Easter biscuits

Traditional Easter biscuits, flavoured with mixed spice and currants.. The best recipe from Hobbs House Bakery! 

Ingredients:

• 100g caster sugar
• 100g soft, butter
• 250g plain flour 
• 1 egg
• 1/2tsp baking powder
• 2tbsp milk 
• 80g currants
• 1tsp mixed spice

Best the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, then add an egg and beat until combined. 

Add all remaining ingredients and mix until the dough comes together. 

Roll out to about 5mm thick, then place on a baking sheet. 

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 200c for 10-12 minutes, until biscuits are starting to turn golden brown around the edges. 

Sprinkle with caster sugar while warm.

Enjoy!

Lime and coconut Easter biscuits

Buttery biscuits flavoured with coconut and lime, easy to work with and fun to decorate!


Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• 1/2 cup desiccated coconut
• zest of 3 limes
• 1tsp vanilla paste
• 2 1/2 cup plain flour
• 225g unsalted butter
• juice of 1 lime

Toast desiccated coconut on a dry pan for couple of minutes, transfer into a bowl and leave to cool.

Combine sugar, coconut, lime zest, vanilla and flour in a bowl.  Cut the butter into cubes and add to the mixture.  Rub with your fingertips until the mixture resembles bread crumbs.

Add the juice of one lime, then knead quickly until the dough comes together. 

Wrap in foil and leave to chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Roll out on a floured surface, cut out biscuits and place on a lined baking sheet.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C for 15-18 minutes until golden brown.  Take out the oven and leave to cool.

Decorate with icing, chocolate or sprinkles.

Enjoy!

Sandwich lemon curd biscuits

Buttery biscuits sandwiched with lemon curd and decorated with white chocolate.  The dough is really easy to work with so you can use cookie cutters or stamps and decorate with chocolate, icing or sprinkles..


Ingredients:

For the biscuits:

• 250g plain flour
• 125g icing sugar
• 125g cold, unsalted butter
• 1 egg
• 1tbsp vanilla paste or pod

For the filling:

• 1/2 jar lemon curd

Additionally:

• 60g white chocolate 
• pink food colouring

To make the biscuits combine the flour, icing sugar and vanilla pod in a bowl, then add cold, cubed butter.  Rub the mixture with your fingertips until resembles bread crumbs, then add an egg and mix until just combined.

Shape the dough into a disk and wrap in foil, chill in the fridge for at least an hour.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface and cut out biscuits.  Place on a lined baking sheet and bake in a pre-heated oven at 190C for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown.

Transfer the biscuits to a cooling rack and leave to cool completely.

Melt white chocolate and add a little food colouring, decorate half of the biscuits, then sandwich together with the plain biscuits, using lemon curd. 

Enjoy!

Smiley face biscuits

Crisp, buttery biscuits sandwiched with delicious chocolate ganache- quick and easy! I used smiley face cookie cutters but you can use any cutters or stamps you like…


Ingredients:

For the biscuits:

• 250g plain flour
• 125g icing sugar
• 125g cold, unsalted butter
• 1 egg
• 1tbsp vanilla paste or pod

For the filling:

• 200g dark chocolate
• 100ml single cream

To make the biscuits combine the flour, icing sugar and vanilla pod in a bowl, then add cold, cubed butter.  Rub the mixture with your fingertips until resembles bread crumbs, then add an egg and mix until just combined.

Shape the dough into a disk and wrap in foil, chill in the fridge for at least an hour.

Meanwhile chop the chocolate and place in a bowl.  Warm up the cream in a small saucepan and pour over the chocolate.  Leave aside for couple of minutes, then stir.  Set aside to cool and thicken.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface and cut out biscuits.  Place on a lined baking sheet and bake in a pre-heated oven at 190C for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown.

Transfer the biscuits to a cooling rack and leave to cool completely.

Sandwich biscuits together with chocolate ganache.

Enjoy!

Peanut butter and chocolate petit beurre

Delicious peanut putter biscuits topped with international chocolate stamps.  You can use a mould for the chocolate like I did or simply dip or drizzle over the biscuits…


Ingredients:

For the biscuits:

• 1/3 cup soft, unsalted butter 
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 2/3 cup light brown sugar
• 1 egg 
• 2tsp water
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 tsp bicarb. of soda
• 1 cup plain flour

Additionally:

• 200g milk chocolate
• 'international stamps' chocolate mould

Beat the butter, peanut butter and sugar until fluffy, add an egg and  water and mix.  

