Simple recipe for tasty and crunchy cookies

WITH the help of a simple biscuit dough, you can make endless cookies for yourself, your guests or as presents. Also, this is so easy that the kids can get creative too.

Basic biscuit dough: 250g butter, cut into small cubes, 140g caster sugar, 2 tsp vanilla flavouring, 1 egg yolk, 300g plain flour.

Method: In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. An electric mixer is best for this, but you can use a wooden spoon too.

Add in flavouring and egg, beat briefly and then quickly work in the flour.

Note: it may be a bit crumbly. Just work it with your fingers. Then set into the fridge to chill. Now, you can just roll this out and use a knife or cookie cutters to make biscuits. Bake at 160°C for 10 minutes for thin biscuits and up to 15 minutes for thicker ones.

Or go wild with these variations.

Add chocolate chips

Buy them in bags in a baking specialist shop and replace the vanilla flavouring with mocha extract or a tablespoon of chocolate powder.

Citrus burst

Create zest by gently grating the skin off a couple of limes, lemons or oranges. Add this as well as two tablespoons of juice to the dough. Finish by sprinkling over candied peel.

Nuts galore

Press almonds, peanuts, walnuts and more into the vanilla basic biscuit and create a delight that will make any coffee morning pop. If you’re feeling creative, you can make stars, smiley faces and more.