biscuits that keep their shape!

[2jamsandwiches]

Any recommendations for tasty, not too sugary biscuits that don't lose their shape when cooked? I want to make letters and numbers and animals, and they need to come out looking the same as they went in, if you see what I mean! Spicy better than shortbready, but I've had bad experiences with gingerbread men turning into gingerbread Michelin men, hence the question!

bump!

I always use Nigella's or, more recently the one below. Keep shape well, tastes great and you could easily add spices to it. I often add lemon rind.

100g/4oz slightly softened butter
50g/2oz caster sugar
175g/6oz plain flour
pinch of salt
a few drops of vanilla essence

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
Beat butter and sugar together until thoroughly mixed. Add vanilla essence.
Sift together flour and salt and mix this into butter mixture to form fairly stiff dough. If the dough is too dry add a little water.
Form dough into a ball, then roll out thinly on a floured surface Cut into shapes.
Arrange on greased/lined baking sheet & bake for ~ 12 to 15 mins or til lightly golden.

Thank you. I used the Nigella one a few weeks ago, which worked well but was a bit boring - lemon zest would definitely be a good idea. Will try it. Any other recommendations?

Lemon zest was a HUGE improvement (though I need to chop it finer next time).
Made half with some cocoa powder substituting for some of the flour - also good.
Thanks for suggesting improvements to the recipe - definitely better!

Am glad it helped. I grate the lemon rind. I suppose you could do it with orange too. Cocoa sounds good. I might try that next time we bake

Maybe lemon AND orange next time? I also put in a couple of drops of lemon oil.
I've got a zester, which I love, but it does give you longer bits of zest than a grater...