The Baking Biker Chic

These biscuits are actually a festive twist on the humble Empire biscuit – a childhood favourite of mine. And there are two people I know who would sell their soul for these biscuits and regularly get me to make them.

I have different flavour combinations I use throughout the seasons however for Christmas I’ve gone with Christmas Pudding flavoured icing. You can buy the flavourings from Amazon or you could try using orange or cinnamon and orange – it’s up to you. Experiment and please share with me.

Ingredients

• 75g soya or vegetable spread
• 25g caster sugar
• 100g self-raising flour (if making gluten free, use plain flour and add 1 tsp baking powder)
• Icing sugar
• Water
• Flavouring and or colouring
• Jam or Mincemeat

Yep that’s it – simple, you’ll never buy these biscuits again once you’ve made them. They have to be the easiest biscuits in the world to make and there’s something about iced biscuit and jam that can’t be beaten.

Method

• Pre heat your oven to 170 degrees centigrade
• Cream the spread and sugar until light and fluffy
• Stir in the flour, mixing thorough until you have a soft dough
• On a floured surface roll out the biscuits thinly and cut out using your favourite cutters. Because these are Christmas biscuits I used festive shapes
• Place on a baking tray (use a non stick liner) and bake for approx. 8 minutes or until golden brown – but watch them as these biscuits can quickly burn due to the high fat content

While they are baking, make up your icing.

• You want to make a stiff icing using the icing sugar, water and flavouring, stiff enough that it holds its shape but soft enough to pipe. I never weigh out any of the ingredients from this – you just know when it’s right.
• If you are sandwiching the biscuits with jam or mincemeat do this first
• Then put your icing into a piping bag and outline first then fill, using a cocktail stick to spread the icing. Leave to set and if you want a 3D effect, wait until the first layer is dry
• If you want a harder icing, you could make a vegan royal icing – 250g icing sugar, 1 tsp glycerine and 4.5 tablespoons of chickpea brine. Whisk the brine until frothy and slowly add 200g of the sugar, whisking all the time (use an electric handheld mixer), then add the glycerine before adding the remainder of the sugar. These are approximate measurements, you might need to add more sugar if you want a thicker paste to work with. Although it stays soft in the bowl, this icing does dry hard on your biscuits.

All that’s left to do is make a cup of tea and sample one of the biscuits. Or they make a nice gift too. I put them in a cute little biscuit box, which I got from Hobbycraft.

Enjoy and experiment to create your own versions of these classic biscuits.