Spiced acorn biscuits

Bake simple biscuits using a little acorn flour to add a hint of nuttiness and a slightly more robust texture – ideal for dunking in your tea

Prep:20 mins
Cook:10 mins
Plus chilling and cooling

Easy

Nutrition per serving

kcal 138
fat 8g
saturates 5g
carbs 14g
sugars 4g
fibre 1g
protein 2g
salt 0g

Ingredients

200g unsalted butter, cubed
275-300g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
25-50g acorn flour
100g golden caster sugar
1 egg, plus 1 yolk
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp mixed spice or cinnamon
white icingor melted chocolate, to decorate

Tip

Using acorn flour

The flour amounts vary here depending on how dark you want your biscuits – acorn flour varies in colour depending on what kind of acorn it’s made from, so if you have a very dark batch, you might want to add more plain flour.

Novelty cookie cutters

You can buy squirrel cookie cutters online from White Stuff or Meri Meri.

Sourcing acorns

You can buy acorn flour online. Don’t be tempted to forage your own acorns in England – oak trees in some areas are suffering from an infestation of toxic hairy caterpillars that can cause skin and eye irritation and breathing difficulties on contact.

Method

Rub the butter into the flours using your fingers until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, then stir in the sugar, the egg and yolk, vanilla, mixed spice or cinnamon and bring together to form a dough. Roll out on a lightly floured surface and stamp out 6cm round biscuits (or any shape you like). Re-roll the trimmings and repeat. Arrange on parchment-lined trays and chill for 30 mins.
Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Bake the biscuits for 10 mins, then leave to cool. Decorate with icing, or dip one side in chocolate and leave to set.