Belgium Biscuits

The Great New Zealand Baking Book is a treasure trove of sweet and savoury recipes you'll keep coming back to. Flicking through its pages, these nostalgia-inducing Belgium Biscuits by Robyn Martin were too lovely to pass by.

INGREDIENTS

Biscuits
125 grams butter
¼ cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 ¾ cups plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
about ½ cup raspberry jam
Icing
1 cup icing sugar
2 drops pink food colouring
hot water
Coloured sugar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 drop pink food colouring

METHOD

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Grease an oven tray or line with baking paper.

Melt butter in a saucepan large enough to hold all the ingredients. Remove from the heat and mix in sugar and egg, beating with a wooden spoon until well combined. Sift flour, baking powder, spices and cocoa into the saucepan and mix until combined.

Roll dough out between two sheets of baking paper to 3mm thick. Using a 6cm biscuit cutter, cut out rounds. Carefully lift the rounds and place on oven tray. Bring the dough scraps together and repeat the rolling and cutting. Bake for 12–15 minutes or until lightly golden, removing to a rack to cool.

Sift icing sugar into a bowl, then add food colouring and enough hot water to make a spreadable icing. Mix sugar and food colouring together in a separate small bowl.

When biscuits are cold, ice half of them and sprinkle with coloured sugar. Place 1 tablespoon of raspberry jam in the centre of the baking-tray side of the remaining biscuits. Top with an iced biscuit.