These are a cross between a melting moment and a gingerbread biscuit and if I do say so myself, they are very good!
Like regular gingerbread biscuit the flavour improves over a day or two. You can mix up the spices if you like, but I highly recommend having a variety of spices like those in the ingredients list.
These would make a nice gift, however they are equally nice just to have in the biscuit jar at home for something to nibble on in the lead up to Christmas.
Gingerbread Melting Moments
Ingredients:
300g unsalted butter, softened
100g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
450g plain flour
1.5 tsp ground ginger
1.5 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp ground cardamom
Ingredients for the filling:
80g unsalted butter, softened
200g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
Method:
Preheat oven to 145 degrees Celsius, and line three large baking trays with baking paper.
In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar and vanilla until creamy.
Add the flour and spices to the creamed butter, and mix on low speed until a dough forms.
Roll teaspoonfuls of the dough into balls and place on the prepared trays (you should end up with 40-44 individual dough balls/biscuits) leaving a little space in between each. Then lightly press down each ball with the back of a fork so they flatten out a little. Dip your fork in flour if it is sticking to the dough.
Bake for 25 minutes. They will be cooked when the undersides of the biscuits are lightly golden. To ensure a even bake, rotate the baking trays in the oven around half way through.
Allow to cool on their trays.
Once the biscuits have cooled make the filling by beating all the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment or by using a hand held mixer. Mix until light and fluffy and everything is well combined.
Pair up the cooked biscuits, and turn one from each pair over so the underside is facing up. Spread or pipe the filling on to the underside of one biscuit in each biscuit pair, then gently sandwich the paired biscuits together.
Leave the biscuits for half an hour or so for the filling to firm up a bit (you can do this in the fridge in warmer weather). Biscuits will store well in an airtight container for a few days.
Makes about 46 individual biscuits and 23 sandwiched biscuits.
