My Top 10 Biscuit Recipes

Back away from the Jammy Dodgers. Trust us when we say that baking your own biscuits is pretty much a direct route to popularity and happiness - no hyperbole. I've tested this theory.

Regular office buiscuit contributors tend to be up to three times more likeable (based on a wholly unscientific study). Plus they just have this... aura. The aura of someone who has achieved something. I invite you to join their ranks.  My biscuits - pretty much one of your five a day. Here is my 10 favorite biscuit recipes. So get your bake on.

1. Thomasina Miers' Mexican Wedding Cookies

Pretty as a picture cookies with a deliciously indulgent caramel filling

Yield: 24 cookies  Cooking time: 1 hour 30 mins

Ingredients

• 225g unsalted butter, softened
• 70g caster sugar
• Small pinch of salt
• 310g plain flour
• 1 tablespoon dark rum
• Zest of ½ an orange
• 100g walnuts, roughly chopped approx. 350g icing sugar, plus
• extra to sprinkle
• 150g dulce de leche

Method

1. Cream together the butter, sugar and salt, then mix in the flour until a dough just starts to form, 1-2 minutes at the most. The less you work the dough, the lighter your cookies will be. Work in the rum, orange zest and walnuts.
2. Divide the dough into two equal pieces and lightly roll them on a clean work surface into neat logs about 3cm in diameter. Using a sharp knife, cut the logs into 5mm discs. Lay these out on non-stick baking sheets and freeze for 30 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 170°C/335°F/gas 3 and place the icing sugar in a big bowl. Bake the chilled discs for about 20 minutes, by which time they will have set but not taken on any colour. Toss them quickly in the icing sugar, then leave to cool on wire racks.
4. Don't worry if the icing sugar melts a little. When cooled, spread half the cookies with the caramel, then sandwich with the other halves, pressing gently to ensure an even spread. Sprinkle the finished sandwiches with extra icing sugar so that they are snowy white. Enjoy immediately or store in airtight containers.

2. Spiced Shortbread

A classic with an Indian twist. Easy to make with just 5 ingredients

Yield:  6    Cooking time:  15 mins    Preparation time:  5 mins

Ingredients

• 125g butter, at room temperature
• 60g golden caster sugar, plus extra to sprinkle
• 150g plain flour
• 1tsp black peppercorns, finely crushed
• Seeds from 8 green cardamom pods, finely ground

Method

1. Heat the oven to 190°C/fan oven 170°C/mark 5. Beat the butter and sugar in a food processor or by hand until light and fluffy. Incorporate the flour, followed by the spices and a pinch of salt.
2. Bring the mix together with your hands and form into a large sausage. Wrap in clingfilm and place in the freezer for at least 15 minutes.
3. Line a baking tray with parchment. Cut the shortbread into 1cm-thick circles and place on the tray. Sprinkle with a little sugar, then put in the oven for 10-15 min- utes until pale gold. Cool on a wire rack.

3.  Stained Glass Window Biscuits

Sweet treats that act as gorgeous hanging decorations too

Yield: Makes approx 15 (depending on size of cutters)

Cooking time: 15 mins    Preparation time: 30 mins plus chilling time

Ingredients

Make a hole at the top of each of these Christmas biscuits so they can be hung on the Christmas tree (or in windows) with ribbon.

• 200g (6½oz) unsalted butter, chopped
• 60ml (about 4tbsp) golden syrup
• 200g (6½oz) light brown sugar
• 400g (13oz) plain flour
• 100g (3½oz) self-raising flour
• 1tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1tbsp ground ginger
• ½tsp mixed spice
• Boiled sweets in various colours

