This was one of my favourite biscuits growing up. It is one of 3 that I made on rotation from the cookbook, Edmonds, a staple of any NZ family kitchen. The other two, in case you’re interested, were Afghans and Anzacs. While I still make Afghans regularly and Anzacs at least once a year for Anzac Day, these had fallen off my radar. I decided to revisit Ginger Crunch recently as I thought they’d make a nice festive gift for family and friends. 

The recipe below is has more ginger in it than the original. I remembered adding plenty more ground ginger as a kid and now I am going a step further and adding fresh ginger too. I think it is safe to assume that if you are making ginger biscuits, then you love ginger. I’ve also added an instruction to use salted butter and added some Maldon sea salt flakes to the icing, because who doesn’t like salted caramel? 

The biscuit to icing ratio is another matter – I think I am probably in the minority with my preference for more biscuit and less icing, so I haven’t made these amends to the recipe. But if you are in the minority with me, then I recommend making 1.5 times the biscuit mix and baking for longer (approx 35 mins). 

Makes 10 biscuits. 

Ingredients

For the biscuit 

125g butter, softened 
125g sugar 
200g plain flour 
1 tsp baking powder  
1 tbsp ground ginger  

For the icing 

75g salted butter 
¾ cup icing sugar 
2 tbsp golden syrup 
1 tbsp ground ginger 
1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated  
½ tsp Maldon sea salt flakes 

Method 

Preheat the oven to 190C (170C fan) and grease a 20x30cm sponge roll tin or baking tray.  

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Sift flour, baking powder and ginger into the creamed mixture and stir to combine. 

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead well. 

Press dough into a the greased baking tray. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown. 

When the biscuits are almost ready, make the icing. Put all the icing ingredients, except the sea salt, in a saucepan and whisk together over a medium heat until the butter has melted. Let it bubble away for a few mins to thicken, whisking occasionally. Stir in the sea salt flakes.  

Pour the hot ginger icing over the biscuit base when it comes out of the oven and cut into squares before it gets cold.