Spiced Christmas Biscuits (Refined Sugar Free)

These biscuits are vastly similar to the previous recipe I have posted, except that I have used unrefined sugars to create a softer chewier Christmas biscuit than a gingerbread. 

I had the idea for these biscuits, as I have been experimenting a lot with date syrup this year, and wondered if it would make a good substitute for the golden syrup I usually use in my gingerbread biscuits. Sticking with the unrefined sugar theme, I swapped the brown sugar for panela sugar which I love adding to lots of my baking. 

The biscuit comes out slightly more chewy than my usual gingerbread biscuits, and has a slightly deeper flavour thanks to the date syrup. I also used a few teaspoons of a Christmas spice mix called St Nicholas Spekulaas from the spice shop Gewurzhaus. I found this shop whilst I was in Melbourne, only to discover later that I had probably walked past the Sydney store in the Strand Arcade many times! 

A substitute for this kind of festive spice mix would just be to add the same spices from my gingerbread biscuit recipe which are 1 tsp each of ground cloves, all spice, cardamom, cinnamon and ginger.

I am really loving my panela and date Christmas biscuits, and similar to their gingerbread cousin, the dough freezes well so you can make the dough in advance and bake later (just defrost in the fridge overnight). 

Refined Sugar Free Christmas Cookies using Grounded Pleasures Panela Sugar & Gewurzhaus St Nicholas Spekulaas Spice Mix

Spiced Christmas Cookies

Ingredients:

125g unsalted butter, softened

120g panela sugar (I used Grounded Pleasures)

170ml date syrup/molasses

1 egg yolk

390g plain flour

5 tsp Spekulaas spice mix (I used St Nicholas Spekulaas from Gewurzhaus)

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Method:

Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Line three large baking trays with baking paper.

In medium bowl whisk together the flour and spice mix. Sift in the bicarb soda, whisk to combine then set aside.

Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and panela sugar until it is pale and creamy. Add the date syrup and egg yolk and beat until combined.

Add the flour and spice mixture and combine on very low speed for a few seconds. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and finish the remaining mixing using a large wooden spoon or spatula. 

Turn onto a lightly floured surface and briefly knead until smooth. Press dough into a disc. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest. If making double quantities separate the dough into two discs. 

Once the dough has rested, you can freeze the dough to use at a later date. Defrost in the fridge overnight before using. 

Dust your work surface with more flour, then roll the dough out to around 2 mm thickness and cut biscuits out using festive biscuit cutters. Place each biscuit on to the prepared trays. Make sure you leave space in between each biscuit as they will expand as they bake. Re-roll excess dough and cut out more biscuits until it is all used up.

Bake for around 10-12 mins, rotating the trays in the oven to ensure everything cooks evenly. When the biscuits are done the edges will begin turn golden. Allow to cool on wire racks or on their trays.

Makes about 70 small biscuits or 36 medium as pictured in this post (yield will depend in the size and shape of your biscuit cutters). 

Christmas Gingerbread Biscuits

This has recipe has been a festive favourite of mine for a few years now. I originally found it on Phoodie, and have loved it ever since. In my family, shortbread has always been the biscuit of choice for Christmas, so I never really had a go to Gingerbread recipe. I do recall making some from a DK Kid’s Cookbook, but I was never much into the taste of ginger so I generally preferred shortbread. The process of resting the dough in the fridge also put me off I think, as when it comes to biscuits, I have always been after quick and instantly gratifying recipes. None of this resting the dough, and waiting around. 

Now I’m older, I understand the importance of refrigerating biscuit dough and allowing it to rest. I’m sure I’m slightly more patient now too! It also makes more sense to give your biscuit dough a chance to firm up a bit, if you like me, are making these during a warm Southern Hemisphere Christmas. 

I sometimes ice these with a royal icing, like this one, or one from a packet mix. One time I made batches and batches of these over Christmas for a cafe I worked at, and iced and decorated them all. If I can give you any advice, if you are making lots of these, don’t worry about the icing. They taste great on their own, and it often ends up being rather a stressful exercise, during what can already be a busy and stressful time of year. I haven’t iced mine in years, and I don’t miss it at all!

I find I can make a few batches of these during December, as they are enjoyed by all and make great gifts. They are also really useful for decorating other festive desserts like this pavlova I made a few years ago. 

My Christmas Biscuit Cutter Collection

Christmas Gingerbread Cookies

Ingredients:

125g unsalted butter, softened

120g light brown sugar

170ml golden syrup

1 egg yolk

390g plain flour

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp all spice

1 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp ground cardamom 

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 

Method:

Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Line three large baking trays with baking paper.

