Honey Biscuits
Honey biscuits with Blitz Soup and a cup of tea
City/Region: United Kingdom
Time Period: 1943-1945
Biscuits were one of the items available for purchase in the underground shelters of the UK during the Blitz in WWII, when German planes were bombing British cities, but with sugar rationed, War Cookery Leaflet No. 23 urged people to use alternative sweeteners like fruit, saccharin tablets, and honey.
This recipe comes from the same leaflet, and the biscuits are delicious. Unsurprisingly, they’re not very sweet, and the honey really gets to shine. These would be perfect to have with a cup of tea or cocoa.
“Honey biscuits
2 1/2 oz. margarine
1 oz. sugar
1 dried egg, dry
2 tablespoons honey
6 oz. self raising flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch salt
Cream the margarine and sugar and beat in the egg. Add the honey, work in the flour, cinnamon and salt. Roll out until 1/4 inch thick. Cut into rounds, place on a baking sheet, and bake in a moderately hot oven for 10 minutes. This quantity makes approximately 40-50 biscuits.”
Ingredients:
- Generous 5 tablespoons (75 g) margarine
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- Scant 1 1/2 cups (170 g) plain flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
- Cream the margarine and sugar until it’s nice and smooth. Beat in the honey until combined.
- In a separate bowl, sift the flour. Whisk in the baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix until it’s just combined.
- Either on a floured surface or between two pieces of parchment, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch (5 mm) thick.
- Cut the dough out using a 2 inch (5 cm) cookie cutter. Place the cookies on a lined baking sheet. They aren’t going to spread much, so you can place them close together. Gather, reroll, and cut out more cookies from any leftover dough.
- Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown.
- Let the cookies cool completely, then serve them forth.