Our Best Biscuit Recipes for National Biscuit Day

National Biscuit Day, celebrated annually on the 29th of May, is a British holiday that allows us to appreciate the biscuit in all of its glory. From classic biscuits like custard creams to more unusual biscuits such as Pistachio swirls, it’s safe to say that we’re all lovers of the biscuit in some form or another. In this blog, we’ve got some delicious biscuit recipes to cook in your Aga cooker to keep you busy on National Biscuit Day this year.

So, what are the best biscuit recipes for National Biscuit Day? When it comes to biscuits, we think the best recipes are those that are relatively easy to make and taste as good as they look. Why not try a family favourite, Viennese Whirls or, if you’re looking to bake something more unique this year, give these delicate Italian-inspired Ricciarelli biscuits a go. 

Keep reading to find out how to bake these delicious BBC biscuit recipes, all of which are easy to bake in whichever Aga cooker you have at home.

CLASSIC BISCUIT RECIPES THAT LOOK AS GOOD AS THEY TASTE

Recipe 1 – Viennese whirls

If you’re looking for some elegant, buttery biscuits to make, these Viennese whirls are the perfect choice. You could even dip them in chocolate if they’re not quite sweet enough for you.

[makes 10 biscuits]

Ingredients:

For the biscuits:

• 200g slightly salted butter, softened
• 50g icing sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 200g plain flour
• 2 tsp cornflour
• ½ tsp baking powder

For the filling:

• 100g butter, softened
• 170g icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 50g raspberry jam or strawberry jam

Method:

1. Place a baking sheet on a grid shelf on the floor of the roasting oven to heat up. You’ll be thrilled to know that even the smallest of Aga cookers, the 2 door Aga cooker, features a roasting oven. Line two baking trays with parchment paper.
2. Put the butter and icing sugar in a large bowl and beat with an electric hand whisk for about 5 minutes until the mixture is pale and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and beat again until it is fully mixed in.
3. Sift the flour, cornflour and baking powder and fold into the mixture using a spatula until combined. (Tip – you want the dough to have a tacky consistency!) Spoon the dough into a piping bag fitted with a large star-shaped nozzle.
4. Pipe swirly circles 5cm diameter onto 2 baking sheets. Remember to make sure that there are 3 cm spaces between each swirl, we don’t want them getting stuck together!
5. Bake the swirls for 10-12 minutes, swapping the trays over halfway through the cooking time so that the biscuits are evenly baked. You want them to look pale golden and cooked through. Leave the biscuits to cool on the baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring them to cooling racks.
6. While the biscuits are cooling, this is a great time to make the filling. Put the softened butter in a large mixing bowl and add the icing sugar. Stir together initially with a wooden spoon and then switch to electric beaters or a whisk to get the buttercream fluffy and smooth. Add the vanilla extract and beat again to combine. Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag and snip off the end.
7. Turn the biscuits over so that their flat side is facing up then pipe the buttercream over half of the biscuits and spread a little jam over the rest. Sandwich a jam covered biscuit together with a buttercream one and repeat until all the biscuits are used up.

*For the chocolate dipped version – instead of sandwiching the biscuits together, try dipping the flat side in melted chocolate.

Recipe 2 – Bourbon Biscuits

Looking to bake more of a classic biscuit this National Biscuit Day, why not try these scrumptious bourbon biscuits. Add some colour to these classic cookie sandwiches using pink food colouring which the kids will love. For you adults, enjoy these delicious treats with a cup of tea.

[makes 25 biscuits]

Ingredients:

For the biscuits:

• 125g soft unsalted butter
• 125g golden caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
• 2 tbsp golden syrup
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 250g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 50g cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder

For the filling:

• 150g unsalted butter, softened
• 360g icing sugar, sifted
• 4 tbsp cocoa powder
• Pink food colouring

Method: 

1. Beat the butter and sugar together until it is creamy and then mix in the rest of the ingredients. If the mixture looks a bit dry, add a splash of milk – it should come together as a dough.
2. Line three baking sheets and dust them lightly with flour. Roll and pat one-third of the dough out to the thickness of a £1 coin on each. Cover and freeze for 15 minutes.
3. Slide the dough off the trays and put a new piece of parchment on each. Trim the edges of the dough to straighten, then cut into rectangles, roughly 6 x 3cm. Lift each one carefully onto the tray. Remember to leave space between the biscuits because they will expand. Bourbons usually have a pricked pattern so you can use a cocktail stick to create these patterns if you want (Tip – try not to do too many patterns or the biscuits will break!) If the dough starts getting too soft, put the dough back in the freezer.
4. Bake the biscuits in the roasting oven of your Aga cooker for 8-10 minutes. Once they are ready, leave the biscuits to cool on the sheet as they will be soft when hot. Sprinkle over a dusting of sugar.
5. While the biscuits cool, get started on the filling. Beat the butter and icing sugar together, then divide the mixture into three. Add the cocoa to one lot, a dot of pink colour to another and leave the last one plain. Spoon each into a piping bag or a sandwich bag with the corner snipped.
6. When the biscuits have cooled completely, pipe the icings onto half of them, then sandwich together with the other halves. Leave to set.

