a bit bigger than your baking trays). Roll to c. 2mm thick and then cut into shapes (I find simple circles work best and use a 2.5 cm diameter cutter). Obviously you can make them thicker and or bigger but will need to keep an eye on them when they cook - play around and you'll soon figure out what timings work best for your shapes and oven.

NOTE: At this point the original recipe said to peel back the excess dough and leave the cut out biscuits on the bottom parchment sheet and then place whole sheet on the baking tray. If this doesn't work for you I've found that putting an additional sheet of parchment paper on the tray and using a palette knife to transfer the cut biscuits on to it works fine if you aren't too bothered about each biscuit being completely uniform in shape!

Roll the next batch between sheets of parchment and repeat. Bring any excess dough together and re-roll between parchment until you have used all the dough up.

Bake for c. 10-12 minutes until gently golden - keep a close eye on them as they turn quickly.

Transfer cooked biscuits to a cooling rack and dust with the icing sugar whilst still warm.

Once cooled store in an airtight container if you can keep them long enough.