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ginger & chilli biscuits

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Wonderfully spicy ginger biscuits with a kick of chilli, a quick and easy bake.

The idea for this recipe came about last week when I sadly reached the bottom of my tin of Fortnum & Mason’s “Lucifer’s Ginger & Chilli Biscuits”. I blame Michelle for this particular biscuit addiction, she got a tin from her husband for Christmas last year and let me taste!

Ginger & Chilli Biscuits on a tray with a spoon and dried spices

As anyone who knows me can attest, ginger and chilli are two of my favourite flavourings for sweet or savoury. They are perfection in these ginger and chilli biscuits!

Without any doubt, these are my favourite biscuits. But given the cost, and the fact that I’d have to have them sent to me (further increasing the cost) there’s just no way to easily sustain this biscuit habit, as much as I’d like to! 

What to do? Well simple really, come up with your own (significantly cheaper) version. I found a basic biscuit recipe and began adapting it to create my own ginger and chilli biscuits. Here’s the result, a ginger biscuit, with a nice chew of stem ginger and a good kick of chilli.

Recipe Steps:

Mix all the ingredients together to form a dough and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight. When ready to bake, remove the dough from the fridge and roll each cookie into cherry tomato sized balls and place on a lined baking sheet. Allow plenty space between each cookie sized ball of dough and do not press down, the cookies will flatten as they bake. Now place in the oven at 180CFan for 12-14 minutes to bake.

Why do you chill the dough?

The cookie is chilled for at least 2 hours in the fridge or longer if time allows. The purpose of chilling the dough is to firm it up. If it goes into the oven cold the balls of dough will melt down into the shape of a cookie. If the dough is too warm when you roll it out, the biscuits will spread out too much during the baking process. You don’t want to be left with flat biscuits.

In the oven the balls of cookie dough will flatten out and cook. Once the cookies are baked, remove from the oven and place them on a wire baking tray to cool.

Substitutions:

Chilli:

These ginger and chilli biscuits really do pack a punch, there is a hit of both ginger and chilli. However, if the chilli is too much you can simply reduce the amount you add to the dough.

Indeed if chilli isn’t really your thing you can leave it out altogether. You will still be left with a lovely ginger biscuit.

Stem ginger, point worth noting:

It is worth mentioning that when making these ginger and chilli biscuits you need to add stem ginger to the dough mix. You must use stem ginger, which comes out of a jar and is covered in syrup. Although you don’t add any of the actual syrup to the dough, the grated stem ginger is covered in it, and this very much helps bind the dough together.

So please do not replace the stem ginger with, say crystallised ginger, as this would result in the dough being too dry to roll out.

How long will these cookies keep?

These cookies are great enjoyed still warm from the oven with a hot cup of tea, which is how I enjoy them. However, once cooled, place them in an airtight container where they will keep for 4-5 days.

Can you freeze these cookies?

I do not recommend freezing the cookies themselves as they will soften too much during the defrosting process. However, you can freeze the cookie dough. Make a batch of dough, bake one half and place the remaining dough in a container suitable for the freezer.

When you are ready to bake the cookies, remove the dough from the freezer and allow to defrost in the fridge before rolling into balls and cooking as directed.

Pin the recipe:

Ginger & Chilli Biscuits

Additional recipe suggestions:

If you like these simple biscuits then try some of our other simple bakes:

These cookies are also delicious served with our Mulled Apple Juice.

If you enjoyed this bake have a look at our Ultimate Guide to Baking with Kids, full of great recipe suggestions for baking with children.

Ginger & Chilli Biscuits on a tray with a spoon and dried spices

ginger & chilli biscuits

Wonderfully spicy ginger biscuits with a kick of chilli, a quick and easy bake.
5 from 6 votes
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Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 12 mins
Resting Time: 2 hrs
Total Time: 32 mins
Servings: 30 biscuits
Calories: 72kcal
Author: Lesley Garden

Ingredients

  • 75 g light muscavado sugar
  • 125 g unsalted butter (at room temperature)
  • 180 g self raising flour
  • ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 4 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp hot chilli powder
  • 100 g stem ginger (very finely grated)

Instructions

  • Cream together the sugar and the butter until really well combined and light in colour.
  • Add all the remaining ingredients to the bowl and mix well until everything is thoroughly combined. Then place the dough in a bowl, cover with clingfilm and place in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours, but ideally overnight.
  • When ready to bake, remove the dough from the fridge and roll into balls the size of a cherry tomato. Place the balls onto a lined baking tray, taking care to space them out as they will flatten in the oven when baked. From this mixture you should get between 26-30 biscuits.
  • Place in an oven at 180CFan for 12-14 minutes until the biscuits are golden in colour. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool and harden.
  • You can store these biscuits in an airtight container and enjoy them for several days.

Notes

You can alter the amount of chilli and ginger that you add to these biscuits. If you want to leave out the chilli altogether you will still have a delicious ginger biscuit.
Nutrition Facts
ginger & chilli biscuits
Amount Per Serving (30 g)
Calories 72 Calories from Fat 27
% Daily Value*
Fat 3g5%
Saturated Fat 2g13%
Cholesterol 8mg3%
Sodium 24mg1%
Potassium 14mg0%
Carbohydrates 9g3%
Sugar 4g4%
Vitamin A 130IU3%
Calcium 4mg0%
Iron 0.1mg1%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

• Please note that the nutrition information provided above is approximate and meant as a guideline only •

Course : Baking
Cuisine : British
Keyword : biscuits, chilli, cookies, ginger
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kathryn

    What consistency should the mixture look like when its all mixed in please? I’m not used to making biscuits! I used the last of my home made stem ginger (which weighed 75g including the very solid crystalised sugar syrup) so I chucked the whole lot in, and vegan margarine instead of butter. The mixture seems quite dry/crumbly, is that right? I’m going to leave it in the fridge overnight and see what it’s like in the morning! Thank you.

