Crunchy Christmas Spiced Biscuits

These biscuits (or cookies) are inspired by the Crunchy Cinnamon Cookies I made over a year ago, but with a festive twist. 

I love gingerbread inspired biscuits and cakes, so these are a great addition to my Christmas biscuit repertoire. They are also a relatively quick biscuit to make, they don’t require too much time in the fridge, just enough so the dough firms up a bit. 

You can also freeze the dough if you’d like to make the recipe in stages - freeze either rolled into a log and roll the log in the spiced sugar mixture, or roll into balls as the recipe suggests but rather than baking you can freeze them at that stage (already rolled in the spiced sugar mix). Frozen biscuits will need about 2 minutes longer to cook, but check them as you go as that’s the best way to determine if they are ready. 

If you have leftover egg yolks after other Christmas baking, you can substitute the one egg in this recipe for two egg yolks to help use them up. 

I hope you have a very Merry Christmas, filled with lots of good food. 

Crunchy Spiced Christmas Cookies

Ingredients:

120g unsalted butter

125g caster sugar

100g dark brown sugar

2 tbsp treacle

1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or extract)

1 egg

290g self raising flour

1.5 tsp ground cinnamon

1.5 tsp mixed spice

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cardamom 

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

2 tsp Demerara or raw sugar 

Method:

Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius and line three large baking trays with baking paper.

In a small saucepan melt the butter over low-medium heat. Once the butter has melted remove from the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. Then whisk in the caster sugar, brown sugar, treacle, vanilla and the egg. 

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp mixed spice, and all of the ground ginger, cardamom, clove and nutmeg. 

Add the butter mixture to the flour and mix with a wooden spoon until combined.

Cover and chill in fridge for at least 20 mins (however you could do overnight).

In a small bowl mix together the remaining 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp mixed spice and the Demerara sugar.

Roll heaped teaspoonfuls of the dough into balls and roll into your spiced sugar mix. Place on the prepared trays - the biscuits will spread as they bake so leave enough room in between. 

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. The biscuits will spread and flatten out as they good, and have a slightly crinkled look on the tops. Rotate the trays in the oven about halfway through to ensure the biscuits cook evenly.  

Allow to cool on their trays, then store in an airtight container. 

Makes about 34-36 biscuits.

Crunchy Cinnamon Biscuits

Just when I think I couldn’t possibly come up with any new biscuit ideas, a new idea floats my way.

A few weeks ago I was making some biscuits for my mum, and while I added vanilla to the biscuits they were otherwise a little plain (as can happen when catering to dietary requirements). I had frozen half the dough, so the next time I baked them I decided to try and make them a little more interesting. Since the dough was already rolled into balls ready for baking, I couldn’t add anything more to the actual biscuit dough. But I could roll the dough balls in something to make them more tasty. I decided on a mixture of cinnamon and sugar, which worked a treat. Even though the dough was still frozen, the cinnamon stuck to the outsides, and once baked, proved more flavoursome than the first batch.

I decided I needed to recreate these biscuits, but in a non-dietary requirement friendly way (I had used low fodmap flour the first time, which I think made the biscuits a little flat). So I returned to my trusty basic biscuit recipe, and spiced them up a little!

The result was a very tasty, crunchy and cinnamon crackled biscuit that I can now add to my ever growing list of ‘things I can bake with not much time, energy or even ingredients’.

For a festive version of this recipe, check out my Crunchy Christmas Spiced Cookies here.

Crunchy Cinnamon Biscuits

Ingredients:

120g unsalted butter, melted

125g + 1 tsp caster sugar

100g brown sugar

2 tbsp golden syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg, beaten

290g self raising flour

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cardamom

Method:

Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius and line three large baking trays with baking paper.

In a small saucepan melt the butter over low-medium heat. Once the butter has melted remove from the heat and mix in the 125g caster sugar, brown sugar, golden syrup, vanilla and the egg.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, 1 tsp ground cinnamon and all of the ground ginger and cardamom.

Add the butter mixture to the flour and mix with a wooden spoon until combined.

