Ginger Nut Biscuits

This recipe comes from a book published in 1987 called "Cakes and Baking" by Australia's culinary superstar, Margaret Fulton. My sister found this piece of written treasure hiding in the corner at an old book fair. It's full of recipes for traditional sweet treats such as vanilla slice, queen cakes and coconut macaroons, but the recipe that I knew I had to try first was for ginger nuts. I love ginger because it gives you such a warm and comforting feeling, which is perfect for colder days. In the book, Margaret says "Once you have made these you will never want to buy them again". Well said Margaret and so true! The recipe is as follows:



Ingredients:

• 2 cups self-raising flour
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 90g margarine (I used butter. Forgive me Margaret.)
• 1/3 cup golden syrup
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk

Method:

1. Sift the flour and ginger together in a bowl. Add the margarine or butter and using your fingers, rub it into the flour mixture until you have fine crumbs.
2. Mix the syrup, sugar and milk together in a separate bowl and add this to the flour mixture.
3. Mix it all together until you have a smooth dough. Knead the dough lightly and shape into a roll, about 3.5cm in diameter - the dough was a little crumbly at first but once I got my knuckles in there I was able to form the roll.
4. Chill in the fridge for about an hour (I left it overnight).
5. Cut into approximately 5mm thick slices and place on a greased or lined baking tray.
6. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 20 minutes (15 minutes was sufficient in my oven). Take them out once they're golden brown and cracked on top.
7. They will still be a little soft to touch so leave them on the baking tray for about a minute then transfer them to a wire rack to cool. 

One batch makes about 36 biscuits. 

The great thing about this recipe is that the dough roll can be stored in the fridge for several days, which means you can make it in advance. So if you ever have unexpected company or if you just feel like something sweet, all you have to do is slice the roll, pop them in the oven and a few minutes later you have fresh, delicious ginger nuts!

I know that it is seen as unladylike to dunk your biscuits in your tea but I do it anyway! If you're a dunker like me, you'll love these. They're perfect for dunking! While munching on a tea-soaked ginger nut, I got to thinking....why are they called "Ginger Nuts"? There are no nuts in them! My guess was because they're hard like a nut. Some quick googling roughly confirmed this. Na xo