Currant Biscuits

On January 1st our supermarkets start selling Hot Cross Buns. Its ridiculous and I'm totally against purchasing them so many months before Easter, but that gorgeous fresh baked smell hits you as soon as you walk in...and in the trolley they go! Shopping online is even worse because they post photos of warm buns smoothed in melting butter just to make you drool... and in the cart they go! Its a conspiracy targeting the weak willed and I have no self control. ;)
Oh and did I mention the flavors? Everything from the traditional bun to luscious Belgian Chocolate and Cherry Buns - come on guys, no one can wait four months to try these!
The point to all of this is that by the time Easter rolls around we're tired of them and nobody wants a Hot Cross Bun with their coffee, so I bake a batch of Currant Biscuits instead:

These biscuits are also great for a few of my family members who don't like Hot Cross Buns - seriously how can we be related?? And also for the non chocolate lovers. They're super easy to make and they're soft, fragrant and perfect to have for morning or afternoon tea.
With chocolate everywhere at this time of year its nice to have something different in the cupboard when visitors pop in because they are probably sick of chocolate too.  I don't crave chocolate but man do I crave a soft sweet biscuit all day everyday and these Currant Biscuits certainly hit the spot! ;)

I use my favorite foundation biscuit recipe and then I add some spices and currants to give the biscuits that traditional Easter flavor. They are easy to make with simple ingredients that you'll have in the pantry, and they store well in an air tight container for 3-4 days.
The biscuit dough is smooth and silky but you do need to work it well to bring it all together. I recommend using your hands because your body heat will soften the butter, making combining the ingredients a whole lot easier.

I use a fluted cookie cutter to cut my biscuits but get creative and make bunnies or flowers as well.  Before I pop them in the oven I sprinkle the tops with a little granulated sugar. This does add to the sweetness but you can omit the extra sugar and they're still a beautiful biscuit - seriously though, add the sugar!
They take ten minutes to bake and then leave them on the trays for another five minutes to continue cooking from the residual heat before cooling them on a wire rack.
Here's a fun fact - the word biscuit means twice cooked.  Biscuits were baked and then dried out in a warm oven resulting in a crisp hard cracker type biscuit. Softies like these Currant Biscuits are baked until they just start to brown and by allowing them to continue cooking on the trays you achieve this luscious soft biscuit that melts in the mouth.

So if you've had your fill of Hot Cross Buns or chocolate already, give these Currant Biscuits a try over Easter. You can download the recipe by clicking the link or right click on the photo below and save it to your computer for later:

I hope you enjoy these luscious Currant Biscuits. They are a nice alternative to Hot Cross Buns or chocolate and they're a definite favorite in my house. :)

Happy baking :)