Penny Blogs

An insight into the things in life that make me smile

Baking

Gran’s Ginger Biscuits

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It’s nearly 14 years since I first shared this recipe online, but every month when I bake a batch of these for a WI meeting I get people asking for the recipe. As a child these biscuits were a fundamental part of my childhood. Every time that we went to visit my Gran she would produce a tin with some in. It’s over 12 years now since we lost her, but her recipe lives on. Although quite what she would make of the modern day WI I just don’t know!

A selection of home baked Gran's ginger biscuits fresh out off the oven laying on a piece of greaseproof paper

Ingredients

  • 4 oz self raising flour
  • 2 oz margarine
  • 2 1/2 oz sugar
  • 1 level teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 level teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
  • 1 tablespoon golden syrup

What to do

Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
Melt the margarine and golden syrup very gently in a pan.
Once all liquid, pour into the dry ingredients and mix to make a dough.
Use your hands to make into small balls.
Place the balls on a lined baking tray and press each one down slightly with the back of a fork or spoon.
Bake for 10 – 15 minutes at 180 degrees C / Gas Mark 4.

A baking tray of round mounds of biscuit dough with a fork pressing one of them down before they go in the oven

This recipe makes between 10-12 biscuits. You can easily double up the quantities to make twice as many, but if you use two baking trays on different shelves in the oven, swap them over half way through the baking time to get an even bake.

Why we love Gran’s Ginger Biscuits so much

Not only are these biscuits incredibly tasty, but they’re also very simple to make. I can easily knock up a batch in less than ten minutes, and if you you want to bake with children they love getting their hands in the dough to make the balls.

Swedish Chocolate Chip Butter Cookies

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There’s rather a lot of baking going on here during lockdown. I guess it’s something to do with the comfort of it. The smell of cake or biscuits can make a house feel all nice and homely. And then something home baked is just lovely to have with a cuppa whilst you chat to a friend on FaceTime or similar. These Swedish Chocolate Chip Butter Cookies came from a recipe that my mum has remembered during her lockdown isolation. Apparently it was such a favourite years ago that it was shared with everyone at her local church and the cookies made regular appearances at church coffee mornings.

Swedish Chocolate Chip Butter Cookies

The original cookies are plain, but I added the chocolate chips to the recipe to give them a bit more interest. They’re incredibly simple to make, so I got the children involved and my daughter loved getting her hands in the bowl.

Make now, bake later

The recipe makes a huge 48 small butter cookies, so you can easily make a batch of the dough, bake half and then keep the other half in the fridge until you want to make more. I just left it out a room temperature for an hour before it was soft enough to form into a second batch.

What you need

  • 230g butter
  • 100g sugar
  • 250g plain flour
  • 50g chocolate chips (optional)

How to make the cookies

Pre heat your oven to 180 C, 350 F or Gas Mark 4.

Weigh out the butter, sugar and plain flour and put in one large mixing bowl.

Swedish Chocolate Chip Butter Cookies

Use your hands to combine the ingredients together to form a dough. Just as it starts to come together add the chocolate drops. You don’t want to add them too soon as otherwise the heat of your hands might make them start to melt.

Swedish Chocolate Chip Butter Cookies

If your dough isn’t coming together then try adding a little bit more butter to the recipe.

Separate the dough into four equal parts and roll each one into a large sausage shape. Each of these will make 12 small cookies.

Cut each roll into 12 and use your hands to make each piece into a ball.

Place your balls on a baking tray lined with baking parchment, to make sure they don’t stick. Ensure there is some space between your balls, although these cookies don’t spread much during baking.

Swedish Chocolate Chip Butter Cookies

Flatten each cookie slightly with the back of a spoon, a fork (my preference) or the palm of your hand.

Bake for 12 – 15 minutes.

Our verdict

These Swedish butter cookies are utterly delicious, but they are also so incredibly simple to make. You can get away with just three ingredients – butter, sugar and plain flour. Kids love getting their hands in the mixing bowl and helping too.

Swedish Chocolate Chip Butter Cookies

You can even make the cookies more interesting like we did by adding chocolate chips, raisins or nuts. Plain cookies could be sandwiched together with jam and buttercream to make them truly worthy of an appearance at a lockdown afternoon tea party!