Good Food - Good Food: Best Biscuits

Each BBC Good Food title is researched and written by the experts at Good Food.

Sometimes theres nothing better than a classic a traditional biscuit that you go back for time and time again. The kind of biscuit that the family fight over and that is the first to go from the biscuit tin. Whatever your favourite may be, I hope you enjoy our selection of biscuit tin classics.

This biscuit dough can be used to make all kinds of shaped and iced biscuits. Use it as a vanilla base or flavour weve given you some suggestions under the recipe.

PREP 10 mins MAKES 2530

• 300g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 150g white or golden caster sugar
• 150g slightly salted butter, chopped
• 1 large egg
• 2 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
• 12 tbsp milk

Weigh the flour and sugar and put them in a large bowl. Add the butter and rub it into the flour mixture with your fingertips until the mixture resembles wet sand; there should be no buttery lumps.

Beat the egg with the vanilla, then add the mixture to the bowl with the milk. Mix everything briefly with a cutlery knife to combine the egg with the dry ingredients, then use your hands to knead the dough together try not to overwork the dough or the biscuits will be tough. Shape the dough into a disc, then wrap and chill for at least 30 mins before cutting out the biscuits.

Citrus: Add the zest of an orange, lime or lemon instead of the vanilla. Stir the zest into the egg. For a stronger flavour, use 2 limes.

Cinnamon: Add a large pinch of cinnamon to the flour when you weigh it out, adding the vanilla as well.

Chocolate: Swap 40g flour for 40g cocoa powder. Add a splash of milk if the mixture is too dry to bring together at the end.

energy 98 kcals, fat 5g, saturates 3g, carbs 13g, sugars 5g, fibre 0.4g, protein 1g, salt 0.1g

Make these moreish shortbread biscuits using just three ingredients. Theyre wonderfully crumbly and go perfectly with a cup of tea for a mid-morning delight.

PREP 20 mins COOK 20 mins MAKES 20

• 150g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 100g butter, chilled and cubed
• 50g caster sugar, plus 1 tbsp for sprinkling

Heat the oven 170C/150C fan/gas 3. Put the flour, butter and sugar into a mixing bowl. Use your hands to combine the ingredients until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs, then squeeze until it comes together as a dough.

On a lightly floured surface, use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to cm thick. Cut the dough into fingers and place on a lined baking tray. Use a fork to create imprints, then sprinkle with the remaining caster sugar.

Chill the dough in the fridge for 20 mins, then bake for 1520 mins until golden brown. Remove the shortbread fingers from the oven and leave to cool on the tray for 10 mins.

energy 79 kcals, fat 4g, saturates 3g, carbs 9g, sugars 4g, fibre 0.3g, protein 1g, salt 0.1g

Use fresh and ground ginger to make these spiced biscuits. Theyre a biscuit tin classic and taste even better being homemade.

PREP 20 mins COOK 10 mins MAKES 20

• 100g salted butter, cubed
• 75g light brown soft sugar
• 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
• 100g golden syrup
• 250g self-raising flour
• 1 tbsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 small egg yolk, beaten

Heat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Line two large baking trays with parchment. In a saucepan over a low heat, melt the butter, sugar, fresh ginger and golden syrup and leave to cool.

Mix the flour, ground ginger and bicarbonate of soda together in a bowl with a wooden spoon. Gradually stir in the cooled sugar mixture and the egg yolk and knead briefly to make a dough.

Roll the dough into 20g balls and put on the prepared baking trays with about 3cm between each to allow for spreading. Bake for 810 mins until golden brown. Leave to cool on the trays for a min, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

energy 117 kcals, fat 5g, saturates 3g, carbs 17g, sugars 8g, fibre 1g, protein 1g, salt 0.3g

Add some colour to classic bourbon biscuits using pink food colouring. Kids will love piping the filling and eating them afterwards of course!

PREP 40 mins + freezing COOK 10 mins MAKES 25

• 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

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

Beat the butter and sugar until creamy, then mix in the rest of the ingredients to form a dough, adding a splash of milk if dry.

Line three baking sheets, dust with flour, then roll and pat one-third of the dough out to the thickness of a 1 coin on each. Cover and freeze for 15 mins.

Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Slide off the trays and cover with parchment. Trim edges to straighten, then cut in 6cm x 3cm rectangles. Lift onto the trays, leaving space between. Use a cocktail stick to make the pricked pattern (not too many or theyll break). Put back in the freezer if it gets soft.

Bake for 810 mins, then cool on the sheet. Sprinkle over some sugar.

Beat the butter and icing sugar together, then divide into three. Add cocoa to one, a dot of pink to another and leave the last plain (add more sugar if needed). Spoon into piping or sandwich bags with the corner snipped off.

Pipe the icings onto half, sandwich with the other halves and leave to set.

energy 221 kcals, fat 10g, saturates 6g, carbs 29g, sugars 21g, fibre 1g, protein 2g, salt 0.08g