Cover and chill in fridge for at least 20 mins.

In a small bowl mix together the remaining 1 tsp each of caster sugar and cinnamon.

Roll heaped teaspoonfuls of the dough into balls and roll into your cinnamon sugar mix. Place on the prepared trays - the biscuits will spread as they bake so leave enough room in between. 

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Rotate the trays in the oven about halfway through to ensure the biscuits cook evenly. 

Allow to cool on their trays, then store in an airtight container. 

Makes about 36 biscuits.

White Chocolate and Macadamia Cookies

There are probably quite a number of recipes for white chocolate and macadamia cookies around, but I really felt a need to add mine to the mix. 

Originally I was making the recipe by Natalie from Beatrix (Melbourne), who shared her recipe on the TV show Everyday Gourmet. The recipe is online, and I’ve made it a couple of times. It is of course very good, but I have to say it is a more cakey kind of cookie which isn’t my top pick when eating a cookie. The cookie dough is very soft and almost wet, even after chilling in the fridge for 24 hours, it is still quite a messy dough to work with. 

I personally prefer a chewier crunchier cookie, and one that isn’t as messy to roll into balls before baking too. I also found due to the texture of the dough it was hard to make smaller sized cookies, which is usually my preference. Natalies recipe is meant to make really jumbo sized cookies, and even when trying to make them smaller the wetness of the dough prevented me getting them the size I really wanted.

So inspired by the Beatrix recipe, I have created my own, using my trusty cookie base recipe that I have used again and again as I am yet to find something I like as much, and something that is so easy to make. 

I have taken the idea from Natalie’s recipe to toast the macadamias first as it makes such a difference to the flavour. I have also used a combination of light and dark brown sugars as the addition of dark brown sugar adds a nice deeper flavour, without overdoing the sweetness. And this cookie can definitely go overboard with sweetness if you let it, there is something about the combination of white chocolate and macadamias that is inherently sweet so the addition of dark brown sugar tempers that a bit, along with the addition of salt. 

You can also sprinkle a little flakey sea salt over the biscuits before they are baked. I just don’t as I find the salt in the dough enough (I’m not one for adding salt to things on the whole, so it really comes down to personal preference), and I also inevitably forget to do it and realise only once the cookies have been baking for a few minutes and decide its too late now anyway…

I have tried making this recipe with lightly salted butter (the Lurpak brand) and it worked well with that - no need for additional salt sprinkling in this case. 

White Chocolate and Macadamia Cookies

Ingredients:

170g macadamias

125g unsalted butter, melted 

125g caster sugar

50g light brown sugar 

50g dark brown sugar

2 tbsp golden syrup

1 tbsp vanilla bean paste

1 egg

290g self raising flour

1/4 tsp kosher salt

100g white chocolate chips

Method:

Preheat oven to 150 degrees Celsius and line three large baking trays with baking paper.

Toasted the macadamias in the preheated oven for a few minutes (5-8 mins), or until they are nicely golden brown - keep an eye on them as you don’t want over toasted macadamias at this stage as they will go in the oven again later. Once the macadamias have cooled a bit, roughly chop so they are in varying sizes and shapes.

In a large bowl whisk together the melted butter, sugars, golden syrup, vanilla and egg.

Then add the flour, the chocolate chips and chopped macadamias, and mix to combine with a wooden spoon.

Place the dough in the fridge for at least 20 mins, to allow it to firm up a bit.

Increase your oven temp to 170 degrees Celsius.

Once chilled, roll heaped teaspoonfuls of the dough into balls and place on the trays. The cookies will spread as they bake so leave enough room in between. 

If you can’t fit all the dough on your prepared trays (or oven), place the dough back into the fridge until you can bake it.

Bake for 12-14 minutes or until the cookies have spread a bit and are golden brown. Rotate the trays in the oven about halfway through to ensure the cookies cook evenly.  

Allow to cool on their trays, then store in an airtight container. 

Makes about 33 cookies.

