Name: Empire Biscuits (Classic Scottish Iced Cookies with Raspberry Jam)
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 2 sticks butter; ⅓ cups sugar; 1 egg; 3 ½ cups all purpose flour; 2 cups confectioner's sugar; 20 candied cherries (to decorate); 13 oz raspberry jam (as needed)

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Empire Biscuits are simply classic Scottish bakery fare. Two shortbread type biscuits are sandwiched together, topped with icing and a candied cherry.

I grew up with these Empire biscuits (cookies) like children in the US grow up with chocolate chip cookies.

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I can’t even begin to tell you how wonderful they are, but my three year old niece recently turned down homemade chocolate chip cookies for an Empire biscuit. Not once, but twice, so that should tell you something!

Remember the candied cherry recipe I shared recently? This is the reason I shared it: a classic Empire biscuit has a bit of glacé cherry (or half of one) in the center.

What are Empire Biscuits?

Apparently, they are a copy of Austrian Linzer cookies/biscuits. Edited Nov. ’19 – I was just in Linz last month and all the Linzer cookies truly reminded me of Empire biscuits! That’s because I knew of Empire biscuits before learning about the original Linzer cookies.

Why are they Called Empire Biscuits?

I never knew why they were called Empire biscuits, and simply accepted it. However, as we get older, our curiosity gets to us. I did a little digging and realized that the name was changed when WWII broke out; they were renamed “Empire Biscuits” – Wikipedia. If you don’t understand why they changed the name, it’s because the UK was at war with Germany and they didn’t want any association to their rival country with a beloved Scottish biscuit!

My snow cookies are based on Empire biscuits and have won two contests, so I’m not just saying they’re really good, they’re really good!

Can I freeze Empire biscuits?

Empire biscuits freeze exceptionally well, but do so before jamming them together, and icing them. You want to defrost them first, then assemble and decorate, and they’ll be just perfect!

NOTES: This recipe includes an egg, but you can easily make them more as traditional shortbread with egg free cookie recipe. You can use either a straight or serrated biscuit/cookie cutter.

Classic Empire Biscuits Recipe

slightly adapted from Lofty Peak makes 20 sandwich biscuits

FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW

Ingredients

butter
sugar
egg
flour
confectioner’s sugar
candied cherries
raspberry jam

Directions

Preheat oven to 400˚F (200˚C)

Mix the butter and sugar together until it forms a homogenous mixture. Add the egg and mix well. Next add the flour until it forms a crumbly consistency.

Turn onto a floured surface and form into a smooth dough. Do not overwork the dough. Roll out quite thinly (about 1/8″) and cut into rounds with a cookie cutter.

cutting out empire biscuits from dough

Place on a lined baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes (I turn them once through baking). Put on cooling rack. Then, when completely cool, choose a mate for each cookie.

Coat the tops with confectioner’s sugar mixed with milk or water (to a thick, but runny consistency as in the photo below).

Top with a piece of candied cherry in the center, then sandwich together cookies with raspberry jam and enjoy with a cup of tea! When completely set, keep in an airtight container. Most households in the UK have a biscuit tin.

Magical!