Every year I am surprised when December comes around and I'm caught out by not organising my Christmas baking better. In fact I feel every year I might become even more disorganised.
I did move a number of years back from a house where I had a dedicated cake and crafting room to a smaller house where I need to pack away everything into separate rooms and cupboards each time I finish and clean up. Getting ready for a day of baking sometimes takes me an hour as I source all my equipment. I am trying at the moment to scale down and get rid of some superfluous items but it is much easier said than done. Instead of achieving a sleek streamlined kitchen, I have just accumulated a number of blogs and instagram accounts I follow that tell me how to do it.
Plus if I achieve my minimalist dream how would I have stuff like this adorable Christmas Greengate Deer to pop in my photo's.
Anyhoo, back to Christmas baking, and today I'm sharing a spiced up version of Honey Jumbles which is an Australian Biscuit (cookie) which was sold in supermarkets but discontinued a few years back. This basically turns an iconic Australian treat into a soft delicious fragrant gingerbread cookie.
One of the key swap outs is golden syrup for honey which gives a richer flavour. If you are in the US you can buy Golden Syrup on amazon (Tate & Lyle GoldenSyrup) or substitute dark corn syrup or a mix of half honey/ half molasses. Or in a pinch just use honey and you will still have a delicious cookie.
I've added some sweet fondant holly decorations made with a press out cutter/embosser for a simple pretty pastel Christmas theme. Click here for a link to holly cutter (AMAZON USA). You could easily leave off the decoration or use Christmas coloured sprinkles or decorations picked up at the local supermarket.
Happy Baking XX
Linda M
Honey Jumbles makes 10 - (Honey Jumbles were a cookie/biscuit sold by Arnott's Australia and discontinued. This is a soft gingerbread version.) Recipe can be doubled and will keep in an airtight container in the fridge or on the counter for 3 days.
40 g (1 3/8 oz) Unsalted Butter (if you use salted butter omit the salt added below)
1/4 cup (125g or 4 3/8 oz) Golden Syrup (can substitute dark corn syrup or a mix of honey and molasses)
3/4 cup (115g or 4oz) - Plain / All Purpose Flour
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground all spice
1/4 tsp bicarbonate soda (baking soda)
1/8 tsp salt
Icing (recipe for glaze icing below)
Melt butter and syrup until butter is just melted and mix to combine either in a saucepan over low heat or in microwave using short 20 second bursts.
Sift in all the dry ingredients and mix until combined and no lumps are visable.
Pop into fridge to chill for 30 mins.
Preheat oven to 170 C (340 F) fan forced. Dust counter lightly with flour, remove dough from fridge and give it a quick kneed to make it pliable.
Shape into 10 logs to place on baking tray, you can either do this by cutting the dough into two equal amounts, rolling each into a log about 35cm length and then cutting into 5 equal pieces around 7cm long.
Bake in the preheated oven for 12 minutes, allow to cool for 5 mins on tray and transfer to cooling rack.
Once cool you can mix up some icing to decorate by simply dipping the cookies into the icing. Add decorations if you like.
Simple Egg Free Glaze icing I sometimes use royal icing for these cookies but here I have used a simple glaze icing. The icing was best after a day when it had set hard, but was still soft to bite through. Recipe will actually make enough for a double of the cookies.
1 cup sifted Icing sugar (powdered sugar)
3 tsp boiling hot water
2 tsp corn syrup (or honey)
1/2 tsp colourless vanilla essence
food colour as desired.
Mix together ingredients
