Rachel Khoo: Nuts about Ginger

My Austrian grandma used to bake many different types of biscuits and cakes in the run-up to Christmas. Her house would be filled with the aroma of spices: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, vanilla. Now my aunts and cousins continue the tradition and I’m lucky that they send me a big tin of biscuits every year. However, I still like to partake in a little Christmas baking of my own by making gingerbread biscuits.

My recipe has all the flavours of a traditional Lebkuchen (gingerbread) but makes for softer biscuits that won’t break your teeth. Crunchy on the outside, nutty and slightly chewy in the middle, they’re a sort of ‘Lebkuchen macaroon’ (not to be confused with the Parisian macaron, which consists of two almond meringues sandwiched around a cream filling). These fill my little kitchen with a sweet, spicy aroma that gets me in the Christmas mood.

Gingerbread biscuits

Makes about 50

300g ground almonds

Pinch of salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

½ freshly grated nutmeg

Zest of 1 lemon

Zest of 1 orange

2 eggs

180g dark brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 160C/Gas Mark 3. Line two baking trays with baking paper. Mix all the ingredients together apart from the eggs and the sugar. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar until thick and pale in colour. Fold the rest of the ingredients into the egg/sugar mix. Use two teaspoons to dollop a heaped teaspoon of the mixture on to the baking sheet, then repeat, leaving at least 3-4 fingers’ space between the biscuits (the batter spreads a lot). Bake in the oven for 5 minutes.

The biscuits should be golden in colour but still slightly soft when they come out of the oven; they harden when they start to get cold. Leave to cool before storing in an airtight container. They will keep for up to a week, if you can resist eating them for that long.