Visiting my mum recently I was reminded of the times we used to go to monthly tea dances in the village halls around Ashford, where I grew up. Halfway through each evening a tray would be passed round with a selection of cakes and biscuits on it. I always chose the Viennese Biscuits – crumbly yet mouthwatering and the end dipped in chocolate. And often sandwiched together with buttercream.

My recipe includes a couple of egg yolks (look back to a previous recipe for a meringue recipe to use the egg white). If you’d like to leave the egg out, just reduce the flour amount by about 50g.

You will need:

220g Softened Butter

100g Icing Sugar

2 Egg Yolks

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

250g Plain Flour

50g Cornflour

Optional

Chocolate

Buttercream – made with equal measures of Butter and Icing Sugar.

What to do:

In a large mixing bowl mix the Butter and the Icing Sugar together until pale and creamy. The butter needs to be soft to ensure no lumps of butter stay in the mix.

Separate the Eggs into small bowl and add the Yolks into the mix. The Whites can be frozen to use at a later date.

Add the Vanilla Extract and combine.

Fold in the Flour and Cornflour gradually to form a soft dough.

Pop your dough into a piping bag with a round or star nozzle and pipe sausages or circles onto a lined baking tray.

If you don’t have a piping bag – or your mix is a little too stiff to pipe – use 2 spoons to  drop shapes onto the baking tray.

Bake at 170°C for 12-14 minutes until just golden brown.

Leave on the baking tray for a few minutes to cool then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

If you wish, you can sandwich together in pairs with buttercream and dip into melted chocolate.

Enjoy! xxx