Ginger Molasses White Chocolate Cookies

I have had this recipe on my mind since before last Christmas. I bought some cookie dough via Pepe Saya, that was a collab between them and Butterboy. Both are business that I really like, and this festive cookie dough sounded perfect for me - brown butter ginger bread. Filled with white chocolate, spices and rolled in sugar this cookie dough added a nice festive cookie hit that lasted well into January as I had frozen the dough and just baked some as I wanted it. 

This cookie dough got me thinking about creating my own version of this cookie. I needed my version to be heavier on the spices and more flavoursome in that respect, and the Pepe Saya x Butterboy cookies were lacking the ginger flavour for me. I have added 2 tsp of ground ginger to my cookies (you can add just 1 tsp if you want a milder flavour), and I also added some chopped stem ginger to add another layer of that ginger flavour. Crystallised ginger would also work well, but this element can also be left out completely if you wish. 

I also made my cookies a smaller size than the Pepe Saya x Butterboy cookies end up being. Butterboy is known for massive cookies, but when I bake my own I like smaller sized cookies so that one cookie doesn’t end up being almost a full meal (and more than one could comfortably be consumed in one sitting). You can play around with what size you’d like to make your cookies, just keep in mind it may alter the cooking time, you will need to leave more space between each on the trays if making them bigger (which may mean cooking in batches) and your yield for the recipe will also differ from what I have specified below.

This recipe will probably be added to my Christmas baking list when the time comes, but I think they are too good not to bake and eat all year round.

Ginger Molasses White Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients:

125g unsalted butter, melted

125g caster sugar

100g dark brown sugar 

2 tbsp molasses

1 egg

280g plain flour

1/2 tsp bicarb soda

2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp all spice 

200g white chocolate chips

2 tbsp chopped stem ginger (drained of syrup) or crystallised ginger, optional 

Method:

Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius and line three large baking trays with baking paper.

In a large bowl whisk together the melted butter, sugars, molasses and egg.

Then add the flour, then sift in the bicarb soda and add the spices. Add the chocolate chips and chopped stem ginger (if using), and mix to combine with a wooden spoon.

Place the dough in the fridge for about 20 mins, to allow it to firm up a bit.

Once chilled, roll heaped teaspoonfuls of the dough into balls and place on the trays. The cookies will spread as they bake so leave enough room in between. 

Bake for 12-14 minutes or until the cookies have spread a bit and are golden brown. Rotate the trays in the oven about halfway through to ensure the cookies cook evenly.  

Allow to cool on their trays, then store in an airtight container. 

Makes about 30 cookies.

Vanilla Sprinkle Melting Moments

I was inspired to make these simple vanilla sprinkle melting moments after eating some delicious biscuits made by The Flour Millers Wife. Em of The Flour Millers Wife is based in Manildra NSW and bakes delicious biscuits that are sold in a few stores across the Central West of NSW. 

I have been following Em on Instagram for a little while, and always thought the biscuits she makes look so good. I managed to find some when I was in Orange recently and they tasted as good as they looked! 

I especially enjoyed Em’s Sprinkle Yo-Yos, which are what gave me the inspiration to make these melting moments. I’m not sure exactly what the difference between melting moments and yo-yos are, or even if there is much of a difference. But since I have adapted my original melting moment recipe to make these, I haven’t altered the name. 

Biscuits by The Flour Millers Wife I bought in Orange - Two packets of honey jumbles, white chocolate and cranberry biscuits and the Sprinkle Yo-Yo Biscuits.

My version are very different from Em’s which are much smaller and have a softer crumblier style biscuit, but I think that’s the joy of finding inspiration in what other people bake. It’s not about replicating it exactly, but using it as inspiration to create a new recipe. 

And this way I can enjoy my own melting moments, and still look forward to having some of The Flour Miller’s Wife’s creation next time I am in the Central West! Thank you for the inspiration Em! And keep any eye out for her biscuits if you are around Orange, Molong or Carcoar - and in the mean time, have a go at the recipe below!

