Ginger Thins (Ginger Snap Biscuits)

These ginger thins are so good and they are very easy to make. They are very gingery with a super crunchy texture that makes them so moreish. You can make these biscuits for the festive season ahead and you can also make them and use them as little gifts for Christmas.

These biscuits are one of my favourites. They are full of flavour and because they are thin, they have a crunchy snap to them. I use this same recipe for any ginger biscuits I bake including gingerbread men. With Christmas around the corner, you can shape them how you want and cut shapes such as stars, Christmas trees or snowflakes. You can even decorate them with icing if you want to get creative.

The key to getting the right texture is to roll the dough out as thin as possible and to bake the biscuits long enough. It can be quite tricky to roll the dough out thinly as the dough can easily tear but with the recipes tips that I've provided below you can do this with no problem.

The recipe makes around 50 smaller ginger thins but you can use a larger cutter and make less.

Ingredients for Ginger Thins

• Flour – use plain or all-purpose flour.
• Spices - ground ginger, cinnamon and mixed spice.
• Raising agent – I use bicarbonate soda.
• Salt – regular table salt is fine.
• Butter – I use unsalted to control the salt in the recipe.
• Sugar – I use dark brown sugar.
• Golden syrup – helps to give the biscuits the perfect texture.
• Black treacle – used to make crunchier biscuits. You can also use molasses.
• Milk – use any milk.

How to Make Ginger Thins

1. To a large bowl, add and combine the flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, mixed spice, bicarbonate soda and salt then set aside. In a stand mixer bowl fitted with a paddle, cream together the butter and sugar then mix in the golden syrup and black treacle. You can use a hand mixer for this step.

2. Gradually add and mix in the dry ingredients that you set aside.  Do this until all the dry ingredients are combined then mix in the milk. Lightly flour a clean surface and scrape the dough onto the surface. Lightly knead the dough then divide into 4 equal pieces. Wrap each piece in cling film then refrigerate for 20 minutes.

3. Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/350°F/180°C then remove all 4 pieces of dough from the fridge. One by one, roll each piece of dough out to around 1mm thick or as thin as you can without tearing the dough and cut your biscuit shapes. If the dough begins to crack when rolling, it means you have left it in the fridge too long. If this starts to happen then bring the dough back together and reshape it into a disk shape and reroll it again. The warmth from your hands should soften the dough.

4. Using a spatula, transfer the ginger thins onto a non-stick baking sheet and bake in the centre of the oven for 11 - 12 minutes. If you don’t have space to bake them all then place the leftover cut biscuits on a plate lined with parchment paper and refrigerate. Once the first set have baked, you can bake the rest. Allow the ginger thins to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes then transfer them to a cooling rack to completely cool.

Recipe Tips

• This recipe can be done by hand but you will get better results if you use a stand or hand mixer.
• The dough is cut into 4 equals parts before you refrigerate it. This makes the dough easier to work with.
• If the dough begins to crack when you roll it out then the dough is too cold so give it around 5 minutes to slightly soften. If the dough is too cold then you won’t be able to roll it thinly. You need the dough to be firm but malleable. You can use your hands to slightly knead the dough to warm it up and make it malleable.
• If the ginger thins are underbaked then they won’t be crunchy and will be chewier.
• You can use any shape or size cutter you want but I use a cutter that measures around 6cm/2.5 inches. This makes smaller sized ginger thins.
• You can reroll and cut the scraps if you wish or bring all the scraps together, store in a freezer bag and freeze to use another time.

Nutrition

Nutrition based on 1 serving - Calories: 35kcal | Fat: 1.4g | Saturates: 0.9g | Carbs: 5.0g | Sugar: 2.3g | Fibre: 0.1g | Protein: 0.4g | Salt: 0.02g.

Storage

Store the biscuits in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 7 days. Unbaked biscuit dough can last in the fridge for up to 2 days. Unbaked biscuit dough can last in the freezer for around 2 months.

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