Three-ingredient holiday shortbread cookies

Cream the softened butter and powdered sugar with a hand mixer on high, around three minutes, until light, fluffy and pale.

Add the all-purpose flour and mix just until a dough forms.

Wrap the soft dough in cling wrap and chill until firm; keeps in the fridge up to about three days or the freezer up to eight weeks.

Roll out on a floured surface a quarter inch thick.

Cut out shapes with festive cutters and place on the tray; return the dough to the fridge if it softens.

For stars, set the cutter back over the cut cookie on the tray and press holiday sprinkles into the dough.

Re-roll the scraps and keep cutting until the dough is used up.

For sandwich cookies, cut a hole in the middle of half the stars with a piping nozzle.

Bake at 325F / 165C for roughly 20 minutes, until light golden brown.

Variation: dip or drizzle cookies with melted chocolate, shake off the excess and set on parchment until hard.

Variation: spread jam on the solid star, dust the cut-out star with powdered sugar, and sandwich them together.