Method

1. Melt the butter, golden syrup and sugar in a saucepan over a low heat. Allow to cool. Sift both flours, the bicarbonate of soda, the spices and a pinch of salt into a large mixing bowl. Pour in the melted butter mix and stir well. Knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Wrap in cling film and chill for a least 30 mins.
2. Heat the oven to 170°C (gas mark 3). Line two oven trays with baking paper. Roll out one quarter of the dough at a time (keeping the remainder in the fridge) on a floured surface to a thickness of about 4mm (¼in). Cut out shapes with a biscuit cutter and transfer carefully to one of the lined trays. Use a small cutter to cut out shapes in the centre of each biscuit. Re-roll any scraps of dough.
3. Place a boiled sweet in the centre and use a drinking straw to make a hole at the top of each biscuit (so that you will be able to thread a ribbon through it later). Bake in the oven for 10-12 mins, or until golden brown. Check that the holes are still there - if not, push a straw through again. Leave to cool on the tray to harden, then gently lift the biscuits onto a wire rack.

Here is a quick tip:  You can decorate the biscuits using tubes of ready-made white icing (available in supermarkets).

4. Chewy Almond Biscuits

Quick, easy, gluten-free and with reduced sugar - what's not to love?

Yield: 6     Cooking time:  15 mins     Preparation time:  10 mins

Fruit recipes and seasonal food ideas from White Chocolate Berry Cake to Orange & Olive Oil Cake on HOUSE. Pavlovas, puddings and pretty cakes: oh my! 60 stunningly simple fruit puds

Ingredients

• 100g ground almonds
• 50g whole almonds, skin on, roughly chopped
• 80g caster sugar
• 3 egg whites
• 1/2tsp vanilla extract
• Pinch of sea salt

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/mark 4 and line a baking sheet with baking paper.
2. Put all the ingredients in a saucepan and stir well. Cook over a low heat, stirring constantly. At first, the mixture will be quite loose, like semolina pudding, but after a few minutes it will begin to dry out and thicken. When the mixture is beginning to get lumpy and thick, remove from the heat.
3. Using a dessert spoon, drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto the baking paper, a few centimetres apart. You should be able to make 12 biscuits. Bake for 15 minutes or until the biscuits are golden on the outside and feel firm enough to lift off the sheet. Cool completely. These can be kept for up to 4 days in an airtight container.

5. Chocolate ginger biscuits

These are so addictive, you might want to double or triple the recipe.

Ingredients

These are gorgeous, whether eaten in place of pudding or as your picnic lunch drifts into tea, and they're so addictive, you might want to double the recipe!  

• 115g self-raising flour
• ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon mixed spice
• 30g pale muscovado sugar
• 2 knobs (about 30g) of stem ginger in syrup
• 50g butter, plus extra for greasing
• 50g golden syrup
• 85g good quality dark chocolate, roughly broken

TO SERVE:

• 1 knob stem ginger in syrup, or a few flakes of edible gold leaf (optional)

Method

1. 1Heat the oven to 200ºC/fan oven 180ºC/mark 6. Lightly oil 2 baking sheets and set aside.
2. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, spices and sugar with a pinch of salt, into a large bowl. Rinse 2 knobs of stem ginger under the tap, pat dry on kitchen paper and finely dice. Mix into the spiced flour.
3. Melt the butter and golden syrup together in a saucepan over a low heat. Do not let it boil. Then, using a wooden spoon, stir into the spiced flour. As soon as it is mixed, discard the spoon and, using your hands, mix and mould the dough into a sausage.
4. Cut the sausage into 16 pieces. Roll the first piece into a small ball and flatten into a disc. Place on the baking sheet and, if necessary flatten further until it is about 5cm in diameter and about 0.5cm thick. Repeat with the remaining dough, making sure the biscuits are well spaced as they spread slightly as they cook.
5. Bake for about 15 minutes or until they're golden brown, slightly crackled, but still soft. Remove from the oven and leave for a few minutes on the baking sheet to cool and harden slightly. Place on a cooling rack and leave until cold.
6. Put the chocolate in a bowl that fits over a pan of just-boiled water (off the heat). You'll need to replace the boiling water at least once to get the chocolate to melt. Once it has melted, take a teaspoon and coat the top of each biscuit with melted chocolate.
7. Once the chocolate is beginning to set, decorate the centre of the biscuits, either with a rinsed and dried stem-ginger knob cut into matchsticks, or a few flecks of gold leaf.

