Method (cookies)

1. Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Sift in the flour, mix into a thick dough. If it’s too thick, you can add in a teaspoon of ice-water. You can combine by hand on a clean worktop or in a food processor. Transfer the dough into plastic wrap or baking paper and chill in the fridge for at least 40 minutes -1 hour to firm up.
2. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 180°C fan and line a baking tray with grease-proof paper.
3. Once the dough is chilled and firm to the touch, roll out to approximately 1 – ½ cm thickness on a heavily floured work surface (this prevents the dough from sticking). Cut into rounds using a circle cookie cutter. Place the shapes on the lined baking tray. To half of the cookies, chomp out the eyes and nose shapes (see video for reference).
4. Bake in the middle of the oven for 10-12 minutes. You can even turn the tray half way through to ensure an even baking.
5. Once baked, remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool slightly on the tray before transferring to a wire rack. Repeat until all the cookies are baked.

Method (icing)

1. In a bowl, add in the icing sugar and vanilla. Add in a teaspoon of dairy-free milk at a time until it comes to a thin, toothpaste like consistency.
2. Dip the top of the cookies with the face on and allow any excess icing to drip back into the bowl. Allow to dry / set.
3. Colour some icing with black food gel, transfer into a piping bag and snip off the tip. Pipe on a large line for the mouth and little lines for the details (see photos for example).

Method (filling)

1. Spread or pipe some of the black cherry filling onto the cookies without the faces on and press one of the iced cookies on top to sandwich. Don’t add too much filling or it’ll ooze out the eye holes and around the outside of the cookies.
2. Serve and enjoy!