Ingredients
- 175g soft brown sugar
- 4 tbsp clear honey
- 1 tbsp treacle
- 1 tbsp golden syrup
- 1 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
- 2 tbsp ground ginger
- ½ tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 200g unsalted British butter, roughly chopped
- 450g plain flour
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- You will also need:
- 6cm cutters (to make 30 biscuits)
Method
- Put the sugar, honey, treacle, syrup, orange juice, spices and vanilla into a pan and bring to the boil, stirring regularly.
- Take the pan off the heat and add the butter, stirring until the butter has melted and the mixture is glossy. Pour into a mixing bowl and cool for 1 hour.
- Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt onto the cold sugar mixture and mix to form a dough. Divide the dough into three pieces, roll each one into a ball and flatten into a disc.
- Wrap tightly in cling film and chill for 1 hour. If you’re making the dough in advance, it will keep well in the fridge for up to a week, but it will go very hard, so you will need to leave it at room temperature for 1 hour before rolling it out.
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC/Mark 4 and line two baking trays with non-stick baking paper. Roll out each disc of chilled dough between two sheets of cling film, then stamp out your shapes. Place on the prepared trays, spacing them at least 3cm apart, and chill for another 15 minutes. Bake for 12 minutes, or until golden.
- Allow to cool on the trays for 10 minutes, then use a palette knife to transfer the biscuits to a wire rack. When completely cold, decorate as you wish (for ideas see pictures). The undecorated biscuits will keep for a few months if stored in an airtight container.
