It’s feeling really Christmassy here, now the tree is up and I’ve made gingerbread biscuits. They smell divine! Somehow I always associate them with Christmas, although if you are reading this at another time of year, do go ahead and make some, in suitably seasonal shapes, of course.   

Whilst you could experiment with different spices, I have kept to the classic recipe as I like them that way! You don’t really even need to decorate them and they’re pretty quick and easy to make if you don’t. Plenty of other decorating to do at the moment!

They go really well with a cup of tea (but then what doesn’t!) or since it’s Christmas, I recommend nibbling on your gingerbread biscuits, sitting with your feet up, watching a terrible Christmas film (most Christmas films are terrible, but in a good way!) with a glass of ginger wine and all your troubles will seem far away.

Method for making Gingerbread Biscuits

Ingredients:

75g dark muscovado sugar

2 tabs golden syrup

85g butter

175g plain flour

1/2 teasp bicarbonate of soda

2 teasp ground ginger

1/2 teasp cinnamon

1/2 teasp mixed spice

Put the sugar, syrup and butter into a saucepan and heat gently, until the sugar dissolves. Then take off the heat and stir in the flour, bicarb and the spices. Mix to make a firm dough. Leave until cool enough to handle and shape into a ball. Leave for about 15 minutes or put in the fridge if the kitchen is warm (if you leave it too long it will be really hard – don’t ask how I know this!)

Heat the oven to 160C fan.

Then roll out the dough. I like my gingerbread biscuits thin and crisp, so I roll the dough quite thinly, to about 3mm. Then use cookie cutters to cut out the shapes, rerolling until it is used up. Place on baking sheets covered with baking parchment and bake for about 10 minutes, but keep an eye on them as they bake quickly. Leave to cool.

Would I make these again?

Without a doubt! I have made them before and I will again, – probably about this time next year.