This weekend looks set to be a lovely sunny weekend, so get your picnic baskets out and get out there! This recipe for Ginger Crunch is the perfect to make to take out on a picnic – it really is so SO good 🙂 Ginger is definitely one of my favourite flavours, and if (like me) you have a sweet tooth, you’ll love this recipe! The fudge topping is really easy to make, and will set really quickly at room temperature, so no need to put it in the fridge. The original recipe says to use a 24 x 34 cm baking tin, but I used my brownie pan to get a much thicker version!

This recipe appeared in the June 2014 issue of BBC Good Food magazine, but is originally taken from ‘Three Sisters Bake‘ by Gillian, Nichola and Linsey Reith.

Ingredients

For the shortbread base
280g plain flour
125g caster sugar (I used golden, but any is fine)
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground ginger
180g cold unsalted butter, cubed (plus extra for greasing)

For the fudgy ginger topping
180g unsalted butter
100g golden syrup
375g icing sugar
2 tsp ground ginger

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas mark 4. Line the base of your tin with baking parchment and butter the sides.

2. To make the shortbread base, place the flour, sugar, baking powder and ginger in a food processor and pulse briefly to mix the ingredients. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles course breadcrumbs. Alternatively, you could mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl and rub in the butter by hand.

3. Press the mixture firmly into the prepared tin, levelling it out using a spatula. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until the shortbread is golden brown. Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then remove from the tin and cool completely on a wire rack. (Although the original recipe says to take it out of the tin, I let it cool completely in it because it needs to be in the tin when you make the topping.)

4. When completely cool, make the topping. Place the butter and syrup in a pan and melt on a very low heat. Sift the icing sugar and ground ginger into the melted mixture and beat well (the original recipe says to beat with an electric hand mixer for 2-3 minutes, but I just did it by hand for about a minute).

5. Pour the topping over the shortbread and spread it out evenly with a spatula. Allow to set at room temperature before cutting into bars. Store in an air-tight tin. Enjoy! 🙂

Post updated 18th July 2016.