BRITISH, SWEET TREATS & DESSERTS
GRASMERE GINGERBREAD BISCUITS
- Timescale Relaxed
- Serves 8 biscuits
- Difficulty Simple
Grasmere gingerbread is unlike any biscuit I have personally come across in my lifetime. The base is hard, with a little chew, whilst the top is covered with delightful a crumble, and the whole lot is in the shape of large rectangles. From the quaint town of Grasmere in the UK’s Lake District, the biscuits are still sold in stacks of 6 or 12, and wrapped in white paper bags. With added stem ginger, the zing of ginger really comes through is this delicious traditional British biscuit.
Ingredients
225g Plain Flour
115g Soft Brown Sugar
1 tsp Ground Ginger
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp Baking Soda
Pinch of Salt
115g Butter, at room temperature
150g Stem Ginger, cut into small pieces
METHOD
- Line a 20cm/ 8 inch square baking tray with baking paper and generously brush with butter.
- Place the flour, sugar, ground ginger, nutmeg, baking soda and a salt into a food processor. Add in the butter cut into cubes and blend until the mixture is the consistency of crumbs.
- Place about 70g of your crumb mixture aside. Then, add the remaining mix into your prepared baking tray. Place a sheet of baking paper over it and press it down firmly using a flat bottomed glass or a small rolling pin.
- Next, remove the baking sheet that you placed on the top and sprinkle the cut out pieces of stem ginger envely over the top. Place the baking sheet on top again and press a little so that the stem ginger is integrated to the bottom layer.
- Remove the baking sheet and sprinkle the 70g of crumbs you’d set aside, distributing it evenly over the top. Using your hands, press very lightly over the top to lightly settle the crumble mixture.
- Using a knife, lightly score the top of the gingerbread biscuits into 8 large even rectangles.
- Place the tray in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. Remove from the oven and immediately cut the gingerbread into your pre-cut 8 rectangles, whilst it’s still hot. The mixture hardens as it colls and it’ll be very difficult to cut it up neatly after.
TIP – If you want to make shapes, like the stars in the picture, I suggest cutting them out using your cutter as soon as you remove the biscuits from the oven and working quickly. Be prepared to have quite a bit of scrappage though!
- The biscuits will store well for 4 to 6 weeks in an airtight container.
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