6.  Walnut cigars

These ultra-sweet pastries are wonderful with coffee.

Yield:  6

Ingredients

These ultra-sweet, Middle-Eastern-style pastries are wonderful with coffee in place of a formal pudding. They are also delicious accompanied by clotted cream or crème fraiche. You can even flavour your cream with a little rose water or orange-flower water. Makes 24.

• 250g shelled walnuts
• 115g caster sugar
• ½ tablespoon ground cinnamon (optional)
• 3 tablespoons rum
• 270g filo pastry
• 85g unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon icing sugar

TO SERVE

• 200ml clotted cream or crème fraiche

Method

1. Place the walnuts in a food processor and process in short bursts until they are ground to a similar consistency to bought ground almonds. Add the sugar and cinnamon (if using) and process briefly, then tip into a mixing bowl and stir in the rum until it forms a paste.
2. Heat the oven to 170°C/fan 150°C/mark 3. Brush a baking sheet with melted butter. Open up the filo sheets. Take the first sheet and cut into 4 rectangular strips, each about 27 x 11cm. Keep the remaining sheets covered with a damp tea towel while you're working, so the pastry doesn't dry out.
3. Brush the first strip with melted butter. Place a heaped teaspoon of the walnut filling near the edge of the short end of the buttered rectangle. Fold the longer sides slightly over the filling and loosely roll the filling into a pastry shaped like a spring roll. The nut filling expands as it cooks and if you stuff too much or too tightly, it will burst out. Place the rolled pastry on the buttered baking sheet. Repeat the process with the remaining pastry until you've used up all the filling. You should have 24 cigars.
4. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or so, until crisp and pale gold. Remove to a cooling rack. Once completely cold, they can be stored in an air-tight container.
5. To serve, arrange on a plate, dust with a tablespoon of icing sugar and accompany with some clotted cream or crème fraiche.

7. Oatmeal & Raisin Cookies With Hot Buttered Rum

A boozy, cockle warming drink with chewy cookies for dunking.

Ingredients

FOR THE OATMEAL & RAISIN COOKIES:

• 175g unsalted butter, softened
• 200g light brown muscovado sugar
• 115g caster sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 200g plain flour
• 60g medium oatmeal
• 45g porridge oats
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 150g plump raisins

FOR THE HOT BUTTERED RUM:

• 300ml dark rum
• 100g dark brown muscovado sugar
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• Grated zest and juice of 1 orange
• 2-3 generous pinches ground nutmeg
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 30g unsalted butter

Method

1. For the cookies, heat the oven to 170°C/fan oven 150°C/mark 3. Line 2 large baking trays with non-stick baking parchment. Beat together the butter, both sugars and vanilla extract until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, oatmeal, oats and baking powder. Fold the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. Stir in the raisins. It is easiest to use an ice-cream scoop to measure out the cookie dough. Using a small scoop, you may be able to make as many as 14 cookies, but they spread, so you will only have room for about 4 large ones on each tray.
3. Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden but still slightly soft in the centre. Remove from the oven and leave to harden for a couple of minutes before placing on a wire rack to cool.
4. For the hot buttered rum, pour the rum into a large saucepan followed by 900ml water. Add the muscovado sugar; maple syrup, orange zest and juice, nutmeg and cinnamon sticks. Stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved, then whisk in the butter.

