Gingernuts

Sir Basil likes a biscuit with his tea. The latest batches have been gingernuts. When I first searched the internet for a recipe, I was surprised to find they seem to have quite a cult following. A very small, well-behaved cult, but still… The enthusiasts like their gingernuts hard. If you don’t dunk them, you risk breaking a tooth. There is a certain appeal to such robust biscuits, but they’re not what you want on every occasion. I finally found a recipe that produces a crunchy, but not hard biscuit, hiding in a Delia Smith book that I’ve had for more than 20 years. I’m not too good at following instructions, so I’ve changed a few things. Here are the two versions (Sir Basil likes the hard ones). Both recipes make about 30 biscuits.

Hard Gingernuts

4 oz brown sugar
2 oz treacle
3 oz butter
1/2 tsp bicarb
8 oz plain flour
2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 160°C/315°F.

Melt the butter, treacle and sugar together. Add the bicarb. Stir in the flour and spices. Form into walnut-sized balls, and flatten them a bit. Bake for 15 mins. Cool on a wire rack, then store in an airtight tin.

I’m not sure of the source of this recipe, but I can confirm that it makes a very robust biscuit, ideal for dunking.

Crunchy Gingernuts

8 oz plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp ground ginger
4 oz butter
3 oz soft brown sugar
2 oz molasses or treacle

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F.

Mix the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate and ginger together. Rub in the butter, as if you were making pastry, until the mixture is crumbly. Add the treacle and mix  to form a stiff paste. Form it into walnut sized balls. Put them on a baking sheet, flatten them slightly, and bake for 10 – 15 minutes. Cool them on the baking sheet for ten minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight tin.

As you can see, the ingredients are very similar. I think that what makes the two versions so different, is incorporating the flour in a hot or a cold mix. The flavour was a little richer with the top recipe, but adding a little cinnamon to the ginger in the second one would probably change that. Next time…