Regency Gingerbread Nuts
These intensely spiced, chewy drop biscuits deliver a bold kick of ginger and the warm, aromatic depth of allspice. Baked gently in a low-temperature oven, they develop a beautifully cracked top and a rich, deeply flavoured centre that pairs wonderfully with a cold glass of milk or a strong cup of tea.
Original recipe
To five pounds of flour, put six pounds of treacle, one pound and a half of sugar, and a pound and a half of butter. Rub the butter with the flour and sugar, then mix it up with the treacle. Put in six ounces of ginger and four ounces of pimento [allspice], and drop them in drops. They will require a slow oven.
Taken from "The Housekeeper's Valuable Present or the Lady's Closet Companion" by Robert Abbot, 1790.
Modern ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (190g) all-purpose flour (UK: plain flour)
- ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (55g) unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup (250g) molasses (UK: black treacle)
- 1 tbsp ground ginger
- 2 tsp ground allspice
- 1 tsp baking soda (UK: bicarbonate of soda)
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt
Modern method
Preheat the oven: Set your oven to 300°F (150°C/130°C fan) and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Mix the dry ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, ground ginger, and ground allspice until well combined.
Incorporate the butter: Add the softened butter to the dry ingredients. Rub the mixture together with your fingertips until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
Form the dough: Pour the molasses into the spiced crumb mixture and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon or spatula until a thick, uniform, and very sticky dough forms.
Drop the cookies: Scoop rounded tablespoons of the dough and drop them onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving at least 2 inches of space between each to allow for spreading.
Bake the cookies: Bake in the slow oven for 12–15 minutes, or until the cookies have spread, cracked on top, and are set around the edges, but still slightly soft in the centre.
Cool completely: Allow the cookies to cool and firm up on the baking sheets for 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool fully.
