Honey Jumbles
I got this really yummy recipe from my wonderful friend Kat. As soon as I tasted them I knew she was onto something fabulous for all those honey-lovers out there! This recipe makes around twenty biscuits bursting with honey and spices.
The biscuits in the photo have to original honey icing on them but Kat suggested a simple vanilla glaze as an alternative. I have included both icing recipes here so you can test both. I prefer the vanilla but my finance prefers the honey so it really is a close contest!
Kat found the recipe in the Australian Gourmet Traveller Slow Food Cookbook: Our Best-Ever Winter Recipes, 2011, p. 222. I personally love this magazine and often wish I had the extra dollars to get a subscription. It’s definitely worth a try!
Ingredients: Biscuits
60g butter, chopped
145g (1/2 cup) honey
55g (1/4 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar
Seeds of 1 vanilla bean (or 1 tsp vanilla essence)
Finely grated rind of 1 lemon
225g (1 1/2 cups) plain flour
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tsp milk
Ingredients: Honey icing
120g honey
120g icing sugar, sifted
Ingredients: Vanilla Glaze (alternative)
1 cup sifted icing sugar
2-3 tsp water
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
Method
Stir butter, honey, sugar, vanilla and lemon rind in a saucepan over medium heat until the butter melts, bring to the boil and remove from heat.
Stand for 10 minutes, sift over flour, spices and bicarbonate of soda, stir until smooth. Stir in milk, cover, and stand until cool (approximately one hour).
Preheat oven to 180°C. Roll walnut-sized pieces of mixture into balls, roll each ball on a work surface to a 6cm long cylinder, slightly flatten and place on oven trays lined with baking paper, allowing 5cm between each for biscuits to spread.
Bake, swapping trays halfway through cooking time, until light golden (approximately 10-12 minutes), cool on tray for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.
For honey icing, warm honey in a small saucepan over low heat until runny (1 minute), remove from heat, add icing sugar and stir until smooth. Spoon over warm biscuits, allowing icing to drip over sides, then stand until set (around 10-15 minutes).
For vanilla glaze stir all ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Spoon over the biscuits, allowing icing to drip over the sides, then stand until set (around 10 minutes).
Happy Baking!