GINGERBREAD EARTHQUAKE COOKIES

This gingerbread biscuit recipe comes from the taste.com.au book Christmas Gifts. This year my Mum and I broke tradition and haven't made our usual gingerbread house - time was of the essence and the... essence was distributed elsewhere? Anyway - made these on the weekend and was pretty pleased with the result - I love using spices at Christmas time.

I have updated the recipe slightly (after making them) so that you can get a cracklier cookie so they resemble the picture in the book (instead of my flatties). x

Note the Crackle

Ingredients (makes 25)

100g butter, chopped

1 1/2 cups (225g) plain flour

1/3 cup (80ml) golden syrup

3/4 cup (155g) brown sugar

1 egg, lightly whisked

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon mixed spice

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1/4 cup (45g) icing sugar

Combine the butter and golden syrup in a medium saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until butter melts and mixture is well combined. Remove from heat and transfer to a large bowl.

Add the flour, brown sugar, egg, ginger, mixed spice, cloves and bicarbonate of soda and stir to combine. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 45 minutes or until cool and firm.

Sift the icing sugar onto a small plate. Roll tablespoonsful of mixture into balls and roll in icing sugar. Place on the lined trays, 6cm apart, allowing room for spreading. Edit: Return the tray of biscuits to chill in the fridge for at least an hour (longer is fine).

Preheat oven to 180C. Line 2 oven trays with baking paper. Bake in preheated oven, swapping trays halfway through cooking, for 15 minutes or until lightly golden. Remove from oven and set aside on trays to cool completely.

Tips

Don't be afraid to go to town when you coat your biscuits in icing sugar (I tell you this because I didn't go to town...).

And as per the top in the magazine page above (which I ignored) I definitely would recommend putting the biscuits back in the fridge for another hour after you have rolled and coated them. My biscuits did spread a fair bit which meant they didn't have the crackle effect I was after - if the dough is firmer when it goes in the oven though, this will make for a more compact biscuit and a more impressive crackle.