In medium bowl whisk together the flour and spices. Sift in the bicarb soda, whisk to combine then set aside.

Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until it is pale and creamy. Add the golden syrup and egg yolk and beat until combined.

Add the flour and spice mixture and combine on very low speed for a few seconds. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and finish the remaining mixing using a large wooden spoon or spatula. 

Turn onto a lightly floured surface and briefly knead until smooth. Press dough into a disc. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest. If making double quantities separate the dough into two discs. 

Once the dough has rested, you can freeze the dough to use at a later date. Defrost in the fridge overnight before using. If making double, I usually pop one lot of dough in the freezer now, and continue baking the other.

Dust your work surface with more flour, then roll the dough out to around 2 mm thickness and cut biscuits out using festive biscuit cutters. Place each biscuit on to the prepared trays. Make sure you leave space in between each biscuit as they will expand as they bake. Re-roll excess dough and cut out more biscuits until it is all used up.

Bake for around 10-12 mins, rotating the trays in the oven to ensure everything cooks evenly. When the biscuits are done the edges will begin to turn golden. Allow to cool on wire racks or on the their trays.

Makes about 70 small biscuits or 36 medium (yield will depend in the size and shape of your biscuit cutters). 

Raspberry White Chocolate Biscuits (Cookies)

I have been making these biscuits (or cookies), for about three years now. I had all good intentions of posting the recipe on the blog a long time ago, I even took some photos of them back in January 2017, but for some reason the recipe never made it here. Until now!

The original recipe comes from Claire Ptak’s book ‘ The Violet Bakery Cookbook’, which I have written more about here. I have adapted the recipe to suit my tastes, and inability to eat ‘normal’ chocolate as all good chocolate chip cookie recipes contain. I love the combination of raspberry and white chocolate, and I have found that using freeze dried raspberries work really well (I buy mine from Fresh As in New Zealand). I have also adapted this recipe to make Sesame and Pistachio Biscuits, you can find the recipe here. 

To add to the raspberry flavour, I also sometimes use a drop of Aftelier Perfumes Raspberry Chef’s Essence. I bought this online along with a couple of others in 2016, after hearing an interview with the owner of Aftelier on the podcast Radio Cherry Bombe. Unfortunately the product listing on Aftelier’s website now days for sale in the US only, which is a shame. If you don’t have anything like this, don’t worry just leave it out completely. I don’t use it every time I make these and the biscuits are delicious each time. And please don’t be tempted to use artificial raspberry extract or similar, you’re better off just using the freeze dried raspberries and leaving it at that. 

Raspberry White Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients: 

250g unsalted butter, softened or margarine (I use Proactiv Buttery)

200g brown sugar

100g white sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 drop natural raspberry extract (optional)

3 egg yolks

325g plain flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

25g whole freeze dried raspberries, plus extra for decoration

180g white chocolate, chopped

Method: 

Beat the butter or margarine and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment until combined. Add the vanilla extract and raspberry extract if using, then add the egg yolks mixing until combined. 

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and the baking soda, then add to the butter mixture and mix on a low speed until almost combined. Then add the whole freeze dried raspberries and chopped white chocolate and mix until combined. The freeze dried raspberries will crush up as they are being mixed so there is no need to crush them up before. 

Remove the bowl from the stand mixer, cover and refrigerate for at least 30-40 minutes (the dough can also be shaped into two logs, covered with plastic wrap or baking paper and frozen to bake at a later date at this point too). 

Pre-heat oven to 160 degrees Celsius and line 3-4 trays with baking paper. Once the dough has been in the fridge for 30-40 minutes, scoop out heaped tablespoons of the mixture and place on the prepared baking trays leaving room for the biscuits to spread as they cook. Sprinkle the tops of each biscuit a little crushed freeze dried raspberry (save some for the end as well, as the raspberries will loose their colour when baked). 

Bake for about 18 minutes, rotating the trays halfway so the biscuits cook evenly. The biscuits will be golden once done.

Allow to cool on their trays. Whilst the biscuits are still warm, sprinkle over some more crushed freeze dried raspberries. 

Store in an airtight container, will keep for about 1 week.

Makes about 40 biscuits.

Reference: ‘The Violet Bakery Cookbook’ by Claire Ptak (Ten Speed Press, 2015), pp.140-1.

Dried Quince & Almond Butter Biscuits

These biscuits showcase a couple of things I really love at the moment - almond butter and dried quince. I am actually having a thing will all nut butters at the moment, especially pistachio, but finding a recipe that used it in a biscuit was super exciting. My moment with dried quince has been quite long standing, after meeting Sue of Singing Magpie Produce last year. When I saw this particular recipe I knew I needed to try it with Singing Magpie Produce’s Dried Quince. 

