The UK splashes out around £365million every year on Easter eggs.

It's big business. In fact, in 2014, we scoffed 92 million Cadbury Creme Eggs, while Thorntons are currently re-stocking their shelves with some three million Harry Hopalot chocolate bunnies.

But if your favourite egg has already flown off the shelves, or you've had your fill of chocolate, you could try making some alternative sugary hits instead.

I head to the Good Housekeeping Institute for a masterclass with cook Cher Loh, who is here to teach me and a batch of other merry bakers, how to whizz up some Easter biscuits.

He reassures us they are "easy to make" - and for us, it's made all the easier by the fact that Loh has already mixed up and chilled some dough.

After rolling some out on the work surface, I'm just about to hastily shove my biscuit-cutter into the middle when Loh stops me.

"Start from the edge of dough, so you get as many biscuits as possible from it," he advises.

After cutting out all our biscuits, they're arranged on parchment and re-chilled, before baking in the oven and then being left to cool.

Next comes the fun part - decorating.

With a steady hand and using a tasteful palette of three pastel colours, Loh pipes neat lines, squiggles and lattices onto each of his biscuits. They look like edible works of art when he's finished.

But with a stack of errands to run and a tendency to become impatient with baking, I stick with a simple pink squiggle, yellow line and pale blue zig-zag on mine.

They look a little childlike compared to Loh's (and the other bakers' in the class), who've carefully piped their names, Easter messages and woodland creatures onto theirs.

Still, it's the effort that counts, right? And while baking biscuits from scratch has taken a bit more effort than my usual supermarket dash, it's a lot more fun giving out handmade gifts, and I'm pleased to report that my batch is met with approval from my colleagues the next day.

To try your hand at making your own Easter treats, here are three recipes from the Good Housekeeping Institute...

:: ICED EASTER BISCUITS

(Makes 10)

75g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra to grease

100g caster sugar

40g condensed milk

1 medium egg, beaten

Finely grated zest of 1/2 orange or 1/2 lemon

1/2tsp baking powder

200g plain flour, plus extra to dust

Pinch of salt

For the icing:

100g icing sugar

Food colouring pastes

Ribbon, to decorate (optional)

Put the butter, sugar and condensed milk into a large bowl. Mix with a wooden spoon until pale and fluffy. Next, beat in the egg a little at a time, then add the zest, followed by the baking powder, flour and a pinch of salt. Bring together with your hands, then wrap in cling film and chill for 30 minutes.

Lightly grease two large baking sheets with butter. Lightly flour a work surface and roll out the dough to 5mm thick. Stamp out Easter shapes, re-rolling the trimmings.

Arrange the biscuits on the prepared sheets. If you later want to thread a ribbon through the top, make a 5mm hole in each biscuit with a skewer. Chill for 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Bake the biscuits for 10-12 minutes until lightly golden. Loosen with a palette knife, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the icing, sift icing sugar into a bowl and add just enough water to make a thick, spreadable icing. Divide among small bowls and add colouring to each as needed. Pipe or spread over the biscuits and leave to set. If you like, you can thread ribbons through the biscuits and hang them up.

:: HOT CROSS BUNS

(Makes 12)

300g strong white bread flour, plus extra to dust

1tsp mixed spice

25g cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes, plus extra to grease

50g caster sugar

Finely grated zest of 1/2 lemon

1x7g sachet fastaction dried yeast

170ml semi-skimmed milk, plus a dash more if needed

1 medium egg

75g sultanas or mixed fruit for the cross topping

1tbsp plain flour

1/2tsp salt

1tbsp golden syrup, to glaze

Put the strong flour, mixed spice, butter and half a teaspoon of salt into a food processor, and pulse until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Alternatively, rub the butter into the flour mixture using your fingers.

Add the sugar, lemon zest and yeast and pulse again (or stir) to combine. Empty the mixture into a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Gently heat the milk until it's just warm, then add the milk and egg to the flour bowl and stir quickly to make a soft dough. If the mixture feels too dry, you can add a little more cold milk.

