These homemade Rich Tea Biscuits are a nostalgic bake that brings back the classic biscuit we all used to love, light, crisp, and perfect with a cuppa. Since they’re no longer easy to find in stores, we made our own. They’re subtly sweet, with that signature crunch and golden finish, and ideal for dunking. Whether you loved them growing up or just want a reliable, fuss-free biscuit recipe, these are a perfect addition to your bikkie tin.
Homemade Rich Tea Biscuits |Just Like the Classic You Remember
Easy Homemade Rich Tea Biscuits
Rated 5.0 stars by 1 users
Category
Desserts
Cuisine
English
Author:
Ashley’s Place
Servings
20
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
12 minutes
When one of my sister said to me how they really missed rich tea biscuits because they are no longer available, I said well why don't we just make some! I found a recipe for a thermo-mix version and switched it up a little to make our very own Rich Tea Biscuits at home and they were a hit!
Ingredients
-
85g Of Caster Sugar plus 1 Tbsp for Dusting
-
Zest of ½ Lemon (Medium Sized)
-
½ Tsp of Vanilla Essence
-
225g of Plain Flour
-
115g Unsalted Butter Chopped
-
1 Egg at Room Temp
-
50g of Currents
Directions
Take your butter out of the fridge and let it sit for about 10 -15 minutes to slightly soften. We don’t need it room temp but just slightly soften to mix easier
Add your chopped butter, flour, sugar and lemon zest into your stand mixer or bowl if using a hand held mixer, leaving the 1 tbsp out we will use this later. Mix on a lower speed for about 2 minutes but cover this with a towel otherwise you may end up with a flour cover kitchen! Just be careful to make sure the towel doesn’t touch the moving attachments and get caught.
Once this is mixed together and becomes like a sand like consistency turn the mixer off and add the egg yolks and vanilla and mix for 2 minutes until your dough starts to form, now add the currants and mix again for another 1-2 minutes until formed into a dough and everything is combined well.
Take your dough out and pop onto a piece of baking (parchment) paper and pop another one over the top. This is my little baking hack I do I always roll out cookie dough in between 2 pieces of baking paper, this way it doesn’t stick to your bench, the paper and you don’t need to add extra flour which can affect your cookies. So it is cleaner and easier, win win! Because of the currants you may need to push a little harder. Roll out into a 4-5mm thickness, you don’t need to get the ruler out just guestimate this one.
Once rolled out pop into the fridge for at least 2 hours or if you are in a rush pop into the freezer for about 15 minutes (See note 1*) we do this to harden the butter up so they hold their shape.
About 30 minutes before you are ready to cut them pre-heat your oven to 175°C and prep your tray with baking paper. I usually just get the tray out and use the baking paper from rolling them out.
Once it has chilled out you can start to cut into circles, if you have a fluted cutter you can cut out the same shapes I have. But if not just use any shape. Mine is from my business Bake it by Giovannellis you can get them here and use code Ash10. Cut into your circles depending on your size you will get about 20. Any dough left over just re-roll and bake if it is too soft to cut just pop it back into the freezer to cool a bit (See note 2*)
Pop onto your tray leaving a couple of cm in-between so they have space to bake and don’t end up joined. Now sprinkle that tbsp of Sugar over the top of the cookies pre-baking
Bake away in the oven for about 12 minutes or until golden brown. You can bake them a little longer if you want them super golden but I think they are best at about the 12 minute mark
Leave on the tray to cool for about 10 minutes as they will be soft when they come out and then move to a cooling tray to cool completely
Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks or pop into the freezer for up to 4-6 months
Recipe Video
