Spicy ginger biscuits are the perfect festive treat – perfect to have on hand in your house for unexpected visitors or to give as edible gifts! They are also fun to make with kids as a holiday activity and make pretty, homemade Christmas tree decorations. Get creative!
175 g Dark brown sugar
85 g Golden syrup
100 g Butter
3 tsp Ground ginger
1 tsp Ground cinnamon
1 tsp Ground cloves
350 g Plain flour (cake flour)
1 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
1 Egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup Sifted icing sugar
2 tbsp Lemon juice
Silver edible balls
Heat the sugar, golden syrup and butter until melted.
Mix the spices and flour in a large bowl.
Dissolve the bicarbonate of soda in 1 tsp cold water.
Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, add the melted sugar mix, egg and bicarbonate of soda. Mix well.
At this stage the mix will be soft but will firm up on cooling.
Cover the surface of the biscuit mix with cling film and leave to cool, then put in the fridge for at least 1 hr to become firm enough to roll out.
Heat oven to 190 degrees Celcius.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly.
(At this stage the dough can be put into a food bag and kept in the fridge for up to a week.)
Cut the dough in half.
Thinly roll out one half on a lightly floured surface.
Cut into shapes with cutters, such as gifts, trees and hearts, then transfer to baking sheets, leaving a little room for them to spread.
If you plan to hang the biscuits up, make a small hole in the top of each one using a skewer. Repeat with remaining dough.
Bake for 12-15 mins until they darken slightly.
If the holes you have made have closed up, remake them while the biscuits are warm and soft using a skewer.
Cool for a few mins on the baking sheets, then transfer to a wire rack to cool and harden up completely.
Mix icing sugar and lemon juice in a bowl, then spread over the biscuits with a palette knife or the back of a spoon.
Or pipe in festive shapes and decorations and decorate with the silver balls.
Leave to set for 1 hour.
If hung up on the tree, the biscuits will be edible for about a week, but will last a lot longer as decorations.