Add salt, bicarb of soda and flour and mix until combined. 

Chill the mixture for about 10 minutes, then roll out on a flour surface.

Cut out rectangles and place on a lined baking sheet.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 190C for about 10 minutes, until golden brown.

Leave to cool completely.

Melt the chocolate and pour into moulds, leave in the fridge to set.

Spread a small amount of melted chocolate on top of each biscuit, then place a chocolate stamp on top.  Leave to set.

Enjoy!

Valentine's biscuits with rose marmalade

This is an old recipe from my notebook and my whole family loves those biscuits.  Crumbly and buttery with sweet and sticky rose marmalade (you can use jam instead but it must be very thick).  There is no need to chill the dough before cutting out biscuits and they always hold their shape well!


Ingredients (makes 30-40 biscuits):

For the biscuits:

• 200g cold, unsalted butter
• pinch of salt
• 100g caster sugar
• 500g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 egg yolks
• 2tbsp soured cream or creme fraiche
• 1tsp vanilla paste or vanilla pod

Additionally:

• 350g rose marmalade

In a large bowl mix sugar, butter and egg yolks. Add salt, flour, vanilla, baking powder and soured cream and mix until combined.  Knead the dough quickly to bring it together. 

Roll out on a floured surface and cut out biscuits, you will need two cutters, one slightly smaller than other.  

Cut out hearts with the bigger cutter, then cut out the middle of half of the biscuits with the smaller cutter. 

Place the hearts without the middle on top of the full hearts, then spoon the marmalade onto the middle of each biscuit.  

Place on a lined baking sheet, biscuits can be quite close to each other, as they don't rise a lot in the oven, but they should not be touching.  

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown, then take out the oven and leave on a cooling rack.  

You will need to bake few batches as there are too many biscuits to fit on the tray at once.

Enjoy!

Cornmeal, lemon and poppy seed biscuits with thyme

After making those lemon and cornmeal biscuits with cranberries I knew I will make them again.. this time a little different, with poppy seeds and fresh thyme.  Biscuits are so delicious and refreshing and so easy to make! I will make them again soon.. maybe next time with orange zest? 

Ingredients:

• 120g soft unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• pinch of salt
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tsp lemon zest (1 tsp in the original recipe)
• 1 tbsp lemon juice 
• 1/2 cup cornmeal 
• 1 1/4 cup plain flour
• 2 tsp lemon thyme (optional)
• 1 tbsp poppy seeds

Beat the butter until pale and fluffy, then add sugar and continue beating until all sugar has dissolved.

Add egg yolks, lemon zest and juice and salt, then mix until combined.

Mix in cornmeal and plain flour, then add poppy seeds and thyme and mix until evenly distributed.

Shape the dough into a ball and leave in the fridge to chill for about an hour or you can leave it in the freezer for 20-30 minutes instead.

Roll out the dough into 1cm thick and cut out biscuits, place on a lined baking sheet. 

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C for about 15 minutes until the edges are golden.

Leave to cool.

Enjoy!

Cornmeal biscuits with lemon and cranberries

I have come across this recipe on www.epicurious.com and I loved the idea of cornmeal lemon biscuits, there was only one issue- I hate raisins... so i replaced them with dried cranberries.  I wanted them to be very refreshing so I added more lemon zest too and what I ended up with are those beautiful, crumbly, lemony biscuits with sweet and chewy cranberries- I will definitely make them again!

Ingredients:

• 120g soft unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• pinch of salt
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tsp lemon zest (1 tsp in the original recipe)
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 2/3 cup dried cranberries (raisins in the original recipe)
• 1/2 cup cornmeal 
• 1 1/4 cup plain flour

Beat the butter until pale and fluffy, then add sugar and continue beating until all sugar has dissolved.

Add egg yolks, lemon zest and juice and salt, then mix until combined.

Mix in cornmeal and plain flour, then add cranberries and mix until evenly distributed.