@_ashleysplace_ Ep 5 of our Dessert Series: Rich Tea Biscuits Who remembers these from back in the day?? When my sister said they aren’t around anymore in true me fashion of literally thinking I can make anything because I will always try I said “don’t worry we will just make them ourselves” 🙊 Ingredients: 🤎 85g Of Caster Sugar plus 1 Tbsp for Dusting 🤎 Zest of ½ Lemon (Medium Sized) 🤎 ½ Tsp of Vanilla Essence 🤎 225g of Plain Flour 🤎 115g Unsalted Butter Chopped 🤎 1 Egg at Room Temp 🤎 50g of Currants 🤎 Let butter it sit for about 10 -15 mins to slightly soften. Add your chopped butter, flour, sugar and lemon zest into your stand mixer or bowl if using a hand held mixer, leaving the 1 tbsp out we will use this later. Mix on a lower speed for about 2 minutes, cover your machine though so it doesn’t go everywhere 🤎 Once it looks like sand add the egg yolks and vanilla and mix for 2 minutes, now add the currants and mix again for another 1-2 minutes until formed into a dough and everything is combined well. 🤎 Pop Your dough onto a piece of baking paper and pop another one over the top. Roll out to 5mm thick, Because of the currants you may need to push a little harder. 🤎 Pop in fridge for 2 hours or into the freezer for 15 pop on a chopping board so its flat 🤎 About 30 minutes before you are ready to cut them pre-heat your oven to 175°C and prep your tray with baking paper. I usually just get the tray out and use the baking paper from rolling them out. 🤎 Once chilled cut into circles, if you have a fluted cutter you can cut out the same shapes I have. But if not just use any shape. Mine is from my business @bakeitbygiovannellis and use code Ash10. Depending on your size you will get about 20. Any dough left over just re-roll and cut 🤎 Pop onto your tray leaving a couple of cm in-between so they have space to bake. Now sprinkle that tbsp of Sugar over the top of the cookies pre-baking 🤎 Bake away in the oven for about 12 minutes or until golden brown. then Leave on the tray to cool for about 10 minutes as they will be soft when they come out and then move to a cooling tray to cool completely Talk about nostalgia with these! I always remember having them in our house growing up and dipping them in a tea . I originally found a recipe from a thermomix site for these and just switched up the method & a couple or ingredient measurements to make them since I don't own a thermomix and I also added some of my methods I use for shortbread and used for this #ash#ashleysplacev#lovelocalcamdenc#macarthurm#camdennswv#lovelocalmacarthurs#easyrecipesh#ashleysplacetipsm#homebakingr#narellans#dessertc#richteac#richteabiscuitss#biscuitss#nostalgicfoods#nostalgiak#bakingo#cookiesk#bakingrecipes#dessertrecipea#tealoversaandbiscuits #bakingtok #foodtok #desserttok #recipetok #nostalgiatiktok #cookietok #biscuittok ♬ original sound - Ashleys Place
Recipe Note
FAQ's and Notes:
- When you pop these into the fridge or freezer you want to make sure they are flat and not bent as they will harden bent and then break when you try to cut it. My tip for this is if you don't have a completely free shelf that you can use, pop it onto a chopping board and place that on top of containers or even in the freezer it can sit on top of the frozen goodies inside. Because the board itself is flat it should keep your cookie dough flat too and you don't need to clear a huge space for it. Also don't leave it in the freezer for too long otherwise it will freeze up not just harden up the butter again 15 or so minutes should be enough
- If you have left over dough just simply re-roll it quickly and cut out the shapes, which it should be ok to do without having to pop it back in the fridge or freezer but if it is humid and you are struggling then you can pop it back in.
Q. Where do I get Currants from?
A. You can find them in most supermarkets or some fruit shops usually with the dried fruit and nuts. They shouldn't be too pricey to buy these.
Q. Do I have to chill this dough?
A. Yes otherwise it will be really hard to cut out the shapes and it also will likely spread in the oven so we chill it first to make it easier.
Q. Why do we roll it before we chill it, don't you do it after?
A. I never roll my dough after it has chilled as I just find it much harder because you then have a harder (Set) dough you are trying to roll out and then you usually cut the shapes and have to put it back in the fridge. So I cut out this step and roll it first in-between the baking paper so it doesn't stick and then pop it in the fridge rolled and ready to be cut and baked once it hardens
Q. Can I change the fruit added?
A. Sure you can do it won't be the same flavour as the current but the biscuits are delicious and you can add what you like to them
Q. Can I make the dough the day before?
A. Yes! You sure can 2 hours in the fridge is the minimum but you can make the cookie dough the day before and then pop it into the fridge overnight. Just make sure the edges are covered so it doesn't go dry or get that fridge taste