Pudsey Bear Biscuits

Name: Pudsey Bear Biscuits
Prep time: 1 h
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 1 h 20 min
Yield: Makes around 20 biscuits
Ingredients: 200g unsalted butter softened; 200g golden caster sugar; 1 large egg; 1/2 tsp vanilla extract; 400g plain flour plus extra for dusting; 25g icing sugar; 50g white fondant; coloured icing pens (writing quality); 25g black sugar paste; hundreds and thousands or sweets to decorate (optional)

4.35 (6)

⏱ 80 mins 🍽 Makes around 20 biscuits ✅ Easy 🏷 Dessert

These delightful bear-shaped biscuits are a wonderful treat to make for BBC Children in Need. The vanilla shortbread dough is straightforward to prepare and roll out. Once baked and cooled, the real fun begins with decorating each biscuit to look like Pudsey, using fondant, icing pens, and black sugar paste for his features. It's a creative activity that children will adore. The recipe yields approximately 20 biscuits, which stay fresh for up to three days when stored properly.

Ingredients

200g unsalted butter softened
200g golden caster sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
400g plain flour plus extra for dusting
25g icing sugar
50g white fondant
coloured icing pens (writing quality)
25g black sugar paste
hundreds and thousands or sweets to decorate (optional)

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Prepare a baking sheet with baking parchment. In a bowl, use electric beaters to cream the softened butter until smooth. Incorporate the sugar, followed by the egg and vanilla extract. Finally, mix in the 400g plain flour to form a dough. Should the dough be sticky, work in a small amount of extra flour.
On a floured surface, roll the dough to a thickness similar to a £1 coin. Use a Pudsey bear cutter or a handmade template to cut out the shapes. Gather the trimmings, re-roll them, and cut out more biscuits.
Place the cut biscuits onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake them for 8-10 mins, until the edges begin to colour. Allow the biscuits to cool fully on a wire rack.
For decoration, combine the icing sugar with water to create a thick paste. Roll the white fondant to 5mm thick and cut strips for the eye bandage, attaching them with the white icing. Use coloured icing pens to add polka dots. Shape the eye, nose, and mouth from the black sugar paste, adding a tiny white icing dot to the eye. Secure all features with more icing. Decorate most biscuits this way, and simply cover the remainder with icing and hundreds and thousands. Store in a biscuit tin for up to three days.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories211 kcal

Fat9 g

Saturates5 g

Carbs30 g

Sugars14 g

Fibre1 g

Protein2 g

Sodium8 mg

Recipe details

Skill levelEasy

CategoryDessert

DietVegetarian