These easy ginger and honey biscuits are my latest obsession and I have made them four times. They are the best ginger biscuits I know and come together in minutes by hand in one bowl. My family loved them over the holidays. They can be baked until soft and chewy or crunchy like gingernut biscuits (UK ginger biscuits).
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I recently worked with the lovely duo behind the Waggle Honey brand to develop a new flavour in their range of flavoured craft honey: Lemon and ginger.
Playing around with the ratios of ground ginger and lemon extract to make a balanced honey was a lovely project. This would be perfect on toast or to sweeten a cup of tea. It’s also perfect in these ginger and honey biscuits.
To amplify the lemon slightly I added the zest of a lemon, but the flavour is still very subtle. You can omit this if you prefer.
Waggle craft honey is creamed honey that has been sourced and made in small batches. They are 100% raw and infused with natural ingredients, free from preservatives or artificial flavours. The honey is unfiltered and unheated, thereby retaining its natural goodness.
I adapted my easy South African Ginger biscuit recipe from way back in the archives of this blog. This would be the recipe to follow should you want super crunchy biscuits. You can also achieve crunchier biscuits with the instructions below.
How to make these ginger and honey biscuits crunchy
I feel like there are two types of people in the world. Those who like their cookies or biscuits crunchy, and those who like them soft and chewy.
If you are the former, you can make these biscuits crunchy like a gingernut. Simply reduce the honey to 2 tablespoons and omit the lemon zest. Bake until golden brown for 14 – 15 minutes.Watch these biscuits carefully while baking as they can go from golden to burnt VERY quickly.
Just a note on this recipe. Make sure the dough is quite dry even borderline crumbly. If it is too sticky the cookies will spread too much. Make sure you measure the water and honey correctly. Add a little flour if it is sticky.
Allow some space between each ginger biscuit on the baking tray and see my notes in the recipe re cooling the biscuits.
A few of my favourite biscuit recipes
The classic and iconic vanilla snap biscuit recipe is perfect to decorate.
The best shortbread biscuit balls with chocolate middles might be one of my all-time favourite biscuits (cookies). Moreish and addictive. I like to use Cadbury’s Chocolate in the middle.
The best-whipped vanilla shortbread biscuits (perfect to make with or for kids).
Alison Roman’s best chocolate chip cookie (that is more of a biscuit) and easy to make and freeze for later. NB – You can freeze the uncooked dough and the baked biscuits.
The best cashew nut butter biscuits (or use a good quality peanut butter if you prefer)
Greek shortbread biscuits – covered in ice sugar these almond-flecked beauties are addictive.
My best-ever baking recipes are where you will find a full list of all my favourite baking recipes of all time. I’ve been blogging for over 14 years so there is a LOT.
The best easy honey and ginger biscuits
Delicious and easy honey and ginger biscuits with a hint of lemon. bake these soft and chewy or crunch like a gingernut.
Print Recipe
Prep Time:10 minutes mins
Cook Time:14 minutes mins
Ingredients
- 240 grams / 1 1/2 cups cake flour
- 2 tsp ground ginger (increase to 3 tsp if using plain honey)
- a pinch of salt
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 120 grams 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- Finely grated zest of one lemon
- 125 gm soft salted butter at room temp
- 1 tsp 5 ml bicarbonate of soda baking soda
- 3 Tbs / 45ml Waggle Lemon & Ginger honey
- 30 ml 2 Tbs hot water
- additional brown sugar to sprinkle over the biscuits (optional)
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180 C (350 F)
Add the sugar and lemon zest to a small bowl and rub the zest into the sugar to release the oils.
Add the flour, spice, and salt and give it a good mix.
Add the butter to the bowl and until you get a crumb-like texture.
In a separate small bowl mix the honey, bicarb, and water and when it is mixed add it to the flour mixture. Mix until you have a soft dough ball and there are no loose bits of crumb. It should be quite dry and borderline crumbly. If it’s too sticky, add some more flour.
Scoop out approximately 11/2 tablespoons of dough and roll it into a ball. It should be the size of a walnut.
Arrange the balls spaced out on a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking sheet or baking paper. Press each dough ball down with a fork – you should get around 20 biscuits.
Bake for 13 – 18 minutes until they are a nice caramel colour and then remove and cool on a rack. Keep a close eye after 13 minutes as they can burn quite easily. The oven times may vary and if necessary bake longer. For a crunchier biscuit bake for longer (around 14 – 15 minutes) and for a softer, chewier biscuit bake for 13 minutes.
Remove and allow to cool on a cooling rack. If you would like them soft and chewy, remove them from the baking sheet as they come out the oven. Do this by sliding the baking paper onto the rack.
If you would like them crispier, leave them to cool on the baking tray as they will carry over cooking for a bit.
Notes
To make these crunchy like a gingernut, reduce the honey to 2 Tbs and omit the lemon zest. Bake until golden brown for 14 – 15 minutes.
