These are the speculaas spiced Christmas biscuits which will be making an appearance at my pop-up bake club this December. I have already posted the Christmas crumble muffins and the Christmas pudding truffles – all three will feature in this festive children’s baking session.
The idea of the pop-up bake clubs is to encourage children to develop an interest in baking which will hopefully lead to an interest in cooking, trying new flavours and making more food from scratch. This Christmas club is particularly focused on showing children how easy and cost-effective it can be to make your own edible gifts.
I have specifically selected recipes that are straightforward for the children to make with minimal input needed from an adult. I can’t vouch the mess, which I why I am hosting these classes – so parents can leave the flour drenched surfaces to me!
As someone who teaches cookery as well as hosting supper clubs, I am always looking for ways to encourage more people to cook. For children especially I have found that the pop-up bake clubs are the answer. A creative and sociable session of activities aimed at building kitchen confidence. Baking is the perfect way to introduce cookery to little ones. It can be a building block to learning about ingredients, techniques and kitchen skills. With enough encouragement, children will often find they want to move onto more ambitious cooking provided they can help to choose the recipes themselves.
I am planning on building up my bake clubs and cookery lessons once my kitchen has been refurbished to cater for all of my plans so watch this space for more details before the end of the year!
Here are a few more ideas of what you might like to make with the kids over the festive period:
Cranberry & pistachio frozen yoghurt bark
Tunnocks teacakes Christmas puddings
Spiced Christmas Biscuits – Pop Up Bake Club Recipe
Ingredients
- 40 g light muscovado sugar
- 1 tbsp treacle
- 1/2 tbsp golden syrup
- 1 tbsp water
- 50 g unsalted butter cut into cubes
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp mixed spice
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground coriander
- 115 g plain flour
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- pinch of salt
Instructions
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Put the sugar, syrup, treacle, water, spices and butter together in a saucepan
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Then bring them to the boil
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Stir in the flour and bicarb of soda until you have a smooth dough
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Pre-heat the oven to 180°C
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Dust a work surface with flour and roll out the dough then cut using Christmas biscuit cutters
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Line two baking sheets with baking parchment
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Arrange the biscuits on the baking sheets and bake for 10–12 minutes
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Decorate using coloured icing pens or royal icing placed into a piping bag with a fine nozzle
Recipe Notes
The dough will keep well in the fridge for a couple of days covered cling film. You could freeze the dough to use later, or shape the biscuits and freeze them so they are ready to bake from frozen. Just give them 2 more minutes in the oven.
These cookies look so delicious! I love that you host pop up cook clubs for kids. I think it’s so important that kids start learning about food and how to cook from an early age. And they get to have fun in the process 😀
Exactly Nadia, that’s what I think and hope they enjoy making these next month!
These look yummy! And if kids can make them then maybe I can too haha
Definitely!
Pop up cookery clubs for children sounds fab. I like the inclusion of ground coriander in the spices in the biscuits too, definitely going to try them with my daughter.
I hope you enjoy them Andrea, my kids love them. The smell especially!
Oh I love these and the Christmas crumble muffins. I guess it will be cookie moments in my kitchen today 🙂
Thanks Bintu, love baking at this time of the year!
These look fantastic. Spiced biscuits at Christmas is a must.
Yes, the smell is so good!