Stained glass window biscuits

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan160°C/ gas 4. Cut pieces of baking paper to fit 2 large baking trays. Put the pink and yellow sweets in separate plastic food bags and use a rolling pin to bash the sweets a few times, so they break up into small pebbles about 1cm big. Set aside.

2. Beat the butter and sugar in a bowl, until pale and creamy. Sift the flour into the mixture, then add the milk. Use your hands to mix everything together into a ball of dough.

3. Sprinkle a little flour over a work surface. Split the dough into 2 pieces. Roll out 1 piece with a floured rolling pin until it is about 5mm thick. Using biscuit cutters (about 8cm x 4cm), cut out Christmas shapes. Using a 1.5cm fluted pastry cutter, cut circles out of the middle of each of the biscuits. Carefully move the cookies to the trays with a fish slice. Repeat with the remaining dough, then re-roll the trimmings to make more biscuits, about 25-30 in total. Put a different coloured sweet pebble into the middle of each biscuit hole. The sweets melt while the biscuits bake to form ‘glass’ windows.

4. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until the biscuits are just golden. Cool on the trays, then transfer to a wire rack. (Make sure the sweets have set hard before removing from the trays.) Store in an airtight container in a cool place for up to 5 days.