Gingerbread biscuits

Instructions

1. 1

   Sift the plain flour into a large bowl. Stir in the bicarbonate of soda, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, mixed spice and salt until evenly combined.

2. 2

   Put the unsalted butter, soft dark muscovado sugar, golden syrup and black treacle into a separate bowl. Beat together until smooth, then beat in the medium egg until fully incorporated.

3. 3

   Tip the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and fold together with a spatula until a soft dough forms. If the dough feels too sticky to handle, add a little plain flour, 1 tsp at a time.

4. 4

   Shape the dough into a flat disc, wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. Chilling firms the fats so the shapes keep their edges when baked.

5. 5

   Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/200°C conventional. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Dust a sheet of baking paper lightly with plain flour, place the chilled disc on top and cover with a second sheet of baking paper.

6. 6

   Roll the dough to an even 3–4 mm thickness between the paper sheets, then use cookie cutters to cut shapes. Transfer the shapes to the prepared baking tray, leaving about 2 cm between each.

7. 7

   Bake in the preheated oven for 8–10 minutes until edges are set and the centres have a slight give. Rotate the tray halfway if your oven has hot spots.

8. 8

   Leave the biscuits on the baking tray for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Cooling allows the centres to set without continuing to brown.

9. 9

   To decorate, mix the icing sugar with the water to a pipeable consistency. Spoon into a piping bag or a small freezer bag with the corner snipped and decorate the cooled biscuits. Leave iced biscuits to set for 15 minutes before stacking.

Tips

• Weigh ingredients precisely — biscuits are sensitive to balance. Digital scales make a huge difference.
• Chill the dough well and roll between baking paper for an easy, non-stick surface and even thickness.
• If you want very crisp biscuits, roll to 2.5 mm and bake for the upper end of the time; for chewier centres keep to 3–4 mm and the shorter bake time.
• Make the dough a day ahead and keep wrapped in the fridge; bring out to roll straight from cold.
• Freeze unbaked cut shapes in a single layer on a tray, then transfer to a bag; bake from frozen, adding an extra 1–2 minutes.

Substitutions

• unsalted butter → salted butter, reduce added salt to a pinch

  Stays close

• soft dark muscovado sugar → soft light brown sugar, same weight

  Stays close

• black treacle → dark molasses, same weight

  Stays close

• medium egg → 1 tbsp milk mixed with 1 tsp golden syrup (egg-free)

  Noticeably different

Nutrition

Per serving · estimated

159

Calories

2 g

Protein

28 g

Carbs

5 g

Fat

1 g

Fibre

17 g

Sugar

70 mg

Sodium

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