There’s nothing quite like a homemade biscuit when friends drop by. Call them biscotti, bickies, cookies or slices, you’ll love these quick and easy biscuit and slice recipes and so will your family and friends.
Mostaccioli Calabrese Sometimes called mustazzoli or mustazzuole, depending on the dialect, mostaccioli are super hard biscuits that are popular at Christmas and often shaped like fish (an ancient symbol of Christianity). They come in many other shapes, some quite elaborate, including baskets, horses and hearts as well as a simple S. These simple Calabrian honey […]
Basler Läckerli Discover more regional specialties on my small group food & wine tour of Switzerland! Basler läckerli is a delicious sweet treat that’s a specialty of the Swiss canton of Basel. It’s sometimes made with hazelnuts instead of almonds and some recipes use either just orange peel or just lemon peel, so feel free […]
Navettes Like this recipe? You’ll love my online French cooking class featuring the Food of Provence! Navettes de Marseille are simple boat-shaped Provençal cookies scented with orange blossom water. They’re a delicious treat at any time and, as they’re quite firm, they’re often served with coffee, sweet wine or a glass of pastis de Marseille […]
Lotus Paste Shortbread Biscuits Cheong Liew tells me that these lotus paste shortbead biscuits are typically served with jasmine tea at the end of a Chinese banquet and, while golden lotus seed paste (lin yoong) is traditional, they can be filled with red bean (hong dou sha), black sesame (hei zhi ma xian) or any […]
PolvorónesAndalusian Shortbread These Spanish shortbreads hail from the southern region of Andalusia and are particularly popular at Christmas time. The name comes from the Spanish word polvo, meaning powder or dust, referring to their crumbly texture – the dough is the crumbliest I’ve ever worked with! They’re popular in Latin America and the Philippines and […]
Pinolate (Ligurian Pine Nut Cookies) Pinolate are simple Ligurian pine nut cookies with a wonderfully chewy soft centre, a crisp outer and delicious nutty flavour. Also called pignoli or amaretti con pignoli, they’re traditionally made with a mix of bitter and sweet almonds. As bitter almonds can be hard to find, I use marzipan mixed […]
Benne Wafers (Sesame Cookies) Benne (pronounced benny) is the heirloom ancestor to modern day sesame seeds. Morgan McGlone, who worked with renowned Southern chef Sean Brock at Husk in Charleston (South Carolina), tells me that even raw they have the rich, nutty flavour of toasted sesame seeds. Slaves brought benne seeds with them from Africa, […]
Shortcrust Cookies I hate wasting pastry offcuts, so when I make a tart or pie I use the remaining pastry for these tasty little shortcrust cookies (see the video below for another of my favourite pastry tricks). Unlike puff pastry, shortcrust can be rerolled without ill effect, so all of it can be used. If […]
Miso & Sesame Cookies Japanese sweets often have an intriguing blend of sweet and savoury, and if you like the black sesame cookies in our Month of Japanese, you’ll love these miso-spiked ones too. I like white miso for its mild taste, but you can experiment with different ones if you like a more savoury […]
Hong Kong Walnut Biscuits While lard is traditional in these deliciously crumbly Hong Kong walnut biscuits, I’m more likely to have butter on hand so that’s what I use, I also like the flavour Pepe Saya’s gorgeous butter adds. Substitute extra castor sugar for the brown sugar if need be. Makes 12 pieces Ingredients ¾ […]
