All Treats, No Tricks.....Happy Halloween! - Ginger butter biscuits

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is one of those days in the year when you can go all out and treat yourself........ and the kids of course!

On Halloween night I always have a steady stream of children calling to the door on the hunt for treats and year after year I will see the same kids coming back looking for certain things.





Rather than trudging round the supermarket and 'pound' shops buying loads of additive filled junk sweets I will make my own Halloween treats.

On the menu will be things I can wrap in small pouches such as bite size toffee apples, assorted fudge, ginger butter cookies, iced spiderweb biscuits, and assorted shortbread ghosts, witches, cats and tombstones, my special 'fudge mallow delight' inspired by Mr Willy Wonka himself and the firm favorite with everyone...... chocolate coated 'krispy' squares.

Yes I may spend a day or two baking beforehand but it's worth it when you see the same excited faces each year, maybe a little older but still remembering their favorite treat from last year. And I feel a little less guilty filling them with sugary sweet treats as I know everything is homemade and additive free!

I have spent today baking and by tomorrow night when my own family have returned from the 'Rise of the River Gods' parade and fireworks display in Derry City accompanied by their own friends the baked goods and treats will disappear faster than you can say BOO!


One of the things the adults always love are the ginger cookies and such a simple and quick recipe it is, yet full of delicious flavor!

For this recipe I use crystallized ginger but you can use ginger pieces done in a syrup or you can use fresh ginger itself just make sure you chop the ginger nice and fine, if you can't get any of those just use a good quality ground ginger.


For my buttery ginger biscuits you will need.......

170 g unsalted butter
50 g castor sugar
50 g light soft brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 teaspoon ginger
400 g plain flour
1 level teaspoon baking soda
90 g golden syrup
1 egg (at room temperature)
some extra castor sugar

How to:

• using an electric mixer, cream the butter, castor and brown sugars together until nice and soft and light in colour
• if using the natural ginger then add it now along with the vanilla extract and beat in
• sieve the flour and baking soda and ginger if using ground ginger
• beat the egg into the butter mixture, if you think the mixture is going to curdle then add a tablespoon of the flour
• add the syrup and beat the mixture again
• slowly add the flour and mix until a soft dough forms
• transfer your mix to a clean bowl, cover with clingfilm and chill for approx 1 hour
• pre-heat your oven to 160 degrees celsius
• place some castor sugar on a shallow plate or use a bowl, we will roll the raw cookies in this
• remove your mix from the fridge and scoop out a small amount, I find using a small ice cream scoop or a melon baller to be useful as the cookies will all be the same size when baked
• roll the scoop of dough in your hands till round, toss in the castor sugar and place the ball on a non stick baking sheet
• take a butter knife, or I like to use the bottom of a small glass, and flatten the ball slightly, then take a fork and press some grooves in the top
• continue on until you have filled your tray but make sure you leave a good inch or more between each ball as the cookies will spread a little as they bake
• bake for approx 10 -15 minutes or until golden brown
• when you take the tray out of the oven gently loosen each cookie a little with a knife, be careful not to break them
• let them cool a little on the tray to firm them up then transfer them to a wire rack
• when cold you can store them in a biscuit tin or other airtight container

This recipe will make approx 30-40 cookies depending on what size you make them.

They are delicious on their own or with a nice cup of tea which you will no doubt be in need of after all the trick or treaters have been so keep some hidden for later!

If you want to be really fancy you can whip up a little lemon butter cream using some unsalted butter, icing sugar and lemon essence, spread it on the base of the biscuits and sandwich them together.......great for a posh afternoon tea!