Christmas biscuits to paint with royal icing

The preparation step by step

1. Weighing and preparing

   Weigh 250 g of flour, 80 g of icing sugar and 1 g of salt separately. Cut 125 g of unsalted butter into small dice. The butter should be cool but soft enough to leave a dent when pressed with a finger. Prepare a small bowl for the egg and two sheets of baking paper.

2. Prepare the egg

   Break a medium egg in the small bowl. Remove any shell fragment, then beat it with a fork and weigh 50 g. Keep any excess for another preparation. This measured liquid brings the dry ingredients together.

3. Rub the butter into the dry ingredients

   Combine the weighed dry ingredients and diced butter in the bowl. Rub in briefly with your fingertips until you have fine crumbs and no large pieces of butter. Avoid working the mixture in your palms for too long, as this would warm it.

4. Gathering without kneading

   Add 50 g of beaten egg and 5 g of vanilla extract. Mix with a spatula, then press the crumbs together by hand. Stop as soon as the dough comes together evenly; it does not need to become stretchy like brioche dough.

5. Refrigerate the dough

   Flatten the dough into two 2 cm thick discs, cover them and place them in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Leave one half in the refrigerator while you work the other; a thick ball would cool less regularly.

6. Regularly

   Preheat the oven to 170 °C, conventional oven setting (no fan). Roll the first half between two sheets of baking paper to a thickness of 4 mm. Turn the paper between passes of the rolling pin. If the dough cracks sharply, wait 3 to 5 minutes before continuing.

7. Cut the biscuits

   Cut the discs by 5 cm. Lift the pieces with a palette knife and place on a cold lined baking tray, leaving 2 cm between them. Press the offcuts together, roll out once more and keep the smallest pieces for a separate batch.

8. Cook one plate at a time

   Bake on the middle shelf for 10 to 12 minutes. Start checking after 8 minutes: the edges should be lightly golden and the centres paler. The cookies are still slightly soft when they come out of the oven; waiting for them to be hard in the oven would dry them out.

9. Cool without breaking

   Rest the tray on a heatproof surface for 5 minutes, then transfer the biscuits to a wire rack. Bake the second tray meanwhile. Wait at least 20 minutes after the last batch before storing or decorating the biscuits.

10. Prepare the royal icing

    Pour 30 g of pasteurized egg white into a clean bowl. Add 200 g of icing sugar and 3 g of lemon. Mix at low speed for 2 minutes, without incorporating too much air. The icing should form a thick paste that briefly keeps a groove.

11. Cover a thin layer

    Spread a small spoonful of icing on each cold cookie leaving a 2 mm blond edge. Use the back of the spoon; it is useless to look for a perfectly flat surface. Cover the icing bowl between two sets so that it does not rind.

12. Let dry before painting

    Leave cookies flat dry for at least 3 hours. Touch a test piece: the top should be firm without leaving a trace. A thick icing or damp room may require an extra night.

13. Ask only a few points

    Dilute each drop of dye in 1 to 2 g of water in small cups. With a new brush reserved for feeding, place two or three dots on the dry icing. Do not soak the surface. Let it dry for another 30 minutes before storage.