These little German Biscuits are iconic here in Scotland and I love them, they are sometimes known as Scottish biscuits. Raspberry jam sandwiched between crumbly melt-in-the-mouth shortbread topped with a thick icing glaze and jelly sweetie. Read on for my favourite empire biscuits recipe!
Are Empire Biscuits the same as German Biscuits?
I recently re-ignited my love with Empire biscuits after buying one in a local cafe. I was flooded with memories of my childhood here in Scotland but also with memories of how tasty they were and that I must make my own! These biscuits have always been known as either German Biscuits or Empire Biscuits in Scotland. They started out as German Biscuits due to their origins in German-speaking Europe but when World War One came along, a name change was needed and Empire Biscuits were born! They can also be known as empire cookies too!
How To Make Empire Biscuits
Empire biscuits are easy peasy to make and if you have kids, can make a fun afternoon of baking. This empire biscuit recipe is straightforward. All you need is the following ingredients:
- Raspberry jam (strawberry will work too or experiment with other flavours!) for the layer of jam
- Plain/All-purpose flour
- Caster Sugar
- Unsalted Butter
- Icing sugar (powdered sugar)for the thin glaze on top of the cookies
- Whole Milk
- Good quality vanilla extract
- Room Temperature Butter
The butter needs to be soft enough to be able to cream it with the sugar to get nice and crumbly biscuits.
- Gently work in the flour and cornstarch – you want the dough to be nice and soft and pliable
- Roll the dough out evenly to 1/4 inch thickness
- Cut the biscuits using a 3.25 inch cookie cutter – use any shape you like!
- Cook the biscuits, then once cool, top one biscuit per double biscuits cookie with icing before letting the icing set.
- Sandwich two biscuits together with raspberry jam
Once the individual biscuits are cut out, you bake them on parchment paper till just golden. The cooled biscuits are then sandwiched together with the jam and topped with the glaze. Leave the glaze to set for around 45 minutes before devouring!
FAQ
Yes, these biscuits freeze very well. Wait till they have cooled and freeze the biscuits separately on a baking tray before covering them with foil to store. When ready to use defrost thoroughly then sandwich two biscuits together with jam and glaze the top.
Store the cooked biscuits at room temperature in an airtight container for around 2 days. Alternatively, these biscuits can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week.
Traditionally glacé cherries are used but I used a jelly sweet, but you can experiment with other types of jelly sweets.
Cornstarch is needed to give these biscuits the desired melt-in-the-mouth texture. Leaving out the cornstarch will result in a crisper biscuit.
Try Another Recipe
German Biscuits
Equipment
- 1 3.25 inch cookie cutter
Ingredients
- 400 g plain flour
- 300 g unsalted butter diced and at room temp
- 100 g caster sugar
- 4 level tbsp of cornflour
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- 6 tsp Raspberry Jam
- For the Glaze:
- 130 g icing sugar
- 4 tbsp milk
Instructions
- Cream the room temp butter with sugar and vanilla extract until pale and fluffy
- Sift in flour and cornflour and salt
- Gently stir to bring together to rough breadcrumbs then knead gently 4-5 times until a smooth ball of dough forms
- Shape the dough into a disc, cover in clingfilm and leave to rest for 30 mins in the fridge
- Once chilled roll out to ~ 3mm thick on a well-floured surface and cut out discs with a 3.25inch cookie cutter
- Bake in oven at 1600C for 12-14 minutes on a parchment lined baking sheet
- When biscuits are golden leave to cool completely before icing
- To prepare the glaze, gradually stir in milk till desired consistency. Glaze should be thick and spreadable. Glaze half of the biscuits and top with a jelly sweet and leave for 45 minutes to set before sandwiching the biscuits togethor with raspberry jam.
Notes
- Make sure the butter you use is at the correct temperature for creaming by leaving it out overnight. Alternatively, heat your oven at 1000C for 30 seconds then turn it off. Place cold diced butter in the turned-off oven for around 20 minutes, after which it should be soft enough to cream (this is what I do when I forget to take the butter out overnight!)
- The dough for these biscuits is soft and delicate and rich in butter so make sure you flour your work surface well, but also flour your rolling pin regularly or the dough can stick a little.
- When moving the cut biscuits from your work surface to your baking tray, try to use an appropriate tool like a food turner or an offset spatula big enough to allow the biscuits to remain flat and not bend as they could crack due to the soft dough.
- When the biscuits have cooled, glaze half of them, top with a sweet and wait till the glaze sets, around 45 minutes before assembling. Sandwich biscuits together with 1 teaspoon of jam then enjoy!
- This recipe is for 12 biscuits but there is enough to make around an extra 2 biscuits – these are for the chef as a reward!