Easter Biscuits

Easter Biscuits is a traditional English recipe (from the West Country) for a classic light biscuit (cookie) of a butter, sugar, egg, flour, fruit and spice dough bound with brandy or milk that's cut into rounds, glazed with egg and oven baked until golden and which were, traditionally, served for Easter. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic English version of: Easter Biscuits.

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

15 minutes

Total Time:

35 minutes

Makes:

Rating:

Tags : Spice Recipes Baking Recipes British Recipes English Recipes

These are classic West Country spiced and fruited biscuit that were traditionally served and eaten around Easter. But they're far too good to be restricted to such a short time period and deserve to be more widely known.

Ingredients:

100g butter
75g caster sugar
1 egg, separated
200g plain flour
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp ground mixed spice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
50g currants
1 tbsp chopped mixed peel
1–2 tbsp brandy (or milk)
caster sugar for sprinkling

Method:

Cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy then add the egg yolk and beat in to combine. Sift-in the flour, salt and spices and mix thoroughly to combine. Add the fruit and peel and enough brandy (or milk) to bring the mixture together as a fairly soft dough (but not sticky).

Turn the dough onto a lightly-floured surface and knead lightly before rolling out until about 5mm thick. Cut into 6cm rounds using a fluted pastry cutter and transfer these to well-greased baking sheets. Place in an oven pre-heated to 200°C (400°F/Gas Mark 6) and bake for about 10 minutes.

Remove from the oven, brush with the lightly-beaten egg white then sprinkle the caster sugar over the top. Return the biscuits to the oven and bake for about 5 minutes longer (or until the tops are a golden brown).

Allow to cool for 10 minutes on the baking tray then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an air-tight jar.