The recipe originally comes from Georgina Hayden’s first book ‘Stirring Slowly.’ I have followed Georgina on Instagram for a while, but up until recently didn’t have any of her books. To be honest I haven’t really come across them in bookshops here in Sydney. But after seeing a bit of the behind the scenes of Georgina making her second book ‘Taverna’ on Instagram, I knew I needed to get her books, ASAP. I pre-ordered ‘Taverna’ online, and in the meantime bought ‘Stirring Slowly’ online too.

Both books are utterly delightful and jam packed filled with recipes I want to make. The recipe for Almond, Oat and Raisin Cookies jumped out at me instantly when I first looked at ‘Stirring Slowly’, which is the recipe these biscuits are based on. The recipe reminded me of the Oatmeal Biscuits my Grandma used to make, but with the addition on almond butter and raisins. 

Always being on the lookout for a new way to use dried quince, I decided to make these with my dried quince from Singing Magpie Produce, rather than raisins. I really like the addition of the dried quince, you could even add more if it to the biscuits when baking for a bigger quince hit. Many other dried fruits would work if you don’t have any dried quince, and other nut butters would work well too. Though if you can get some dried quince, I highly recommend it. It’s so good I often find myself eating it straight from the packet before I have a chance to make anything with it, it’s that good.

Dried Quince & Almond Butter Cookies

Ingredients: 

175g rolled oats (not instant)

150g plain flour 

1 tsp ground cinnamon 

1 tsp baking powder

125g softened unsalted butter or margarine

75g almond butter 

1tsp vanilla bean paste

125g Panela sugar

200g brown sugar

2 eggs (large)

100g roughly chopped dried quince (I buy mine from Singing Magpie Produce) 

Method: 

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line two large baking trays with baking paper. 

In a medium bowl mix the oats, flour, cinnamon and baking powder together and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the butter, almond butter and vanilla bean paste together until smooth. Add the sugars and mix until pale and creamy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, and mix until combined. 

Fold in the flour, either with a wooden spoon or mix briefly on the lowest speed of your stand mixer. Add the chopped dried quince and gently mix to evenly distribute. 

Spoon heaped teasponfuls of the mixture on to the prepared trays, leaving gaps between each as they will spread a fair bit during baking. 

Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the biscuits are turning golden but are still soft in the middle. Biscuits can be left on the baking trays to cool.

Reference: ‘Stirring Slowly’ by Georgina Hayden (Square Peg, 2016) p.196. 

Syrian Inspired Sesame & Pistachio Cookies

Late last year I started a new job, and in the first couple of weeks one of my co-workers had a birthday. It was her 21st, and some of the others bought her a cake. She also brought in some Syrian Barazek cookies. These biscuits are native to my co-workers homeland and I was really excited to try them. I also thought it was so sweet of her to bring something in to share on her own birthday! 

Syrian Barazek cookies are thin crunchy biscuits that have pistachios on the base and their tops are covered with sesame seeds. After trying them at work, I immediately knew I must try and make them myself. Unfortunately, I tried and failed miserably! The recipe I tried seemed simple enough, but maybe that was the problem. These cookies are not simple, and I feel only someone who has made them for a long time could teach me how to perfect them. 

I asked my co-worker and another who is also from Syria, and they said that most people would by Barazek cookies rather than make them. Even the ones I tasted at work had been imported from Syria. I was beginning to think I wouldn’t be able to replicate these delicious biscuits! 

A month or so passed, and I still couldn’t get the idea of making some of my own Barazek style cookies out of my head. I then stumbled upon a recipe in Greg and Lucy Malouf’s book ‘Suqar’ for a Lebanese version of Barazek with sour cherries added. Reading the recipe it was quite different from the other Barazek cookies I had tried to make, and looked more reminiscent of a shortbread or sugar cookie than the others. 

This gave me an idea. I didn’t need to perfect a traditional Barazek recipe, I could use those flavours and ingredients to create my own Syrian inspired cookie.

The below recipe is what I came up with. I adapted my favourite chocolate chip cookie recipe to include the two main ingredients of a Barazek cookie - sesame seeds and pistachios. I am very happy with the result, despite my biscuits being quite a departure from a traditional Barazek cookie. 

I took some into work, and one of my colleagues said it reminded her of the Syrian Barazek cookies, even though they were different. I took this as a great compliment, and am so happy others have not only inspired my baking but also enjoyed it! 

