I love the flavour of ginger, using it in savoury dishes almost as much as I do chillies. But I do like a good ginger biscuit, my affection stemming from the time I used to make gingerbread men from my favourite Rupert Bear cookbook. You could do that with this recipe, too, adding raisins or chocolate chips to make the faces. These biscuits are very handy to keep in an airtight box, ready for when people pop in for morning coffee or tea. While the soothing medicinal properties of ginger are well known, please don’t tell anyone with morning sickness, which I had, that a ginger biscuit will sort them out. That’s just wishful thinking.
MAKES ABOUT 27
125g unsalted butter
175g caster sugar
1 large egg
3 balls of stem ginger (about 65g in total), chopped
1 tbsp stem ginger syrup, from the jar
250g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tbsp ground ginger
● Preheat the oven to 170C/fan 150C/gas 3. Line 3 baking sheets with baking parchment.
● In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until smooth, then gradually beat in the egg. Chop the stem ginger and add to the bowl along with the ginger syrup, flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and ground ginger. Stir well with a wooden spoon until the mixture forms a dough. Scoop up a teaspoonful of dough, roll into a ball between your hands, then place on a prepared baking sheet. Continue doing this until the dough has been used up; you should have about 27 balls. Remember, they will spread during baking, so keep them well spaced.
● Bake for 12-15 minutes, until golden around the edges, rotating the trays halfway through so that they brown evenly.
● Let the biscuits cool and firm up a little on the tray, then place on a wire rack to become cold. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.