8. Orange and Pecan Biscuits

Pretty pecan biscuits with a hint citrus - perfect for afternoon tea

Yield: Up to 100 cookies    Cooking time: 10 mins    Preparation time: 45 mins

Ingredients

• 450g softened butter
• 300g caster sugar
• 500g self raising flour
• grated rind of 1 orange
• 2 large eggs
• 175g roughly chopped pecans

Method

1. In a bench-top mixer, combine butter, sugar, flour, eggs and orange rind. Beat at a medium speed until smooth. Mix in pecans.
2. Divide mixture into three portions. Roll each portion into a log with a 5cm diameter and then wrap the logs in baking paper, twisting the ends to seal, and then cover in plastic wrap. Chill until firm. To get them nice and round, take the logs out of the fridge after about 30 minutes when they are still slightly soft and roll them to shape perfectly.
3. Slice the chilled dough into thin (2-3 mm) slices and lay on a baking sheet lined with non-stick baking paper. Bake in the middle of a preheated 180 degree oven for 10 minutes, or until golden. Allow the biscuits to cool on the tray for 5 minutes (to firm) before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Tip

Keep one log in the fridge to use and two in the freezer: they will keep for up to two weeks. Make sure the dough is still chilled when slicing.

Flavor

To adapt the flavour of the biscuits, use a lemon instead of an orange and exchange pecans for chopped hazelnuts. Alternatively, leave out the nuts completely.

9. Rosemary, Polenta & Olive Oil Biscuits

Enjoy these fragrant biscuits with ice cream or savor them on their own

Yield:  Makes 8–12   Cooking time:  40 mins

Fabulous family-friendly recipes using minimum ingredients, maximum flavour

Ingredients

These crisp and fragrant biscuits are easy to make and delicious with ice cream or with raspberries and cream. Oh, I know, it is sacrilege to mix olive oil and dairy in one course, but there you are.

• 150g flour
• 30g fine polenta
• 60g caster sugar
• Pinch of salt
• Leaves from 3 x 10cm
• Rosemary sprigs
• 90ml light olive oil (not extra virgin)

Method

1. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Chop the leaves of the rosemary finely, then stir them with the oil into the mixture.
2. Pat into a round about 0.5cm thick on a baking tray (no need to grease it, although a sheet of greaseproof paper is a good idea, as much to protect the biscuits from over-heating as anything), or use a 20cm round loose-bottomed cake tin. Mark into squares or segments with a knife.
3. Chill for an hour in the fridge, then bake for about 40 mins at 150°C/gas mark 2 until very lightly coloured. Leave for five mins or so on the tray (or in the tin) then lift on to a rack to finish cooling.

Tips 

These biscuits take well to other flavourings too. Try a teaspoonful of lavender flowers, the grated zest of lemon and orange, a teaspoonful of crushed fennel seed, or ½ teaspoonful of ground cardamom seeds.

10.  Lime Flower Biscuits

Make these sweet treats for a zesty and incredibly moreish summer treat

Yield:  18    Cooking time: 20 mins   Preparation time:  30 mins plus 1 hour chilling time

Ingredients

• 250g (8oz) unsalted butter, softened
• 125g (4oz) refined caster sugar
• 360g (12oz) plain flour
• Grated zest of 1 lime

FOR THE FILLING:

• 250g (8oz) white chocolate, roughly chopped
• 100ml (3 1/2fl oz) cream
• Grated zest of 1 lime

Method

1. Heat the oven to 150°C (gas mark 2). Line two oven trays with greaseproof paper.
2. Beat the butter in a bowl with a wooden spoon till soft and smooth. Add the sugar, flour and lime zest, and work the mixture with a spoon until blended.
3. Knead the dough lightly on a floured surface to form a firm dough. Chill for 1 hour.
4. Divide the dough into two portions and roll out each one between two sheets of greaseproof paper to a thickness of 4-5mm (1/4in). Cut the dough into shapes with a flower-shaped pastry cutter and transfer to lined baking sheets. Cut a 1cm (1/2in) diameter hole in the centre of half the biscuits, if desired (this is the top of the biscuit and allows you to see the filling).
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until pale and dry. Let them cool on the tray for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
6. Make the filling by placing the chocolate in a mixing bowl. Heat the cream to boiling point and pour over the chocolate, whisking until smooth. Allow to cool. Add the lime zest and beat with a wooden spoon to lighten the mixture. When the biscuits are cold, stick together with a little of the filling. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Tip: The biscuit dough can be made a day ahead - just refrigerate until ready to use.

Oh to eat good, save money and enjoy life!

-bird

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