Fresh ginger gingerbread

This is a great little recipe to have up your sleeve. It’s so simple to make and can be rustled up quickly using mainly store cupboard ingredients. What’s more, adults and children love these biscuits. I make them for friends and they are delighted, and I make them with children and they adore both making them and eating them. They can even be made into Christmas decorations by using a drinking straw to punch out a hole through which you can thread some ribbon and hang them on the tree.

In terms of flavour, I am not sure the fresh ginger adds that much to the biscuits. I do think the texture is very pleasant though. The combination of ground ginger and nutmeg adds a delicious spiciness to the biscuits – if you prefer a more subtle flavour, do omit a teaspoon of ground ginger.

Fresh ginger gingerbread

Makes 18 large biscuits

Ingredients

250g plain flour, plus a little extra for the work surface

85g light brown soft sugar

3 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Pinch salt

75ml golden syrup

120g butter, softened

1 egg yolk

2 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated with any liquid discarded

Method

Start by sifting the flour, sugar, ginger, nutmeg, bicarb. and salt into a large mixing bowl and stir to combine.

Add the syrup, butter, egg yolk and fresh ginger and mix well to combine. This is easiest done in a stand mixer. The mixture will form a fairly firm dough when it’s mixed together. Bring the dough into a ball and flatten to form a disc, around 3 cm thick. Cover in cling film and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180C and line two large baking sheets with non-stick baking parchment.

Once the dough is chilled, remove from the fridge and unwrap. Sprinkle the work surface with extra flour and roll out the dough to around 7-9mm thick. Cut out shapes and lay them out on the baking sheet, remembering to leave at least 15mm between each biscuit, as they do expand in the oven.

Once all the shapes have been cut, bake for 7 or 8 minutes for a soft gingerbread texture and 8-10 for a crispier biscuit.

When the biscuits have been cooked, transfer the gingerbread to a wire rack to cool fully. They are rather nice enjoyed warm though. They keep for 7-10 days stored in an airtight container.