    Reply

    • Lesley

      Hi Kathryn, the recipe uses butter which helps when rolling the dough into balls. Margarine of any variety does change the consistency quite considerably so that might be one problem. The stem ginger I use is soft with stem ginger syrup which makes it wet so when added to the dough it adds moisture. As you’re stem ginger is quite dry and not the full 100g quantity that is likely to be the problem and result in a dry dough. Stem ginger is naturally sticky so along with the butter helps form the dough into balls. If you look into the recipe post you can see a photo of the raw dough balls on a baking sheet just before they’re popped into the oven. As you can see the dough is neither too dry or wet, it’s just a moist dough. I suggest using slightly damp hands when you come to roll the dough, hopefully that will help.

      Reply

  6. jenny paulin

    ooooh thats an interesting biscuit flavour, I love ginger biscuits and adding some chilli is very interesting. They look gorgeous and I am sure I would love them x

    Reply

    • Michelle

      Hi Jo, they definitely pack a punch, but easy to adjust how much heat you like. Great combination with the warming heat of the ginger and the spice of the chilli! Love to see if you make them. Cheers, Michelle x

      Reply

  9. Meals and Makes

    Ohh, these sound delicious and look amazing. I love ginger biscuits, I bet the chilli adds another great layer of flavour. #CookBlogShare

    Reply

    • Michelle

      The chilli definitely makes a great addition. We love chilli here at Lost in Food and always find somewhere to add it!:-) Thanks for the comments! Cheers, Michelle x

      Reply

  11. Rebecca Smith

    5 stars
    This recipe excites me, I love ginger, I love chilli and I also love chilli in desserts and chocolate, so these biscuits seem to be made just for me! I’ll have to tweak to make them Gluten Free but that’s no biggie…plus these are vegan too so no nasty eggs to have to replace! Perfect! Thank you for sharing #CookBlogShare

    Reply

    • Lesley

      Thank you Rebecca, they are so easy to make and as they’re a biscuit they don’t have the same rise, I think they should be quite easy to convert to gluten free. Hope you enjoy.

      Reply

  12. Michelle Frank | Flipped-Out Food

    I hate reaching the bottom of the cookie jar. I’m sure that will not take me long, given the delicious (and fiery) combination of ingredients here! Ginger is one of my favorite flavors, and I’m sure that the addition of chili powder brings out that flavor even more. I can’t wait to try these!

    Reply

  13. John A. Buckley

    You are my hero! A friend just returned from London and gave me a tin of Lucifer’s biscuits. AFter eating the first several, I’m already panicking about running out. Thanks so much for posting your recipe! Would you help me with one part? Your recipe calls for 1 tsp “hot chilli powder”. In my stores, chili powder means something else (and includes garlic and cumin!) Will I be ok using cayenne?

    Thanks so much!

    Reply

    • Michelle

      Hi John, thanks for the comment and glad we could help!:-) Yes I do understand as being originally from Canada myself that the chilli powders are different. Ours in the Uk is purely chillies ground down into a powder with nothing else added. You could try the cayenne but I’m unsure if it would give the flavour you’d be looking for, but could certainly try it. Failing that, if you have a spice grinder or blender you could get some dried chillies and make your own chilli powder? Hope this helps! Cheers, Michelle

      Reply

  14. John

    My hero! A friend just brought me back a tin of Lucifer’s Biscuits and, after the first several, I’m already panicking about running out. I’m so grateful to have found you and your recipe. One question: Is your “hot chilli powder” the same as cayenne pepper? The chili powder sold in our stores contains, among other things, garlic and cumin! Will cayenne pepper work for me?

    Thanks so much for the help!

    John

    Reply

  15. Eva

    How much is 100 grams stem ginger – I tried to look up – and it said 2 cups – I think not.
    Thanks, and let me know.

    Reply

    • Michelle

      Hi Eva, thanks for the comment.
      The stem ginger we used was as per the attached link. The jar is about 350g so its roughly just under 1/3 of this jar. Its a stem ginger in a syrup so its not fresh root ginger that you might be referring to. If you can’t find the stem ginger in syrup, then I have also made them just using 1-2 tsp of ground ginger, they aren’t as soft and chewy, but rather a crispier biscuit. Hope this helps, Cheers, Michelle

      https://www.amazon.co.uk/Opies-Stem-Ginger-Syrup-280g/dp/B003UG8IMI

      Reply

  16. Sylvia Lewis

    Thank you for this recipe. You saved my new tea time addiction! I ate the last ginger cookie from my gift tin of Fortnum & Mason ‘Explorers’ Biscuit Selection. Friends from Twickenham visited over recent holidays and gifted us. While all of the selections were delicious, I really fell for the ‘Lucifer’ -ginger chili biscuit. I tried my hand at making it. Alas, my biscuits were not IT!! Your recipe looks like the ‘real deal.’ I need help translating to US measurement. How hot is a 180CFan oven? With love and gratitude from New York City.

    Reply

    • Michelle

      Thank you for your lovely comments, we love these biscuits and they’re really easy to make! A 180CFan is the same heat as as 200C, 400F according to the internet, however, as one of us is from Canada, we would even be tempted to start at an oven of 350F in the US or Gasmark 6. Our tip is to make sure you drain as much of the stem ginger syrup as you can, you don’t want the dough too wet. We hope you enjoy. We have also made them without the stem ginger (as ran out!) and used extra ground ginger, not quite as lovely but still a great taste. And we would love to hear and see photos after you make them! Cheers, Lesley & Michelle x

      Reply

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