Ginger Biscuits

You will need:

• 2 oz, 50 g, of butter or margarine.
• 2 oz, 50 g, 2 rounded tbsps golden syrup.
• 1 and a half oz, 40 g, 1 and a half level tbsps of caster sugar.
• 4 oz, 110 g, 4 heaped tbsps of self-raising flour.
• 2 level tsps of ground or powdered ginger.
• 1 level tsp of bicarbonate of soda or
  baking soda.
• a little extra margarine for greasing the
  tins.

First, set the oven to fairly hot, Gas Mark 5, 375 f, 190 c, 160 fan.

Grease two baking trays or cookie sheets, it would help if they had
a slightly raised edge and extended rims at either end so they can be held
securely with your oven gloves, that way, the biscuits won’t slide off when the trays are being
lifted into, or out of the oven.

1. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda or
   baking soda and ginger into a large mixing bowl.
2. Measure out the butter or margarine, golden
   syrup and caster sugar into a small
   saucepan. When measuring the syrup into the saucepan, it might
   help if you use a metal tablespoon, if
   you either run it under hot water first, or,
   alternatively, grease it with a little
   butter or margarine, the syrup will slide off the spoon quite easily.
3. Heat gently on the stove, stirring all the time with a sturdy plastic spoon, until the fat has melted. As you stir, the pieces of fat will become smaller, the syrup will feel more liquid, however the sugar will still be a
   little granular.
4. It will only take about a minute to do this, keep the heat low and don’t boil the mixture! Your spoon will become less resistant as the fat and syrup melt, but you will still hear the sugar granules crunching a little as you stir.
5. Add the melted syrup mixture to the flour. It might help it to come out
   of the pan more easily, if you use a flat plastic flexible scraper or spatula.
6. Mix the ingredients together well, using a wooden spoon.
7. By now the dough will be soft and pliable, a bit like a slightly sticky pastry.
8. Now, pull off small pieces of mix and make into balls the size of a hazel or cob nut.
9. If the mixture sticks to your fingers too much while you’re trying to roll it, just sprinkle a little extra flour on your
   hands first. You’ll know if the little balls are about the right size because you should be able to make about sixteen biscuits.
10. Place them on the greased baking sheets, a
    little way apart, so that they will have room to spread out during
    cooking.
11. Gently press the top of each one with the centre of the palm of your hand, just so they have a slightly
    flattened top.

With the exception of fan ovens, which are
at an even temperature throughout, if your trays won’t fit side by side on your
oven shelf, bake each one separately in
the centre of the oven for 15 to 20 minutes.

By which time the biscuits will have spread and will be a light golden colour. They will still be quite soft to the touch
now though, but they will harden up when removed from the baking sheets and
placed in a single layer on a wire mesh rack
to cool for half an hour or so.

Don’t be disappointed if you find that they are not quite crispy enough when they’ve gone completely cold, the first
time you bake them. To get biscuits just right, it very much
depends on the exact cooking time matching up to the temperature of your own
individual oven. Adding the bicarbonate
of soda helps with this too!

These biscuits are lovely to eat in the afternoon with a cup of tea. I think
that the flavour of the tea is extra special after a bite of one of these lovely crunchy biscuits, or is it the other way round? I’ll leave it up to you to decide, Enjoy them.