Vanilla Sprinkle Melting Moments

Ingredients:                                       

300g unsalted butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

1 tsp vanilla extract

100g icing sugar/mixture

420g plain flour

50g custard powder

Ingredients for the filling:

80g unsalted butter, softened

200g icing sugar/mixture

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

Sprinkles/100s and 1000s, to decorate

Method: 

Preheat oven to 145 degrees Celsius, and line three large baking trays with baking paper. 

In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar and vanillas until creamy.

Add the flour and custard powder to the creamed butter, and mix on the lowest speed until a dough forms. 

Roll teaspoonfuls of the dough into balls and place on the prepared trays (you should end up with 40-44 individual dough balls/biscuits) leaving a little space in between each (they won’t spread much when baking). Then lightly press down each ball with the back of a fork so they flatten out a little. Dip your fork in flour if it is sticking to the dough.

Bake for 25 minutes. They will be cooked when the undersides of the biscuits are lightly golden. To ensure a even bake, rotate the baking trays in the oven around half way through. 

Allow to cool on their trays.

Once the biscuits have cooled make the filling by beating all the ingredients except the sprinkles in the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment or by using a hand held mixer. Mix until light and fluffy and everything is well combined. 

Pair up the cooked biscuits, and turn one from each pair over so the underside is facing up. Spread or pipe the filling on to the underside of one biscuit in each biscuit pair, then gently sandwich the paired biscuits together. 

Pour some sprinkles into a bowl and dip the edges of each sandwiched biscuit into it, pushing the sprinkles into the sides of the filling.

Leave the biscuits for half an hour or so for the filling to firm up a bit (you can do this in the fridge in warmer weather). Biscuits will store well in an airtight container for a few days. 

Makes 40-44 individual biscuits and 20-22 sandwiched biscuits. 

Bergamot Melting Moments

I think melting moments (or yo-yos as they are sometimes known) are such a cheery biscuit. They are wholesome and comforting in a tasty and sturdy way, and are something I think adults and kids alike would enjoy. And they are quite simple to make as well. 

You only need four ingredients, and I thought the longest part of the whole recipe was rolling out the dough into balls to form the biscuits - which honestly wasn’t that long, but the rest of the steps are really quite quick. 

My love for bergamot is probably well known by now, and since we have many to use at the moment these melting moments had to be flavoured with bergamot. However you can use whatever citrus you like instead. 

This recipe is slightly adapted from one I created last year for The Healthy Baker, which you can check out if you want a slightly different take on the traditional melting moment.

Bergamot Melting Moments

Ingredients:                                       

300g unsalted butter, softened

120g icing sugar/mixture

Finely grated zest of 1/2 bergamot

450g plain flour

Ingredients for the filling:

80g unsalted butter, softened

200g icing sugar/mixture

3 tsp fresh bergamot juice

Finely grated zest of 1/2 bergamot 

Method: 

Preheat oven to 145 degrees Celsius, and line three large baking trays with baking paper. 

In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar and bergamot zest until creamy.

Add the flour to the creamed butter, and mix on low speed until a dough forms. 

Roll teaspoonfuls of the dough into balls and place on the prepared trays (you should end up with 40-44 individual dough balls/biscuits) leaving a little space in between each. Then lightly press down each ball with the back of a fork so they flatten out a little. Dip your fork in flour if it is sticking to the dough.

Bake for 25 minutes. They will be cooked when the undersides of the biscuits are lightly golden. To ensure an even bake, rotate the baking trays in the oven around half way through. 

Allow to cool on their trays.

Once the biscuits have cooled make the filling by beating all the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment or by using a hand held mixer. Mix until light and fluffy and everything is well combined. 

Pair up the cooked biscuits, and turn one from each pair over so the underside is facing up. Spread or pipe the filling on to the underside of one biscuit in each biscuit pair, then gently sandwich the paired biscuits together. 

Leave the biscuits for half an hour or so for the filling to firm up a bit (you can do this in the fridge in warmer weather). Biscuits will store well in an airtight container for a few days. 

Makes 40-44 individual biscuits and 20-22 sandwiched biscuits.