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Empire Biscuits

December 24, 2015 By Amy 38 Comments

Empire Biscuits
If there’s one recipe that people always ask for from Granny, it’s her Empire Biscuit one! These little gems are so simple & so versatile. You can go all traditional and opt for a Glace Cherry or a Jelly Tot on top, or you can get creative with fondant and top them with any shape you like! We particularly love going all festive with holly sprinkles, just for Santa.These humble little biscuits have always been Granny’s go-to recipe for pleasing guests and it’s only when reading on the history of them that I’ve found that they’re perhaps not quite as well-known to the world as they are here in Scotland, especially given their various different names.

Sometimes in baking though it’s the simpler recipes that make the most impact and with two little biscuits sandwiched with jam & topped with icing, it doesn’t get much easier than this! Best of all, more so than anything else about these little Empire Biscuits, is that the kids devour them. Easy and kid friendly = win, win in my books.

Empire Biscuits

 

A post shared by Baking With Granny (@bakingwithgranny) on Mar 28, 2017 at 8:02am PDT

Empire Biscuits

Empire Biscuits

4.41 from 10 votes
Print Rate
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Author: Baking with Granny

Ingredients 

For the Biscuits

  • 130 g Caster Sugar
  • 250 g Butter
  • 1 Egg
  • 500 g Plain Flour

For the Decoration

  • Strawberry or Raspberry Jam
  • 200 g Icing Sugar
  • Few teaspoons of boling water
  • Glace Cherries/Gummy Sweeties/Icing Shapes

Instructions

  • Pre-heat your oven to 180°c (or 160°c for a fan assisted oven) and line a couple of baking trays with greaseproof paper.
  • Cream your butter & sugar on a medium speed until light & fluffy.
  • Add the egg and mix until combined then sift in the flour and mix to form a dough.
  • Roll the dough on a floured surface to around 1cm thick. Using a round cutter, cut your biscuits & transfer to your baking tray.
  • Bake for around 10 minutes until the edges of the biscuit are just golden.
  • When still warm but cool enough to touch, add the jam to the under side of half your biscuits and pop the other half on top of these to sandwich together.
  • When completely cool, make your icing by mixing icing sugar & gradually adding the boiling water until you're happy with the consistency - "gloopy" is a great way to describe it! Gently dip the top of your biscuits into the icing to cover and top with your decoration of choice!
Tried this recipe?Tag @bakingwithgranny or use the hashtag #bakingwithgranny!

Empire Biscuits

What’s your favourite way to decorate?

Filed Under: biscuit, christmas, recipe, scottish

Comments

  1. mark says

    July 8, 2018 at 3:56 pm

    Well not the best recipe.

    Reply
    • Mairi says

      August 31, 2018 at 5:57 pm

      Hi mark, I found the recipe far too buttery but got there in the end! Do you have an alternative?

      Reply
      • Wilma. M. says

        August 3, 2021 at 12:50 pm

        My recipe is :
        6oz plain flour
        6oz butter
        2oz icing sugar.
        Metood :
        Cream butter and sugar together then add flour to make soft dough. Add extra flour if its too soft to handle.
        Cut out rounds fairly thickly then cook in med oven for 10 – 15 mins. When cooled, Sandwich together with jam and top with glace icing. Add colour and decorate as desired. Made these for years. Love them.

        Reply
      • Lidia says

        February 2, 2022 at 3:06 pm

        Oh no! Not too buttery at all!!

        Reply
    • Mary says

      March 27, 2020 at 2:28 pm

      2 stars
      Agree. After 10 minutes at 160 then came out completely raw in the centre. I had to turn it up to 180 (with fan) and cook on for an other 10 minutes. I think the problem is that “Granny” doesn’t specify a cutter size and as we all know size does make a difference.

      Reply
      • Amy says

        March 28, 2020 at 10:24 am

        You are right, a larger cutter would require a little longer in the oven. I will update the recipe to specify this for those who may not realise.

