Honey Jumbles ~ #CreativeCookieExchange

Stay true to yourself. An original is worth more than a copy. This may be true 

in most cases, but not necessarily for homemade cookies.

The Creative Cookie Exchange bakers are making Copycat Cookies this month. As soon as I saw the theme I knew I had to pick one of the Arnott's assortment of cookies to replicate. Even after all this time living away from Australia I still think that Arnott's makes the best mass-produced cookies. Scotch Finger, Nice, Kingstons, Honey Jumbles, Iced Vovo, Venetian - I love them all.  I chose to make Honey Jumbles as my husband loves them.  These oval-shaped cookies are a little like a soft gingerbread and have a hard icing on top, and traditionally some are iced pink and some are iced white.

Although the name of them includes honey they can be made with either honey or golden syrup. I made mine with golden syrup as I love the caramel toffee taste it has.  I've said before that I prefer to use CSR golden syrup over Lyles, because it has a deeper flavor,  but it is hard to find here in the US.  I also chose to make my icing with an egg white, but if you don't like the idea of a raw egg white an alternate icing can be found here. I also did not have pure icing sugar so I had to use regular powdered sugar, and this meant that my icing did not set as hard as it could have been.  The cookies were still delicious.

This theme has inspired me to start baking more cookies and cakes from my homeland, so check back to see where this adventure takes me. In the meantime I highly suggest you try these delicious cookies - remember to start them the day before you want to bake them so that they can chill overnight in the refrigerator.

If you would like to know more about #CreativeCookieExchange and see what the other bakers made for the Copycat Cookie theme please scroll down below the recipe.

Honey Jumbles 
Printer Friendly Recipe

Ingredients
Cookies~

• 60g (4 tablespoons) butter
• 105g (½ cup) brown sugar packed
• 255g (¾ cup) golden syrup or honey
• 1 large egg
• 300g (2 ½ cups) all-purpose flour
• 60g (½ cup) self-rising flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 teaspoons ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves

Icing ~

• 1 egg white
• 240g (1 ½ cups) pure icing sugar
• Pink liquid food coloring

Directions

1. Put butter, brown sugar, and golden syrup in a medium saucepan, stir over medium heat until melted  and smooth.
2. Pour mixture into bowl of electric mixer and allow to cool (about 15 minutes).
3. Add egg and mix to combine.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together both flours, baking soda, cinnamon, and ginger.
5. Slowly add the flour mixture to the electric mixer bowl, mixing until combined.
6. Scrape the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and form the dough into a disk, about 8-9” across.
7. Refrigerate 1-2 hours or overnight, until firm and workable. (If the dough is sticky it is not cold enough.)
8. To bake the cookies preheat oven to 180℃ (350℉).
9. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
10. Cut the dough disc into 8 equal wedges.
11. Working on a lightly floured surface, roll each wedge into a log approximately 30cm (12”) long.
12. Cut each log into 5 equal segments of about about 2 ¼” each.
13. Place each segment on the prepared baking sheets about 2.5cm (1”) apart, using fingertips to round the ends and slightly flatten the top surface.
14. Bake for 8-11 minutes until golden and just firm to the touch.
15. Cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes then transfer to cool completely on wire racks.

Icing ~

1. Whisk the egg white in a bowl until frothy.
2. Add the icing sugar and stir until smooth. 
3. Spread half the icing over half the biscuits.
4. Tint remaining icing pink with food coloring and spread pink icing over the remaining biscuits.
5. Set aside for 30 mins or until icing is set.
6. Stored in an airtight container at room temperature, Honey Jumbles stay fresh for at least 2 weeks.

You can use us as a great resource for cookie recipes. Be sure to check out our Pinterest Board and our monthly posts (you can find all of them here at The Spiced Life). You will be able to find them the first Tuesday after the 15th of each month! If you are a blogger and want to join in the fun, contact Laura at thespicedlife AT gmail DOT com and she will get you added to our Facebook group, where we discuss our cookies and share links. This month's theme is CopyCat Cookies. Mahalo nui loa to Karen from Karen's Kitchen Stories for hosting.

If you are looking for inspiration to get in the kitchen and start baking, check out what all of the hosting bloggers have made ~

• Homemade Circus Animal Cookies from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Honey Jumbles from All That's Left Are the Crumbs
• Kakor Chokladflarn - IKEA Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies from Food Lust People Love