Gingerbread biscuits

These are extremely simple and like all Bill Granger recipes we have tried they are delicious. Bill calls them Iced Jumbles, but we'll just call them Gingerbread Biscuits. We followed Bill's recipe but also added 1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground cloves and extra ground ginger- genius!

Cooking with a 2 year old takes a lot of patience and a fair amount of acceptance that things are going to get damn messy. And that things might not turn out quite like Bill's perfect looking little biscuits.

We made these for a picnic a few weeks ago- they were a real hit!



Gingerbread Biscuits:

60g unsalted butter
160mL golden syrup
2 cups plain flour
1 tsp bicarb soda
1 tsp mixed spice
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp ground ginger

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line two baking trays with baking paper. In a saucepan heat the butter and golden syrup over medium heat until the butter is melted, then bring to the boil and remove from the heat. Leave to cool for 15 minutes.

Sift the flour with the bicarb soda and spices. Stir in the butter mixture.

Divide the dough into 4 pieces and roll into logs that are approx 2cm thick. Cut into 5cm pieces and place on the baking tray. Cook in the oven for 10 minutes or until light golden. Ice when cooled.

Royal Icing:
1 egg white, lightly beaten
2 cups icing sugar
2 tsp lemon juice
Few drops food colouring

Stir together the egg white and icing sugar until smooth. Add the lemon juice (you might not need the full 2 tsp- adjust to runniness of the mixture). Add a few drops of food colouring.

We also made an eggless version of the royal icing. It sets hard and is a good substitute.

Egg-free Royal Icing:
2 cups icing sugar
2 tsp light corn syrup
1 tsp lemon juice
Food colouring
Mix all ingredients together!