Honey Jumbles

Honey Jumbles are the pretty, soft-baked ginger biscuits – topped with glossy white and pink icing – you might remember from your childhood.

Unfortunately, Arnott’s no longer make these lovely biscuits. But that’s okay, because they’re easy to make yourself and this recipe creates a biscuit that’ll be even better than you remember!

Recipe for Honey Jumbles

When Honey Jumbles were discontinued by Arnott’s, there was a huge outcry from loyal Honey Jumbles fans.

The usual statement followed – sales just weren’t high enough to justify their ongoing production.

But to combat the disappointment, Arnott’s released the recipe for this much-loved but sadly discontinued biscuit.

Thanks, Arnott’s!

Ingredients for Honey Jumbles

These biscuits require:

• butter
• honey
• treacle
• plain flour (all purpose flour)
• ground ginger
• mixed spice
• bicarb soda (baking soda)
• milk.

Note that quantities can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.

How to make Honey Jumbles

Start by sifting all of the dry ingredients into a bowl.

Next, melt the butter, honey and treacle in a saucepan over low heat until butter is melted and mixture is smooth. Do not boil.

Now, add this melted mixture to dry ingredients along with the milk. Stir until combined.

Place the bowl in the fridge and chill for 30 minutes.

While the mixture is chilling, pre-heat your oven to 170 degrees celsius (fan-forced) and line two baking trays with baking paper.

Once chilled, break the mixture into 4 equal portions and roll each into a smooth ball.

Roll each ball into a 28cm long sausage shape.

Cut each into 4 x 7cm lengths. Place each length onto a baking tray lined with paper, flattening slightly and rounding corners to form a more oval shape.

Bake for 12 minutes.

Once removed from the oven, leave the biscuits on the tray for 5 minutes to cool and then transfer to a wire cooling rack.

Icing your Honey Jumbles

The pink and white icing is what makes these biscuits so distinctive and special.

Half the biscuits are iced white and the other half are iced pink.

To make the icing, you’ll need:

• icing sugar
• egg white
• lemon juice
• pink food colouring.

Note that quantities can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.

Once the biscuits are completely cooled, prepare the icing by whisking the egg white until frothy and then mixing in the icing sugar and lemon juice.

Transfer half of the icing mixture to another bowl and colour pink by mixing in the drop or two of pink food colouring.

Your icing sugar should be slightly runny but not so runny it will lose its shape and run once you ice the biscuits.

It’s a difficult balance to get right, but take a look at the photos above and below and adjust your icing so it resembles this consistency – by adding extra lemon juice to make it runnier or extra icing sugar to make it less runny.

Dip the top of half the biscuits front side into the white icing and the remaining biscuits into the pink icing.

Allow icing to set. 

Enjoying your Honey Jumbles Biscuits

Honey Jumbles can be served once the icing sets, but taste even better if you give them a day for the flavour to develop.

Stored in an airtight container, they’ll keep for about a week.

You can also freeze Honey Joys and they’ll keep for a few months.

Enjoying other recipes by Cooking with Nana Ling

If you love honey, you might also like the Honey Joys and Honey Biscuits recipes.

If you want other old-fashioned biscuit recipes, check out the entire Cooking with Nana Ling biscuit collection.