Jumble Biscuits | Bake Off Bake Along

You can definitely count me as not a great fan of Tudor week. Not that it went horrifically wrong (like bread week), it just was a bit of a nothing week for me.

I settled on jumble biscuits this week, purely because we didn't have enough people around to devour a marzipan showstopper (sob) and I didn't have enough time in the weekend to tackle a hot water crust pie. Eek.

Jumble biscuits on their own are a bit plain. There, I said it. There's a bit of spice to them, but that's pretty much it. They are more like a sweet scone than anything else, which isn't a bad thing. In fact, they tasted pretty damn good with jam or honey.

Following Paul Hollywood's recipe is fairly simply and easy. These knots were made with self raising flour instead of plain though, as I had simply just ran out of plain flour. With this recipe, it's the shaping that can be tricky. Aka, bloody difficult.

I've made jumbles, or a sort of them before at school, but back then we just shaped them into S shapes. Which was considerably easier. After a few failed double knot attempts, I was half tempted to throw it back to S shapes and call it a day.

Instead, I carried on and did my own kinda knot, which wasn't really a double knot, but it sort of looked like it should? Probably not technical challenge winner material, but they worked! 

As for the Charmed Celtic knot, I thought they would be easier than they actually are. No matter how many times you practice, it's hard to get them to look so neat and precise. You can definitely see definition in them though, which is enough for me to think they were good!

So go grab the honey and jam and try your hand at knotting these biscuits, they make the perfect afternoon treat!

Jumble Biscuits

Adapted from Paul Hollywood
Makes roughly 10-12 biscuits

Ingredients:
1 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
375g self raising flour
60g unsalted butter
150g caster (and extra to sprinkle)
3 medium eggs
1 egg, for wash

Directions:

1. Line two baking sheets with greaseproof paper and set to the side. 
2. In a medium bowl, rub the butter into the flour and spices, until it becomes fine breadcrumbs. Next, stir in the sugar, and then the eggs. Mix until it becomes a soft dough. If it feels too dry, add 1 tsp of water to loosen. 
3. Weigh out your dough and divide that number by five. Reserve 2/5 of the dough for the celtic knots and 3/5 of the dough for the double knots. 
4. Take the celtic dough and split into 6 portions, weighing out each ball to ensure they are the same size. Roll up the balls and pop on baking sheet. 
5. Take the double knot dough and split into 6 portion, weighing out each ball again to make sure they are the same size. Roll up into balls and pop on the baking sheet. 
6. Place both sheets into the fridge to chill for 30 minutes. 
7. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C/Gas mark 4 and remove the dough from the fridge. 
8. Knead the double knots dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out into a long rope. Knot once, then another time, and ensure the two ends meet underneath. Repeat for all. 
9. Knead the celtic knot dough on a lightly floured surface, rolling out into a long rope. Cut a quarter of the dough for the circle on top of the knot. Take the long rope and twist into the knot and top with the circle. Repeat for all. 
10. brush all the knots with egg wash and sprinkle with caster sugar. Bake the celtic knots for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Bake the double knots for 20 minutes or util golden brown. Leave to cool on a wire rack. Optional to top with jam or honey, but highly recommended!

What did you bake this week for GBBO? Ever tried Jumbles before? Let me know!