Dust a work surface with flour, then knead the dough for five minutes or until elastic. Transfer dough to a large, lightly greased bowl, cover with cling film, and leave in a warm place to rise for one hour.

Transfer the dough to a work surface and knead in the sultanas (you may need to flour the work surface again).

Return the dough to the bowl, cover with cling film and leave to rise for 30 minutes.

Lightly grease a baking sheet with butter. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Shape each into a ball, then flatten slightly. Arrange the balls on the baking sheet, spacing them a little apart. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave to rise for 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. To make the cross topping, put the flour into a small bowl and mix in just enough cold water to give it a smooth, pipeable consistency (about two tablespoons). Put the flour mixture into a piping bag (no need for a nozzle), snip off the tip and, working quickly, pipe a cross on top of each bun.

Bake the buns for 15-18 minutes, or until golden and risen. As soon as they come out of the oven, brush with golden syrup. Then allow to cool completely on a wire rack - or eat warm with lashings of butter.

:: SIMNEL CAKE

(Serves 12)

225g butter, softened, plus extra to grease

225g self-raising flour

2tsp ground mixed spice

400g mixed dried fruit

150g light muscovado sugar

50g golden syrup

Finely grated zest of 2 lemons

4 medium eggs, lightly beaten

Icing sugar, to dust

250g marzipan

2tbsp apricot jam

Preheat oven to 170C/150C fan/gas 3. Grease a 19cm round cake or springform tin with butter and line with baking parchment.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, mixed spice and dried fruit until combined. Put the butter, muscovado sugar, syrup and lemon zest into a separate large bowl and beat together using a hand-held electric whisk until pale and fluffy (about three minutes).

Gradually beat in the eggs, whisking well after each addition. Add flour mixture and fold in with a large metal spoon.

Empty the mixture into the prepared tin and bake. Cover with foil after one hour of cooking, then cook for a further 25 minutes, or until the cake is risen and springy to the touch. A skewer inserted into the centre should come out clean, but don't be tempted to test too early or the cake may sink. Leave to cool completely in the tin.

Take the cake out of the tin, peel off the parchment and transfer to a serving plate. To decorate, dust the work surface with icing sugar and roll out two-thirds of the marzipan until large enough for a 19cm circle (cut around base of cake tin).

Heat the jam with one teaspoon of water in a small pan over a medium heat until runny. Brush the top of the cake with some jam, then lay the marzipan circle on top and gently press down to stick. Using a small knife, score lines on top of the marzipan to make a diamond pattern. Crimp the edge of the marzipan using the thumb and forefinger of one hand, and the index finger of the other.

Roll the remaining marzipan into 11 equal-sized balls. Brush the underside of each with a little jam or water and stick to the top of the cake. If you like, you can use a blowtorch to lightly brown the marzipan balls.

:: All recipes from the Good Housekeeping Institute's Cookery School. To find out more about upcoming courses, visit www.goodhousekeeping.co.uk/institute/cookery-school/the-school

THREE OF THE BEST... Alternative sweet Easter treats

:: Personalised Easter Bunny Card, £11.50 (www.biscuiteers.com)

Forget eggs and instead plump for this beautifully presented edible Easter card. You can add a personalised message onto the egg-shaped biscuit, which is flanked by a super cute biscuit bunny either side.

:: Lady Ba-Ba Cake, £6 (www.co-operativefood.co.uk)

Score serious brownie points with this baa-rilliant Easter centrepiece. The marshmallow exterior means you need a sharp knife to cut through it, but the effort is rewarded with a pleasant sponge cake underneath.

:: 6 Mini Easter Egg Biscuits, £2.50 (www.marksandspencer.com)

These melt in the mouth cookies come topped off with sugary chocolate eggs. Their petite size makes them a perfect nibble with a cuppa.