        The biscuits will however still be a little soft in the middle when you remove them from the oven and will harden as they start to cool. If they are still raw and not golden at the edges (as per recipe) I’d recommend leaving them in the oven for a little longer.

        Amy

        Reply
      • Lidia says

        February 2, 2022 at 3:08 pm

        Completely raw?! That’s only happened to me when my old oven didnot work properly.
        This recipe is perfect

        Reply
    • Kate McD says

      April 10, 2020 at 9:11 am

      4 stars
      I found the dough to be really crumbly, and in the end didn’t use the full amount of flour that was asked for. I too, found that 160 (fan assisted) wasn’t long enough and ended up doubling the time. The recipe doesn’t specify how many you will get, I got 10 biscuits though.

      I’m not a baker so for me the recipe was simple with little ingredients so I’m happy with the way they turned out. My plan is to doorstep deliver to my family for Easter.

      Reply
      • Lidia says

        February 2, 2022 at 3:09 pm

        All shortbrrad dough is a little bit drier than most other doughs
        That’s what makes it sooooo delish!

        Reply
  2. Karen says

    September 14, 2018 at 1:21 pm

    This is now my Every Time recipe.
    Every time I make these biscuits with this recipe, they are perfect. I have tried several other recipes, most of them spread during cooking or fall to pieces when spreading, not with this recipe, it is perfect.
    The shape and texture is perfect and the flavour is delicicious. I have to eat a couple as soon as I’ve made them because if I go back later to get some, they’re gone. They definitely don’t last long in this house.
    Thank you Granny, I love baking with your recipes, they never fail to please.

    Reply
  3. Karen says

    November 21, 2018 at 1:32 pm

    Had to tweak these a little, used baking spread instead of butter and had to bake a lot longer than 10 mins, will put oven temp up to 180 next time, still a bit pale looking but lovely crunchy biscuits when finished, will definitely make them again

    Reply
    • Amanda says

      December 28, 2020 at 8:33 pm

      I always use stork margarine as then I get shortcake type biscuits and by the time they get sandwiched together with the jam and then iced they are far too sweet ( for me) if butter is used.
      We use this recipe for schoolkids . Still delicious but not sickly. I keep the butter for traditional shortbread

      Reply
      • Lidia says

        February 2, 2022 at 3:11 pm

        All shortbrrad dough is a little bit drier than most other doughs
        That’s what makes it sooooo delish!

        Reply
      • Lidia says

        February 2, 2022 at 3:13 pm

        Margarine is solidified oil . A completely different product to butter. It might look like butter but it’s not. Hence the end result is different.

        Reply
  4. Melissa says

    May 15, 2019 at 1:41 pm

    Can I freeze these with the icing on? Thank you

    Reply
    • Jillie says

      February 2, 2022 at 3:14 pm

      You can freeze them but I wouldn’t.

      Reply
  5. Slim Ambition Keto Pills says

    May 29, 2019 at 1:55 am

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    Reply
    • Abby says

      April 22, 2020 at 11:07 pm

      Really good! I found that refrigerating the dough over night gave it a much softer and snappier texture. I’m American, so I found it fun baking something from another culture!

      Reply
  6. SHIRLEY says

    December 11, 2019 at 7:15 pm

    Can I make the dough in the food processor?

    Reply
  7. Lynne Temple says

    January 20, 2020 at 9:10 am

    I’m a 65year old British woman from a northern baking family. Never heard of them but will give them a try.

    Reply
  8. Audrey says

    April 24, 2020 at 12:11 pm

    5 stars
    Made these today, needed longer in oven than stated. That aside they are delicious, although I didn’t need all the flour

    I’m in Scotland, so these are a favourite

    Audrey Jones

    Reply
    • Debbie Hughes says

      May 11, 2020 at 10:44 am

      Hi Audrey – I’m planning on making these once I can my hands on plain flour. Can I ask how much flour you used for these?
      Many thanks.
      Debbie

      Reply
      • Audrey says

        May 19, 2020 at 8:52 pm

        5 stars
        I couldn’t say the exact amount, I had what was stated in recipe and added some at intervals until I had a soft pliable dough and know I had some left over. Sorry I can’t be more precise. I have made them a few times now and definitely less flour than stated.

