Rochelle Humes’ Gingerbread Biscuits

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4 and line several large baking sheets with greaseproof paper.

Heat the butter, sugar and golden syrup in a pan over a medium heat until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved.

Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger and cinnamon into a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Pour the butter and syrup mixture into the well, then use a wooden spoon to stir the mixture until it comes together to a dough. Set aside for a couple of minutes until cool enough to handle, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface and bring the mixture together with your hands, being careful not to over-handle as this can result in a tough dough. Press the dough down into a flat disc, cover with plastic wrap and transfer it to the fridge to rest for 20 minutes.

Once rested, roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of 3 mm/¹⁄₈ inch (about the thickness of a £1 coin). Use cutters of your choice to stamp out biscuits, then transfer to the prepared baking sheets, leaving room between the biscuits to allow them to spread slightly during cooking. Reroll the scraps to use up any remaining dough.

Transfer the biscuits to the oven and leave to bake for 10 minutes until light golden brown. Leave the biscuits on the trays for 10 minutes to firm up, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

While the biscuits are cooling, make the icing. Sift the icing sugar into a large bowl, gradually add the water and whisk or stir to combine to a thick icing; if the icing is too thin it will just run off the biscuits. Put the icing into piping bags and snip off the ends, then decorate the biscuits as you would like (or ask your kids to come and help!). Add sprinkles, edible glitter and jelly sweets to finish. Set aside for a few minutes to allow the icing to set, then the biscuits are ready to enjoy! These will keep for several weeks in an airtight container.