Tip – the bourbons will soften after a while so it is best to eat them on the day they’re iced.

ITALIAN INSPIRED BISCUIT RECIPE

Recipe 3 – Ricciarelli Biscuits

If you’re hoping to bake something a bit different this year, try these Italian-inspired almond biscuits.

[serves 20]

Ingredients:

• 2 egg whites
• ½ tsp almond extract
• 1 lemon, zested
• 200g icing sugar, plus extra for dusting
• 260g ground almonds

Method:

1. Whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks in a clean bowl, then whisk in the almond extract and lemon zest.
2. In a separate bowl, sift together the icing sugar, ground almonds and a pinch of salt. Gently fold this into the whisked egg whites until it all comes together into a dough. Cover and chill for at least 4 hours, or ideally overnight.
3. Turn the dough out onto a work surface generously dusted with icing sugar. Roll into a long, fat sausage (about 40cm long) and cut 2 cm-thick slices down the length – you should get about 20. Shape each slice into an oval and pat down the tops a little. The biscuits should be about 4-5 cm wide and 5-6 cm long. Arrange them on a baking tray lined with baking parchment and dust with more icing sugar.
4. Place your tray into the roasting oven of your Aga cooker and leave the biscuits to cook for 20-23 minutes. Tip – take the biscuits out when they are just turning brown. They will be soft when you first take them out but will firm up as they cool. Leave the biscuits to cool completely on the tray.

VEGAN OPTION BISCUIT RECIPE

Recipe 4 – Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

We know it can be hard sometimes to find tasty vegan biscuits that rank anywhere near non-vegan biscuits. Try BBC’s best-ever vegan choc chip cookies.

[makes 20 cookies]

Ingredients:

• 125g cold coconut oil
• 100g golden caster sugar
• 150g light muscovado sugar
• 125ml coconut milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 275g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 200g vegan chocolate chips or vegan chocolate, chopped into chunks

Method:

1. Tip the coconut oil and sugars into a bowl and whisk until completely combined, then whisk in the coconut milk and vanilla extract.
2. Tip the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and a good pinch of flaky sea salt into the mix to make a thick batter, then fold through the chocolate chips. Chill the batter for at least 1 hour.
3. Line a few baking sheets with baking parchment, then scoop or roll plum-sized balls of the dough and place them on the baking sheets about 2 cm apart. Flatten the balls slightly and sprinkle them with a bit more flaky sea salt if you want.
4. Cook the cookies on the middle shelf of your roasting oven for about 12-15 minutes, turning the tray once, until the cookies have spread, golden and soft in the middle.
5. Leave the cookies to cool slightly, then lift them onto a cooling rack while you bake another batch.

*Top tip – to get soft gooey cookies, try not to over-bake them. They should be removed from the oven whilst still soft. They will appear slightly underbaked but as they cool, they will firm up. Look out for a lightly golden edge and a soft centre, you want your cookies to have a gooey interior and a crisp exterior. In other words, you’ll be in cookie heaven.

WHY BAKING IS BETTER USING AN AGA COOKER

According to a recent study from researchers at the National Centre for Food Manufacturing (University of Lincoln), there is scientific evidence to prove that Aga cookers ‘treat food differently by using gentle, radiant heat around the cast iron oven, locking in all the moisture, flavour and goodness of food’.

Aga cookers are perfect for baking because you can achieve 2 key things that all bakers strive for:

1. The right colouring (that golden brown glow we are all looking for)
2. A more even bake (the biscuits are baked just the right amount)

Learn more about baking with Aga cookers in our recent blog, Can You Make Bread in an Aga Cooker, where we go into more detail about how to bake bread in our reconditioned Aga cookers.

RECONDITIONED AGA COOKERS AT RANGE EXCHANGE

So, what are you waiting for? Kickstart this year’s National Biscuit Day by giving some of these delicious biscuit recipes a go in your Aga cooker. Take a look at Range Exchanges’ showroom-standard reconditioned Aga cookers which are perfect for baking golden gooey biscuits.

There are plenty of models to choose from, check out our traditional oil or gas models, or New Gen models like Dual Control and Total Control.