Mother’s Day Cookies

Method

1. Line two large flat baking trays with parchment.

2. Preheat your oven to 190ºC/gas mark 5.

3. Sieve the flour, bread soda, ginger and cake spice into a large bowl.

4. Gently melt the treacle, golden syrup, butter and brown sugar together. Allow to cool slightly.

5. Add the treacle mixture and egg yolk to the flour.

6. Beat or stir until it forms a ball.

7. Roll out the dough straight away to a square about five mm in thickness.

8. Cut out your heart cookies. Bring together any leftover dough, re-roll and then cut out more hearts.

9. Bake for 8 to 9 minutes until turning golden.

10. Once cool enough to handle, place your cookies onto a wire rack to cool completely.

11. To make the icing, add the icing sugar to the egg whites and beat at a low setting.

12. Turn up the setting when it is all combined and whisk until stiff.

13. Dilute the icing with lemon juice as needed, it should be the consistency of thick paint and should hold its shape when piped or brushed onto a cookie.

14. You can add colour to some of your icing if you wish.

15. Place your plastic bag into a cup with one corner of the bag pointing down. Spoon the icing into the bag.

16. Remove the bag from the cup and push the icing into the corner then tie the top with an elastic band so you have a conical shape filled with icing.

17. Snip a tiny hole in the tip of the corner to allow you to pipe the icing onto your cookies.

18. The icing will harden in an hour or so on a wire rack at room temperature.