These make great gifts if you thread them together and package them up. You could even thread them with sweets. They are easy to make – just take care not to overwork the dough while adding the colours, as this will result in biscuits that are not as melt-in-the-mouth as they should be.
Makes: 25-35 buttons
Ingredients:
200g salted butter
85g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla-bean paste
270g plain flour
Yellow, green and pink gel food dyes (or any colours you want)
Beat together the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl until smooth and fluffy. Add the vanilla-bean paste and beat again to combine.
Add the flour and mix until just combined. The dough should be slightly sticky, but soft and easy to handle. Divide into three portions, and stir/knead in the gel dyes until the dough is evenly coloured. Try to work the dough as little as possible – the more you knead it, the tougher it will be.
One by one, turn out the coloured doughs on to a well-floured surface and roll out to about 3mm (⅛in) thick. If necessary, wrap the three portions in clingfilm and chill for 10 to 15 minutes, or until firm enough to roll out. Use a small round to stamp out circles (you can use different-sized circles to create buttons of varying sizes, or use other shapes and patterned borders) and transfer to a lined baking tray that fits in the fridge. Use a smaller cutter to indent another circle just within the circumference of each piece of dough. Use a straw (or similar) to stamp out small circles in the centre of each piece.
Refrigerate for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 180C (160C fan)/350F/gas mark 4.
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until just threatening to turn brown at the edges (smaller buttons may need to be taken out of the oven earlier). Transfer gently to a wire rack to finish cooling.
