I just can’t decide what I prefer … the flat filled biscuits, or the round filled biscuits. Family and friends are also having the same problem, so I have decided to give you both options and you can decide what you prefer yourself.
When developing this recipe I wanted a “bite size” biscuit, something small to serve with coffee at the end of a meal, or for an afternoon tea when there are other items on offer. So having something “small and gingery with a bit of bite” was what I was after, but if you want to use the dough to make larger or thicker biscuits you can definitely do that, and you don’t need to fill them either if you don’t want to … the biscuit itself is delicious just as it is. Just increase the baking time to allow for the bigger size.
Now … back to the “kisses” … if you are in a hurry then the round biscuits are quicker to make as you don’t need to wait for the dough to firm up in the fridge … but the flat biscuits are very slightly crisper (not by much) because they are thinner, so everyone seems to like both options and none of us could decide which was better!
When making the flat biscuits, if you use a 4cm round cutter you will get 60 pieces, and if using a 1 tsp portion for rolling the dough into a ball for the rounded biscuits you will also get 60 pieces.
This dough is very quick to put together and can be done in the Thermomix, but it is just as easy to make with two bowls so I have given that option in the recipe for those that want it (I have had a request). If using the “two bowl” method, you will need to make sure that your butter is really soft, not melted, but soft enough to easily mix with the maple syrup to make a wet mix before combining with the dry mix.
- 130g white spelt flour, or plain white flour
- 100g wholemeal spelt flour, or plain wholemeal flour
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp ground clove
- ¼ tsp ground white pepper
- ¼ tsp bicarb soda
- 1 tsp sea salt flakes, or ½ tsp fine sea salt
- 100g butter, cold from the fridge, cubed
- 100g pure maple syrup
- 150g white chocolate, pea size pieces
- Preheat oven to 150 degrees fan forced, and arrange rack into middle of oven
- Line two large baking trays with baking paper
- Add flours, spices, bicarb soda and salt to TM bowl and mix 10 seconds / speed 4
- Add butter and maple syrup and blend 6 seconds / speed 6, scrape around bowl then knead 20 seconds until dough comes together
- FOR FLAT BISCUITS: Remove dough from TM bowl and bring together into a disk
- Divide dough in half, wrap each half in Glad Wrap and refrigerate for 60 minutes to allow dough to rest and firm up
- Working with one dough at a time (keep the second piece in the fridge until needed), roll dough between two sheets of baking paper to 2mm thickness
- Using a 4cm round cutter, cut out circles and use a thin spatula or palette knife to help lift the pieces onto the baking tray leaving 3cm space between each biscuit
- Combine leftover pieces of dough and continue process until all the dough is used up
- Repeat with the second lot of dough
- Place first tray in oven and bake for 10 minutes, turn tray around and continue for a further 6 minutes or until lightly puffed and golden (it takes exactly 16 minutes in my oven)
- FOR ROUND BISCUITS: Remove dough from TM bowl and place into a small bowl
- Using a teaspoon measure, press spoon into dough, then using the palms of your hands roll dough into a ball and place onto baking tray leaving 4cm space between each ball
- When all the balls are on the trays, use the back of a small fork to press into the top of each round
- Place first tray in oven and bake for 10 minutes, turn tray around and continue for a further 8 minutes or until lightly puffed and golden (it takes exactly 18 minutes in my oven)
- FOR BOTH VERSIONS: When biscuits come out of the oven, allow to cool on tray for 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely
- Once biscuits are cool, place all the biscuits upside down on a silicon mat or greaseproof paper ready to be filled (if not filling the biscuits they can be stored directly into a sealed container)
- Melt the chocolate (due to the small amount involved I use a microwave for this) until it is ⅔rd melted, then keep stirring together quickly with a silicon spatula until all the chocolate is melted … this will take a couple of minutes but keep moving the chocolate until it is completely smooth … it is now tempered
- While you are melting the chocolate, place a sandwich size snap lock bag, with a corner facing downwards, into a mug and put beside the biscuits ready for the melted chocolate to be poured in to
- When the chocolate has melted, pour it into the snap lock bag, seal it (remove the air first as that will make it easier to pipe), lift the bag out of the mug and snip off a small piece of the end
- Working down one row of biscuits at a time, pipe a large pea size amount of white chocolate on top of each biscuit, then top with it's corresponding other half before going to the next row of biscuits
- If there is any chocolate left (which is likely), spread it onto a silicon mat or piece of baking paper and allow to set … either eat it or save it to reuse for another round of biscuits
- Allow biscuits to set (about 15 minutes) before storing in an airtight container for up to two weeks
- Preheat your oven to 150 degrees fan forced, and arrange rack into middle of oven
- Line two large baking trays with baking paper
- Place dry ingredients into a medium mixing bowl, and whisk together to combine
- Then in a smaller mixing bowl, and using the same whisk, mix together the butter (needs to be very soft) and maple syrup until well combined
- Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and use a spatula or wooden spoon to mix until dough comes together
- Turn dough out onto your bench and gently knead for 30 seconds to combine fully
- Continue with recipe for “flat” or “round” biscuits
Can I use buckwheat flour?
Hello Antonia … buckwheat flour is gluten free so will behave quite different to spelt flour and without testing it I can’t be sure how the resulting mixture will be … it may end up being quite crumbly but I am sure will still taste delicious with the other ingredients in it … you could try it Antonia … wish I could be more helpful but I always hesitate to say “yes” when I haven’t actually tried a change like this myself xo Gina