Spiced Holiday Biscuits

Spiced Holiday Biscuits have a soft, chewy, and moist center with a sweet, crunchy crust. Loaded with familiar holiday spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and allspice, these treats pack a flavour punch unlike any other Christmas confection! The excess dusting of sugar adds just the right amount of sweetness to balance out the warm heat of the cookie.

Once you get a bite of these Spiced Holiday Biscuits, you’ll soon be reaching back into your spice rack with eagerness to whip up another batch. I absolutely love these cookies! They look simple enough – and they are! – but the flavour is out of this world! I love a cookie that has a warm taste to it. This cookie is like that. All of those spices create a warming sensation in your mouth that begs for a hot cup of coffee and a sit-down. Because these cookies deserve to be appreciated!

I wanted to share this recipe with you last Christmas, Dear Reader. In fact, the photos that you’re looking at in this post were shot on October 13, 2022. As you know, I start to develop Christmas recipes sometime around July or August. And, in doing so, I always prepare a few extra recipes just in case I need one for something other than Lord Byron’s Kitchen. For example, I did an interview a few years ago and shared a previously unpublished recipe in that article.

Likewise, on several occasions, I’ve been asked to share a recipe with a church or fundraiser cookbook. I always like to have several recipes on the back burner for moments like those. In this particular case, however, I did not share this recipe with anyone last year, so I’m including it in this year’s 24 Cookies of Christmas series!

I’m going to tell you all about this cookie recipe and how you can make it in your home this holiday season, but first, I want to tell you about what you can expect from Lord Byron’s Kitchen this Christmas. I know we’re just kicking off the holiday season, but I have a lot of Christmas-themed recipes to share with you this year, so I’ve had to get started early.

Back in October, I kicked off the holiday season with a holiday recipe series called Lord Byron’s 12 Christmas Donuts and followed that up with a second series called Lord Byron’s 12 Christmas Appetizers. And now, I’m starting out on this new series, which is the sixth annual instalment! I cannot believe that this is the sixth year in a row that I’ve shared Lord Byron’s 24 Cookies of Christmas! But, before we get to a list of ingredients and instructions for today’s recipe, let me tell you about this series and more!

LORD BYRON’S 24 COOKIES OF CHRISTMAS SERIES

Another holiday series, Lord Byron? Yes – why not!? Welcome, Dear Reader, to the fourth of my annual holiday recipe series for this season! This one is called Lord Byron’s 24 Cookies of Christmas – Volume 6! I will try to keep the recipes in this series quick and easy, just like in previous years. Even if a recipe looks complex, I promise you that it is not! My goal, as always, is to share recipes with you that are not too complex to whip up as a holiday treat for your family. 

Like every other holiday series I’ve shared over the years, this series will share a new recipe every day for the next 24 days – even on Saturday and Sunday! You might be asking yourself, how many Christmas recipes could one possibly have or need? Well, I say you can never have too much of a good thing. And, I love having lots of choices. Who wants to prepare the same holiday recipes year after year?

SUBSCRIBE NOW SO THAT YOU NEVER MISS OUT ON NEW RECIPES!

So, welcome, Dear Reader, to Lord Byron’s 24 Cookies of Christmas series! Even though this is the fourth series for this holiday season, you can always look back at previous years if you just cannot wait until the next recipe is published. Also, some of my favourite recipe collections from previous years are my 75 Homemade Gifts from Your Kitchen, my 50 Make Ahead Freezer Friendly Christmas Recipes, and my 30 No-Bake Christmas Recipes post.

You really don’t want to miss one of these recipes, so if you have not yet subscribed to Lord Byron’s Kitchen, I encourage you to do so. That way, a new recipe will be emailed to you every day. You won’t have to bother to come looking for it! Like in previous holiday recipe countdowns, I like to mix up the recipes in the series so that there is something for everyone. Are you ready!!??

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO PREPARE THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• Brown Sugar – First of all, it has way more flavour than regular white sugar! And, in this recipe, brown sugar helps to keep the cookie moist and soft.
• Egg – Use room temperature eggs when baking.
• Salt
• Butter – Like eggs, butter must also be softened and at room temperature.
• Flour – No need for anything special. Just use regular all-purpose flour. I have not tried this recipe with any other type of flour.
• Baking Soda
• Spices – Put your spice rack to good use here! You will need cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice.
• Confectioner’s Sugar

HOW TO MAKE SPICED HOLIDAY BISCUITS

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and prepare a baking sheet with a silicone liner or parchment paper.  Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the brown sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add the egg and salt.  Mix into the butter mixture.

Add the flour, baking soda, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, ground allspice, and ground nutmeg.  Mix until just incorporated.  Do not overmix. Use a small cookie scoop, about 1 tablespoon in size, to scoop the cookie batter into even portions.  Roll into balls and roll into the confectioner’s sugar until well coated.

Place the dough on the baking sheet, about 1 inch apart.  Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately transfer to a wire cooling rack to completely cool. Liberally dust the tops of the cookies with more confectioner’s sugar.

DO YOU HAVE ANY PUMPKIN SPICE BLEND ON HAND?

This biscuit recipe has a lot of spices in it! If you do not have all of those spices on hand, you can purchase a jar of pumpkin spice blend instead. It has all four of those spices and allspice too. Honestly, it will not make a whole lot of difference. If you’re like me, you always have a pumpkin spice blend on hand! I make a large batch early in the fall and use it all up by the end of December. Here’s the recipe I use to make my own at home.

STORING, PACKAGING, & FREEZING

When it comes to most cookies, they taste best at room temperature, but they don’t hold up well to being left out on your countertop for long periods of time. Cookies will stay fresh in a cookie jar or food-safe container with a lid for 3-5 days if left to sit on your kitchen countertop. You can store them in a food-safe container in your fridge. When you want one, two, or half a dozen, take them out of the container and place them in a single layer on a plate. Let them sit at room temperature for 5 minutes and they’re ready!

If you plan to freeze your Spiced Holiday Biscuits, you certainly can! Pile them into a clean, food-safe container. The container must be freezer-friendly! You’ll want to ensure a very tight-fitting lid too. I use these quite often when freezing baked goods. I like to place a sheet of plastic wrap over the top of the container before pushing the lid on. This helps to create a better seal. The goal is to keep all of that freshness locked in!  

You can freeze these cookies for up to three months. If you plan to give previously frozen cookies as a gift, I would lay them out on a wire cooling rack to thaw completely. You may want to dust the cookies with more confectioner’s sugar to freshen up the look of them a bit. Once thawed, pile into cellophane bags and tie with a ribbon, or stack in a cookie tin/box.

QUESTIONS?

If I have not answered all of your questions in the text above, don’t hesitate to reach out to me! You can contact me by sending me a message in the comments section further down the page. I will try my best to answer as soon as possible! You might reach me even faster by following me on Facebook and sending me a private message. Scroll down below the recipe card to find my Follow Me on Social Media box and never miss another recipe!

Finally, as I stated previously, every day I will be posting a new recipe. If you miss one, don’t fret. You can find my entire collection of Christmas Recipes right here! There are over 200 Christmas recipes and counting. There’s something for everyone! Cheers!