Traditional Ginger Biscuit Recipe

Traditional Ginger Biscuit Recipe

The Spruce / Ahlam Raffii

Prep: 30 mins
Cook: 40 mins
Rest Time: 2 hrs
Total: 3 hrs 10 mins
Servings: 24 servings
Yield: 48 cookies

The perfect biscuit for me is an old-fashioned ginger biscuit, also known affectionately as a ginger nut or gingersnap. It is spicy yet sweet and everyone loves them. 

The ginger biscuit is one of Britain's favorite biscuits, and we have been eating them for centuries. It makes the perfect partner to a hot cup of tea, as once cooled after cooking, it becomes super hard and so it's the perfect dunking biscuit. The ginger in the biscuit is also lovely for soothing a tummy upset, especially one associated with car sickness. 

"The cookies were excellent. They ended up crisp and delicious, with plenty of snap. I used an electric mixer to cream the butter and sugars, and then slowly beat in the egg and dry ingredients. I did have to dust the parchment paper and dough with a bit of flour as I rolled." —Diana Rattray

Traditional Ginger Biscuit Recipe Tester Image
A Note From Our Recipe Tester

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened

  • 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons castor sugar

  • 3/4 cup soft dark brown sugar

  • 1 large egg, beaten

  • 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

  • Pinch salt

  • 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

  • 1 teaspoon ground cloves

  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

  • 1 tablespoon ground ginger

  • Pinch mixed spice, optional

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients. 

    Traditional Ginger Biscuit Recipe ingredients

    The Spruce / Ahlam Raffii

  2. In a large bowl, beat together butter, castor sugar, and brown sugar until light and creamy.

    Butter and sugars mixture in a bowl

    The Spruce / Ahlam Raffii

  3. Using a whisk, slowly add beaten egg, a little at a time. 

    Egg added to the butter mixture in the bowl

    The Spruce / Ahlam Raffii

  4. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, and mixed spice (if using) into another bowl.

    Sift together flour, baking powder, salt into a bowl

    The Spruce / Ahlam Raffii

  5. Carefully stir flour mixture into butter, sugar, and egg mixture.

    Stir flour mixture into butter, sugar, and egg mixture in a bowl

    The Spruce / Ahlam Raffii

  6. Roll out half the dough between 2 sheets of greaseproof paper to 1/8- to 1/4-inch thick. Slide rolled dough, paper and all, onto a large baking sheet. Repeat with the second half of the dough; slide it, paper and all, onto first sheet of dough. Place baking sheet in refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

    Roll out dough between two sheets of greaseproof paper

    The Spruce / Ahlam Raffii

  7. When you are ready to cook the biscuits, heat oven to 350 F and grease a baking sheet with butter.

    Greased baking sheet

    The Spruce / Ahlam Raffii

  8. Cut dough with a cookie or gingerbread man cutter to the size you wish. We used a 3-inch round cutter, and it yielded about 4 dozen cookies.

    Cut dough with a cookie cutter

    The Spruce / Ahlam Raffii

  9. Gather scraps, reroll between sheets of paper and refrigerate again. Continue cutting and rerolling until all of the dough is used.

    Dough pieces rolled out

    The Spruce / Ahlam Raffii

  10. In batches, place biscuits on baking sheets. Any rolled out dough or biscuits waiting to go into the oven should be kept cold in the fridge, or they will get too soft.

    Dough on a baking sheet

    The Spruce / Ahlam Raffii

  11. Bake each batch for 10 minutes. Once cooked, remove from oven. As biscuits will be soft at this point, carefully remove from baking sheet and leave to cool on a wire cooling tray. Once cool, the biscuits will harden and have the perfect snap.

    Traditional Ginger Biscuits on a cooling rack

    The Spruce / Ahlam Raffii

Tips

  • After cutting out a batch of cookies, reroll the dough scraps between the sheets of parchment or greaseproof paper and put the sheet of dough back in the refrigerator. Repeat cutting, rolling, and baking until all the dough is used.
  • If you have a scale, each cup of all-purpose flour will weigh approximately 4 1/2 ounces or 125 grams. If you don't have a scale, measure the flour using the spoon and sweep method. First, stir the flour to fluff it, then use a spoon to fill the measuring cup. Use a straight-edge utensil, such as a knife or wooden spoon handle to sweep the excess flour from the top of the cup.

How to Store and Freeze

  • Store crisp cookies in a container with a loose-fitting lid. Cookies stored at room temperature will last from two to three weeks.
  • Freeze cookies in airtight containers for up to six months (for best quality).

What is greaseproof paper?

Greaseproof paper is a paper that is used in food packaging and cooking. It is impermeable to oil. If you don't have greaseproof paper, use parchment paper or waxed paper to roll out the dough. You may have to dust it with a little flour to keep the dough from sticking to the paper.

What is castor sugar?

Castor sugar is superfine granulated sugar. If you can't find caster sugar or superfine sugar, grind regular granulated sugar (about 2 extra teaspoons for each cup of castor sugar) in a blender or food processor for a few seconds. The texture should be fine, not powdered.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
179 Calories
8g Fat
25g Carbs
2g Protein
×
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 24
Amount per serving
Calories 179
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 8g 10%
Saturated Fat 5g 24%
Cholesterol 28mg 9%
Sodium 22mg 1%
Total Carbohydrate 25g 9%
Dietary Fiber 1g 2%
Total Sugars 14g
Protein 2g
Vitamin C 0mg 0%
Calcium 20mg 2%
Iron 1mg 5%
Potassium 35mg 1%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)