These are aiming at a particular biscuit. The kind that comes in a packet, snaps cleanly, and tastes of honey and something faintly gritty in a good way.
The grit is semolina, and it is the ingredient that makes this recipe work. Without it you have a honey cookie. With it you have something much closer to the shop bought version people remember.
Twenty four biscuits, about an hour and a quarter including the cooling.
Semolina inside and outside
A quarter cup goes into the dough alongside the flour, and more gets used for rolling the balls before they go on the tray.
Inside, it gives the biscuit its slightly sandy bite. Semolina is coarse durum wheat and it does not dissolve into the dough the way flour does, so it stays perceptible in the finished texture.
Outside, the coating gives a fine crust and helps the surface crack as the biscuits spread. Do not skip the rolling step, it is doing visible work.
Melt, do not boil
Butter, honey, brown sugar and vanilla into a saucepan over very low heat, stirred until the butter has melted and everything is combined.
Very low, and do not let it boil. Boiling drives moisture off and starts the sugars caramelising, and you end up with biscuits that spread too thin and go hard rather than snapping.
The dry ingredients get sifted directly into the same saucepan and stirred through, so there is one pan to wash.
The cooling stage is doing two things
Fifteen minutes at room temperature, then half an hour in the fridge.
Warm dough is impossible to roll into balls and it will spread into puddles the moment it hits a hot tray. Chilling firms the butter so the biscuits hold their shape long enough to set.
The room temperature rest first lets the semolina absorb some moisture, which stops the dough being grainy and loose. Going straight to the fridge skips that.
Six per tray, no more
These spread considerably. A maximum of six balls on a standard baking tray, well spaced.
Crowd them and they run into each other and merge into a sheet. That is why the recipe asks for four trays. If you only have two, bake in batches, let the trays cool completely between rounds, and put the remaining dough back in the fridge while the first batch bakes.
A hot tray starts melting the dough before the oven does, and the second batch will spread more than the first if you skip the cooling.
Watch them closely
Thirteen to fifteen minutes at 180C fan-forced, until they are a rich golden colour.
Small differences in ball size and oven temperature make a big difference here. These go from golden to dark quickly, and honey biscuits taste bitter once they overshoot. Stay near the oven for the last few minutes.
Everything happens in one saucepan
Worth pointing out because it is unusual. The butter and honey melt in the pan, the dry ingredients get sifted straight in on top, and the dough rests and chills in the same pan before you scoop from it.
No mixing bowl, no creaming, no mixer. One saucepan, one sieve, and the trays. For a batch of twenty four biscuits that is a remarkably short washing up list.
Cooling and storing
Five minutes on the tray, then onto a cooling rack. They are soft coming out of the oven and firm up as they cool, which is where the snap comes from. Moving them too early breaks them.
Once completely cool they keep a week in an airtight container in a cool dry place. They also freeze well wrapped, for a few months, and defrost overnight at room temperature.
Why the ginger is there
An eighth of a teaspoon of ground ginger is a very small amount and it is not meant to be tasted directly. It sharpens the honey and adds a faint warmth underneath. Leave it out and the biscuits taste flatter without anyone being able to say why.
Size consistency
Heaped teaspoons at around fifteen grams each. Weighing them sounds excessive for a biscuit, but uneven sizes bake unevenly, and with a window this tight some will burn while others are pale.
Honey Snap Biscuits
Description
Crisp honey and semolina biscuits with a hint of ginger, melted in one saucepan and chilled before rolling.
Ingredients:
Instructions
-
Add the butter honey sugar and vanilla to a medium saucepan. Stir over very low heat until the butter has melted and everything is combined. Do not allow it to boil.
-
Sift the flour semolina baking powder and ginger directly into the melted mixture in the saucepan. Stir until combined.
-
Allow the mixture to stand at room temperature 15 minutes then place in the fridge for half an hour.
-
While it cools line 4 baking trays with baking paper and preheat the oven to 180C fan-forced (360F).
-
Scoop heaped teaspoons of the cooled mixture at around 15 grams each. Roll into balls and coat in extra semolina. Place on the trays with plenty of room for spreading, a maximum of 6 per standard tray.
-
Bake 13 to 15 minutes, until the biscuits are a rich golden colour.
-
Cool on the trays 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely..
Note
Oven is 180C fan-forced, around 360F. Nutrition per biscuit from source: 65 calories, 9g carbohydrates, 1g protein, 3g fat, 2g saturated fat, 8mg cholesterol, 25mg sodium, 17mg potassium, 6g sugar. The source notes these values are an automatically generated estimate. Do not let the butter and honey mixture boil. Place a maximum of 6 balls per standard tray, as they spread considerably. If baking in batches, cool the trays fully between rounds and return the dough to the fridge. Keeps 1 week in an airtight container or a few months frozen.