Cutting the dough from frozen (see recipe method)

Fresh from the oven

Syrian Inspired Sesame & Pistachio Cookies

Ingredients: 

250g unsalted butter, softened or margarine (I use Proactiv Buttery)

200g brown sugar

100g white sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3 egg yolks

325g plain flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

150g slivered pistachios

60g white sesame seeds, plus 2 tbsp extra

Method: 

Beat the butter or margarine and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment until combined. Add the vanilla extract, then the egg yolks mixing until combined. 

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and the baking soda, then add to the butter mixture and mix on a low speed until almost combined. Then add the pistachios and the 60g sesame seeds and mix until combined. 

At this stage you can either remove the bowl from the stand, cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or roll the dough into two logs, cover with plastic wrap or baking paper and freeze. 

Either way this biscuit dough needs to be chilled. If placing in the fridge, pre-heat oven to 160 degrees Celsius and line 3-4 trays with baking paper. Once the dough has been in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, scoop out heaped tablespoons of the mixture and place on the prepared baking trays (leaving room for the biscuits to spread as they cook). Sprinkle the tops of each biscuit with the remaining sesame seeds.

Bake for 15-16 minutes (rotating the trays halfway) for a softer biscuit, or about 18 minutes for a crunchier biscuit. The biscuit will be golden once done.

Allow to cool on their trays. 

If freezing the dough, roll out some plastic wrap or baking paper and shape half the dough into a log and cover. Repeat with the second half of the mixture. Allow the dough to lie flat in the freezer until completely frozen. 

When you want to bake the dough, pre heat oven to 160 degrees Celsius and line 3-4 baking trays with baking paper. Remove the dough from the freezer and allow to sit at room temperature for 5 minutes before cutting. 

Using a sharp knife, cut each log into 1/5-1cm rounds and place on the prepared trays (allowing room for the biscuits to spread whilst cooking). Sprinkle the tops of each with the remaining sesame seeds. 

Bake for 18 minutes (rotating the trays halfway) for a softer biscuit, and 20 minutes for a crunchier biscuit. The biscuits will be golden once done. 

Allow to cool on their trays.

References: ‘The Violet Bakery Cookbook’ by Claire Ptak (Ten Speed Press, 2015), pp.140-1; ‘Suqar’ by Greg and Lucy Malouf (Hardie Grant Books, 2018), p.84. 

Earl Grey Shortbread (Caffeine Free)

This recipe has been on my mind for a long time. Like years. I always have lists going of things I want to make, and Earl Grey Shortbread is always on there. 

I was originally inspired by some Earl Grey Shortbread from Fortnum & Mason that a friend gifted me after a holiday in the UK at least three years ago. As all Fortnum & Mason products are (in my opinion), they were stunning and a great example of traditional shortbread and really showcased the bergamot flavour so distinctive to Earl Grey. 

I did try to recreate them once, using very finely crushed earl grey tea leaves. However without a good mortar and pestle and with no additional bergamot to add to lift the flavour, they fell far short of what I was trying to recreate. 

I left the recipe alone for quite some time, deciding maybe it was for the best since I can’t have caffeine anyway. I was attempting something that I probably wouldn’t be able to eat. 

Now however, after growing my own bergamots and sourcing some online, the possibility to create a caffeine free version of this biscuit arose. Much to my excitement the addition of fresh bergamot zest to a simple shortbread recipe worked a treat, and replicated the Fortnum & Mason version in flavour quite well. 

You can of course (very) finely crush some Earl Grey tea leaves to add to the mixture (I would say 1tsp added when creaming the butter and sugar), for the tea speckled look. And fresh bergamot zest could also be substituted for 1-2 drops of a good quality (food grade) bergamot essence.

Earl Grey Shortbread (Caffeine Free)

Ingredients: 

160g unsalted butter, softened

60g caster sugar 

finely grated zest of one small/medium bergamot

250g plain flour 

Method: 

Pre-heat oven to 150 degrees Celsius, and line two large baking trays with baking paper. 

Place the butter, sugar and zest in the bowl of the stand mixer and beat with the paddle attachment until well combined. 

Add the flour, and mix on low until a dough starts to form. 

Lightly flour your work surface, and tip the dough out. Bring together with your hands then roll out to about 1-2mm thick with a rolling pin. 

Cut out fluted rounds with a 5cm cutter and place on prepared trays. Re-roll scraps of the dough until it is all used up. 

Bake in pre-heated oven for 20 minutes, turning the trays around halfway through to ensure even cooking. 

Allow to cool on the trays or transfer to a wire rack. 

Makes about 50 biscuits.