Empire Biscuits
A real Scottish favourite. Empire biscuits (sometimes known as German biscuits) are lovely little biscuits, filled with delicious jam, and topped with sweet icing & a jelly tot or glacé cherry. 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…
A real Scottish favourite. Empire biscuits (sometimes known as German biscuits) are lovely little biscuits, filled with delicious jam, and topped with sweet icing & a jelly tot or glacé cherry.
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.
Ingredients for Empire Biscuits:
Caster Sugar
Empire biscuits are so well-loved due to their sweetness and texture. A big part of that is, of course, the sugar! Caster sugar will give you the best empire biscuits, both because it is incredibly sweet, but also because it’s fine texture lends itself well to the soft, crumbly texture of an empire biscuit.
Butter or Margarine
Traditionally speaking, an empire biscuit is made with butter, giving it its familiar flavour, as well as the golden hue. If you want to omit the dairy from your recipe, or are simply looking to cut costs a little, margarine is a fantastic alternative. And in actual fact, most shop-bought Empire Biscuits you buy these days use margarine too.
If you are using margarine in this recipe, just be sure to use a block margarine, as opposed to the spreadable kind – the latter has a higher water content and will make your biscuit dough too soft.
Free-range Egg
Not all biscuit doughs have an egg in them, but Granny recommends adding one in empire biscuits. Not only does it help bring the dough together and bind the ingredients, but it also creates a richer dough and, in turn, a better biscuit.
Plain Flour
The final ingredient in your biscuit dough is flour. No raising agent is required, so plain flour is perfect. Don’t be alarmed if you think you’ve used too much flour – once you get your hands in and work the ingredients, they will come together!
Jam
Again, if we are talking tradition, it would be a strawberry – or occasionally a raspberry – jam that you would find in your empire biscuits. The great thing about baking them for yourself, though, is that you can put whatever you want in there! Strawberry, raspberry, blackcurrant, apricot… Whichever jam is, well, your jam. Just be sure to use a seedless jam for the best texture.
Icing Sugar
The icing on an empire biscuit is simply a water icing, made with icing sugar and some hot water. The most challenging part is getting the right consistency, but otherwise it is a very simple way to finish a biscuit!
Jelly Tot or Glacé Cherries
The two most iconic toppings for an empire biscuit are a jelly tot gummy sweet or half a glacé cherry. That’s not to say you can’t get creative or even seasonal with things like fondant holly leaves.
Top Tips for Empire Biscuits:
• When it comes to making your biscuit dough, don’t panic if it feels like the ingredients aren’t coming together, particularly after adding the flour. Empire biscuits have a crumbly, melt-in-the-mouth texture, which requires quite a firm dough. Once you get your hands into the dough mixture, the heat from your fingers will help bring the butter and flour together – just keep at it! Trust me.
• If you don’t have a cookie cutter for cutting your biscuits, simply use an upturned glass.
• You can make your biscuits as large or small as you prefer. Just be sure to adjust your baking time to suit – the larger the biscuit, the longer they need, and vice versa.
• When it comes to icing your biscuits; for the best finish, make your icing to a “gloopy” consistency. Hold your biscuits with your fingertips and gently dip the top of the biscuit onto the surface of your icing, slowly lifting them back out, allowing the excess to drip off, before flipping over. Top your with a sweetie or cherry and leave it set. As long as your icing isn’t too runny, the icing shouldn’t run off the edges. Getting the right consistency can take a bit of trial and error, but it does give you the neatest finish, so it is worth practising.
More Scottish Baking Recipes You’ll Love:
• Scottish Tablet
• Traditional Black Bun
• Petticoat Tail Shortbread
• Drop Scones
Save this recipe!
Want to save this recipe for later? Pop your email below and come back to it when you’re ready to bake.
Empire Biscuits
INGREDIENTS
For the Biscuits
- 130 g Caster Sugar
- 250 g Butter or Margarine
- 1 Free-range 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 until light & fluffy.
- Add the egg and mix until combined. Sift in the flour and mix to form a dough – you may need to use your hands to help the dough come together.
- Roll the dough on a floured surface to around 1cm thick. Using a round cutter, cut your biscuits & transfer to your baking tray. The number of biscuits you will get will vary depending on the size of cutter you choose to use.
- Bake for around 10 minutes until the edges of the biscuit are just golden. Again, depending on the size of your biscuits, you may need to bake them a little bit longer.
- 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!
IMPORTANT NOTE:
All my recipes are developed using a digital scale and the metric system (grams and millilitres). Cup measurements are available as a conversion but these, unfortunately, won’t always be as accurate. For best results, I always recommend baking with a digital scale.
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
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
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.
Oh. I guess I have to find the right amount of flour and butter etc?
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.
All shortbrrad dough is a little bit drier than most other doughs
That’s what makes it sooooo delish!
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.
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
Completely raw?! That’s only happened to me when my old oven didnot work properly.
This recipe is perfect
We bake ALL of our biscuits at 180 and then adjust the time to suit.
I’m a 65year old British woman from a northern baking family. Never heard of them but will give them a try.
If you know Tebay service station on the M6 around the Lake District, they sell them there Delish!
Can I make the dough in the food processor?
I cheated just now and made these just now with some leftover vanilla cookie dough.
We make cookies to sell at markets and make all types with a a MIXER rather than by hand (and we have a load of repeat customers…).
I would guess you can use a food PROCESSOR but would have to be careful on speed etc.