Here’s a healthier version of a traditional favourite. Bake quick round biscuits, or buy some fancy cutters and encourage children to have a go at making gingerbread figures or stars, and give them dried fruit or nut decorations. Whatever the shape, theses spicy, crunchy biscuits taste terrific.
Instead of shaping the biscuits by hand, roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to 5 mm (¼ in) thick and use shaped cutters to stamp out biscuits. Bake for 5–7 minutes. * For oat and orange ginger biscuits, instead of all wholemeal flour use 45 g (1½ oz) plain wholemeal flour and 45 g (1½ oz) rolled oats. Add the grated zest of 1 orange with the melted mixture, and use 1–2 tbsp orange juice to bind the mixture into a soft dough. Roll into balls, shape and bake as in the main recipe. * For fruity ginger biscuits, peel, core and coarsely grate 1 dessert apple, and add to the flour mixture with 55 g (2 oz) sultanas and the grated zest of 1 lemon. Shape and bake as in the main recipe.
Making your own biscuits means you can include some wholemeal flour and control the amount of fat and sugar you use. Commercial biscuits are often very sugary and may also be high in hydrogenated fats. * Ginger is a traditional remedy for nausea and can sometimes ease morning sickness in pregnancy. It is also known as an aid to digestion and circulatory problems.
Do you think it would be possible to replace the golden syrup with maple syrup to make it even more healthy? Would I still get the right consistancy? - 30 Oct 2011
Lovely Recipe, very easy to whip up a batch of these biscuits. I used wholemeal flour only and they came out nice and crunchy! Bonus is they smell amazing and so will the whole house while there baking! - 28 May 2011
Really easy to make and tasted really nice - 23 Nov 2009