Old Fashioned Ginger Nuts
Commercial sweet treats were almost unheard of in my childhood home, but my Grandma occasionally bought a packet of Ginger Nuts. Fascinated, I watched as the adults dunked their hard biscuits into cups of milky sweet tea, while I sucked at mine. With the naivety of a child I thought it was only because my grandparents had false teeth, but hard ginger nuts are especially good when dunked in a cup of tea. This quirky, working class, British habit has largely disappeared in Australia, except behind closed doors when ginger nuts are in the house.
My old fashioned Ginger Nut bikkies (cookies) are cheap, quick and easy to make. They may be plain to look at, but the rich, sweet and spicy flavour is irresistible.
90g butter
2 tablespoons golden syrup
60g brown sugar
210g plain flour (I used spelt flour)
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate soda
2 tablespoons boiling water
Preheat the oven to 170C. Line 2 biscuit trays with baking paper.
In a large saucepan warm the butter, sugar and syrup. Do not allow it to boil.
Dissolve the bicarbonate in the water and add it to the butter mixture. Swirl to combine.
Sieve the flour and spices into the pot, mix thoroughly to combine. All ow to rest for 5 minutes, time enough to clean up.
Drop heaped teaspoons full onto the paper lined trays. Allow space between for the biscuits to spread a little.
Bake the biscuits until they are puffed and golden and firm to the touch.
Cool on a wire rack, they will harden as they cool.
Store in an airtight container. Makes 4 dozen.
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25 comments on “Old Fashioned Ginger Nuts”
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Please Pass the Recipe by Sandra Gay is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.
Please Pass the Recipe 
I’m sorry Lee that the recipe was unsuccessful for you. I continue to make it frequently as did my Mum and Grandma before me. I offer no excuse for your poor result, but I do stand by my recipe.
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The ginger nut biscuit was very popular in Calcutta around afternoon tea and dunking was mandatory or you could risk loosing a tooth!. It is my favourite and I will try this recepie to see how close it comes to the real deal.
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I hope my recipe measures up David, let me know
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Yum. Very similar to my grandmother’s recipe too, but she used to add a heaped tspn of crushed ginger for the extra zing and sometimes some mixed spice as well. I have added chopped crystallised ginger instead and they’ve been great.
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Is it possible to roll out the dough and cut with cookie cutters with this recipe?
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I have never tried to roll this dough but if you search my sight you will find Swedish Pepparkakor posted around Christmas time which is a perfect gingerbread biscuit to roll then cut into shapes. Good luck 😀
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Thanks! I used this recipe and it worked perfectly. It rolled really well and made cute little cookie cutter shapes. cooked till they were a deep golden brown and when they were cooled they were nice and hard. perfect for dunking 🙂
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It is a great recipe, good to know you can make shapes too! It gives me quite a buzz to know someone is making the recipes I post, thank you!
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Made sure I had all the ingredients at the ready. Then I found out that my granddaughter is not a ginger fan. We made chocolate chip cup cakes instead. I on the other hand love ginger. Will let you know how I go once my girl goes back to Sin City.
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Usually sugar is a big enough attraction for kids, but I guess cupcakes win everytime! Enjoy your time with together
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I’ve never been one for dunking as I had to wear a plate on my upper palate for orthodontic treatment…too messy. However, I love ginger and even sprinkle ground ginger over melons in summer. Can’t wait!
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Sweet and spicy, enjoy!
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love dunking! :
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Mmmm me too, but I know it’s an acquired taste.
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My granddaughter and I will make this on Tuesday. Something quick and easy. My kind of recipe. 🙂
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Enjoy!
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Well, I’ve never heard of ginger nuts. So much so, that I thought they were nuts that you dressed with ginger somehow! I notice the golden syrup in the recipe, which I also just discovered. These look great! I love ginger and these seem simple enough to have a go at them.
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Ginger nuts and I both have English heritage, and I thought these were a tad commonplace! I love what learn from other bloggers, i hope you enjoy my simple treat
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Your bake looks amazing! I love it! =D
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Thank you
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Yummy!!
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Thanks 😃
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Can’t beat a good dunk!
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Oh yeah!
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