Grease the baking sheets or line with silcone baking mat or magic liner
For the dough:
EITHER: Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and beginning to thicken. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extractEasiest with a hand or stand mixer
In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter and eggs, and mix thoroughly.
OR: Blitz all the ingredients in a food processor until they form a ball of dough
To make the biscuits:
Halve the dough and roughly form into balls in your hands. Put each ball in a plastic box with a lid, and rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour. Overnight is fine
When you're ready to make the biscuits, preheat the oven to 190°C/170°C fan, gas mark 5/375°F
Take one ball of dough out of the fridge, sprinkle a little flour on your surface, place the dough on it and flatten with your hand
Sprinkle a little more flour onto the rolling pin roll out to a thickness of about ½ cm (5mm)
Cut into bunny (or other animal) shapes, dipping the cutter into flour as you go, and place the biscuits a little apart on the baking sheets
Bake for 10–12 minutes, by which time they will be slightly golden around the edges
Cool on a wire cooling rack and repeat with the other ball of dough - or freeze it for later. Wait until the biscuits are completely cool to ice them.
For the icing:
Sift the icing sugar and dried egg white together into a bowl. Mix the powders carefully with a spoon, to avoid sugar everywhere. Add the hot water to the sugar a little at a time and mix until it is spreadable, but not too runny. You may not need all the waterMake up half the icing at a time so that it doesn't dry out
Try icing one biscuit to see if the icing spreads well
Add colouring at any point, easiest with the tip of a cocktail stick if you're using gel/paste colours. See Note for the colours I used
Add sugar balls for eyes while the icing is still slightly wet. Use ready-made writing icing tubes when the icing is dry if you want to pipe features.
Video
Notes
Everyday Cooks Tips:
Colourings:I used gel colours by SugarFlair in Egg Yellow, Baby Blue, Pink, Tangerine, Party Green. You can buy Sugarflair Gel Colouring Sets from Amazon.Make ahead:
You can make the dough the day before and keep in the fridge until you're ready OR
Freeze the dough for up to a month OR
(My favourite) Since you're making it anyway, make twice as much and freeze half the dough for another time