An Arnott’s copycat recipe.

I grew up on Arnott’s Gingernut cookies. If you ever lived in Australia or New Zealand, you’d be the same. These are an institution. Have been around for literally forever. Growing up, dad used to call these teeth breakers because they were so hard. That’s what was so wonderful about them. But the best thing about them was the aromatic ginger.

Not too long ago I was searching online for a recipe I could make with my oldest daughter. For some reason why wanted to make gingerbread cookies. She must have been inspired by something she watched on YouTube. I’ve never made gingerbread cookies before so the hunt began as I searched for a recipe online.

I then came across this recipe by Jamie Oliver. Of course, if it’s something Jamie made or endorsed it’s bound to be good. I just didn’t know how good. But I changed out a couple of ingredients as I wanted a little more depth to these cookies. I swapped to a dark brown sugar and changed slightly the ratio of spices. I definitely had no idea the recipe was like the gingernut cookies made by Arnott’s! That was definitely a bonus.

The first time I made them I brought out a couple of different cookie cutters. I actually found them hard to use with the dough. The best cookie cutters are just the regular round ones. Not only that, they stack well in an airtight container once cooled.

What I did learn is a trick when rolling out the dough. Place a baking tray sized piece of baking paper (or waxed paper) on your the benchtop. Put half the dough in the middle. Lay another piece of baking paper that’s the same size. Then use a rolling pin to roll out the dough. This way your bench remains clean and the dough doesn’t stick! The first time I made this recipe I floured my benchtop. This left the cookies too floury. Using baking paper is quite ingenious! Give it a try – it really does solve a few issues.

Gingernut Cookies

This is a copycat recipe to the Artnott's Gingernuts many of us have grown up with. Easy to make and so aromatic with the spices. These hard cookies are perfect for dunking into coffee and tea.

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Prep Time 25 minutes mins

Cook Time 12 minutes mins

Total Time 37 minutes mins

Servings 24 round cookies

Ingredients

 

• 300 g plain flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2½ teaspoons ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 125 g unsalted butter
• 100 g dark brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons golden syrup

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 180ºC and line 2 baking tray with baking paper.
• In a large bowl combine the flour, bicarbonate of soda and the spices.
• Melt the butter, sugar and golden syrup in a small pot over low heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Add it to the dry ingredients. Stir in until it forms a stiff dough, then cut it in half.
• Take one sheet of baking paper from the baking trays and place on your benchtop. Place one half of the dough in the middle. Cut a second piece of paper the same size and place on top of the dough. Roll out the dough sandwiched between both sheets of paper until 5mm thick. Remove the top layer of paper then using cookie cutters, cut out directly on the paper, leaving a 2cm gap between each. Gently remove the cuttings to make more ginger biscuits. Repeat with the remaining dough.
• Carefully lift the paper back onto the baking sheets and bake in the oven for about 10-12 minutes, or until lightly golden.
• Leave to cool on the sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.