        Reply
  9. emma says

    May 22, 2020 at 12:05 pm

    Brilliant recipe thank you for sharing. Tried lots of different recipes but this is by far the best :)

    Reply
  10. Patricia says

    May 22, 2020 at 12:11 pm

    5 stars
    Tried these and were lovely but found I needed to bake them for 25 mins.

    Reply
  11. Maeve says

    May 25, 2020 at 9:27 am

    I’ve now made these many times and shared the recipe as they are such a hit. I use the exact measurements and timings and I find they make a beautiful pale, soft and crumbly biscuit. Just as a German biscuit should be. I do rest the dough for half an hour in the fridge though, seems to make it a little easier to work with.

    Reply
  12. Georgina morrison says

    June 7, 2020 at 2:06 pm

    I made these to your exact recipe. They turned out brilliant. Family want me to make more, as they don’t last long in our house!!!

    Reply
  13. Amanda Gammack says

    June 9, 2020 at 2:29 pm

    5 stars
    Love this recipe my only problem is the jam it oozes out the sides can you recommend he best jam ?

    Reply
  14. Megan says

    September 25, 2020 at 3:16 pm

    Didn’t work out, waisted so much ingredients. It was a big crumbly mess so I think recipe perhaps has too much flour.

    Reply
    • Megan Duffy says

      September 25, 2020 at 3:17 pm

      Wasted *

      Reply
  15. Jen says

    October 18, 2020 at 2:29 pm

    5 stars
    This is the PERFECT recipe! I’ve used it multiple times now and they have turned out well every single time.
    Thanks for sharing :)

    Reply
  16. margaret mcjannet says

    December 23, 2020 at 12:28 pm

    Followed this recipe to the word apart from the flour I used 491 grams instead of 500 grams, they are perfect thank you granny

    Reply
  17. Sandra says

    January 12, 2021 at 5:08 pm

    4 stars
    So pleased to find this recipe as my Granny used to make these. Followed the Recipe but found it didn’t need 500g of Flour!! However just added probably less than half that amount and the were perfect thank you

    Reply
  18. Ella says

    February 21, 2021 at 1:20 pm

    My four year old daughter loves making these biscuits. They even turn out like they’re supposed to which is rare when she bakes! Delicious and even taste better after a few days.

    Reply
    • Maz says

      February 1, 2022 at 12:14 pm

      4 stars
      I used fine plain flour and stork but kept the the amount stated,turned out brilliant,I got 12 full biscuits with the cutter I had.

      Reply
  19. Deborah McTaggart says

    November 4, 2021 at 7:03 pm

    I make these all the time and have used many recipes. When I use this exact recipe I get the most positive comments from my guinea pigs.. eh I mean family! Thanks for sharing x

    Reply
  20. Sharon says

    December 16, 2021 at 2:35 pm

    5 stars
    Perfect recipe for the Empire biscuits I remember from when I was a child. While it might seem too much flour when you first tip it in, if you keep working it eventually it will come together in a nice biscuit dough (I used a hand mixer and once it started to look a little clumpy, I used my hands to knead it into a ball). I used a 2 1/4″ cutter and cooked them for about 12mins 160 Fan which seemed to hit the mark nicely in my oven to give me the lovely soft, pale biscuit I was after. Thank you for the recipe!

    Reply
  21. Lorraine says

    April 16, 2022 at 12:16 pm

    Omg it’s too crumbly to roll! Help!!

    Reply

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Hello & welcome!

Hello, I’m Amy, the voice-behind and creator-of Baking with Granny.

So many of us have fond memories of baking with our parents and grandparents. Good old fashioned home baking, made to traditional family recipes, which are passed down through generations. It was from my own experiences and memories of this that Baking with Granny was born…

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