Shape the dough into a ball and leave in the fridge to chill for about an hour or you can leave it in the freezer for 20-30 minutes instead.

Shape walnut-sized balls, place on a lined baking sheet (you will need two trays) and flatten slightly.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C for about 15 minutes until the edges are golden.

Leave to cool.

Enjoy!

Fig rolls

Short, buttery biscuits filled with fig jam, those are so delicious and easy to make- you have to try!


Ingredients:

For the pastry:

• 75g wholemeal flour
• 75g plain flour
• 75g cold, unsalted butter
• pinch of salt
• 50g caster sugar
• 30ml- 50ml cold water

For the filling:

• 110g fig jam
• 30g ground almonds

Place all of the ingredients, apart of water in a bowl and rub with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.  

Add just enough water to bring the dough together and shape a ball, do not add more than 50ml.

Wrap the dough in cling film and place in the fridge for about 20 minutes, or 10 minutes in the freezer.

To make the filling mix the fig jam with ground almonds.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll it out to a 40cm x 12cm rectangle. 

Spread the filling lengthways down the centre of the pastry and fold one of the edges of the pastry over the filling, then cover with the other edge.  Flip the pastry folded edge down and cut into about 13 slices.  

Place on a lined baking sheet about 3cm apart and press gently to flatten a little. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C for about 20 minutes.  

Leave to cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy!



Recipe for the pastry by Simon Rimmer on bbc.co.uk

Coconut macaroons

Coconut macaroons were my favourite treat when I was a child, and even though this recipe has been in my family for years, I have never made them before.  Crunchy outside and soft, chewy middle- if you like coconut you are guaranteed to love this recipe!

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 120g icing sugar
• 200g desiccated coconut
• 1/2tsp vanilla paste or extract

Beat the egg whites until holding medium peaks, then add icing sugar a little at a time and continue whisking until stiff peaks form. 

Add egg yolks and vanilla and mix until combined.

Fold in the coconut, then form macaroons with a scoop or by hand and place on a lined baking sheet. 

Bake in a pre-heated oven for about 15 minutes at 170C, until golden brown.

Leave to cool, then peel off the paper.

Enjoy!

Recipe makes 15

Earl grey shortbread

Buttery and crumbly shortbread, with fragrant earl grey tea and orange zest- the perfect biscuit to have with your cup of tea.

Ingredients:

• 2 glasses of plain flour
• 2 teabags of earl grey tea
• pinch of salt
• 230g soft unsalted butter 
• 1/2 glass of icing sugar
• 1 tablespoon of orange zest

Beat the butter with sugar and salt, until pale and fluffy. 

Add flour, orange zest and tea (dry tea leaves) and mix until combined.

Shape into two logs (3cm in diameter) and wrap in baking parchment or cling film.
Place in the freezer for about one hour, then take out, unwrap and cut into 5mm thick slices.
Bake in a preheated oven for 12-15 minutes at 180C, then leave to cool.

Enjoy!


Martha Stewart's recipe, form the 'cookies' book.

Ricciarelli biscuits with cranberries

Ricciarelli originated form Tuscany and are delicious, almond biscuits with soft and chewy middle and slightly crispy top. They are also gluten and dairy- free!  Quick to make, can be kept in a jar or a container for up to a week.

Ingredients:

• 180g ground almonds
• 120g caster sugar
• grated zest of 1/2 lemon (or orange)
• 60g cranberries
• 60g egg whites
• 10g honey
• pinch of salt

About 100g icing sugar to roll. 

Pre-heat the oven to 170C.

Place almonds, sugar, zest of lemon, salt and cranberries in a bowl and mix.

Whisk the egg whites to meringue consistency then add honey and whisk to combine.

Add the almond mixture into the egg whites (in three parts) and stir gently until just well combined.

The mixture will look like if there is not enough egg whites, but there is- trust me!

Divide the mixture into 26g balls and roll in the icing sugar.  Place on the baking sheet and press gently.  Place biscuits about 1cm apart.  Sift over the remaining icing sugar, then bake for about 15 minutes.

Biscuits should gain some colour but still be pale and soft.

Leave to cool then pill off the baking sheet.

This recipe makes 15

Enjoy!