Golden Florin Biscuits
British-inspired Biscuits
Table of Contents
- ✨ Before We Begin…
- The Cook’s Mind
- A Note on Origin
- Ingredient Focus: Maple Syrup
- My Favourite Way To Eat
- Serving Suggestions
- Multi-Purpose Recipe
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- What You’ll Learn Whilst Making This Recipe
- Related Plantastical Recipes and Courses
- Waste Less: How To Use Up Your Ingredient Stash!
- Golden Florin Biscuits Recipe
✨ Before We Begin…
These are humble little biscuits, but don’t let that fool you. They taste like something from an old-fashioned tea room — frilled at the edges, golden in the middle, and delicately scented with orange and maple. You’ll get 16 from the batch, which is part of the charm.
‘Must be best food offer, of any genre, in Kendal. Hugely accomplished cooking and very much recommended.’
Tony P, Kendal; Food Customer
The Cook’s Mind
Make-Ahead
Dough can be made 1–2 days ahead and chilled. Baked biscuits keep for a week in a tin.
Freezer-Friendly
Freeze shaped dough balls and bake from frozen. Baked biscuits freeze well too.
Rescue Mission
- The dough is dry and falls apart. If too dry, add a little water.
- Overbaked? They’ll still taste good!
Key Substitutions
- Wholemeal → plain flour
- Maple syrup → agave syrup
- Flaked almonds → chopped almonds or oats
- Orange extract → lemon extract
Cooking Parlance
“Frayed edges” = the rough, ruffled rim you get when pressing dough balls with a spoon. It’s a good thing.
A Note on Origin
A nod to medieval Florentine coins and British teatimes. These little almond biscuits carry a mix of old-world charm and modern simplicity, inspired by frugal baking and a dash of historical fancy.
Ingredient Focus: Maple Syrup
Amber, earthy, and softly sweet — maple syrup brings depth beyond sugar. In this biscuit, it acts like liquid gold: binding the dough, deepening the almond warmth, and echoing the biscuit’s namesake with its golden hue. Even a spoonful makes its presence known. Use pure maple syrup for best flavour — the darker, the better.
✨ Liquid amber — soft, deep, and tree-born.
My Favourite Way To Eat
I’ve made variations of these for years. They’re straight-forward and a bit of a cross between shortbread, biscotti and Hobnob (the great British biscuit). They’re a quiet comfort. Georgia wants them, but it’s a no-no because of the sugar.
Serving Suggestions
- With tea or coffee, anytime you need a pause
- Served with fruit compotes, fools and stewed rhubarb
- Packaged as edible “treasure” for gifts
Multi-Purpose Recipe
This biscuit dough can be:
- Turned into shortbread slab and cut post-bake
- Crushed for a quick crumble topping
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Small batch: just enough for a treat
- Pantry-led and plant-based
- Informal, frilly-edged, and not-too-sweet
- Infused with orange and maple — subtle and beautiful
- Ready in 30 minutes from start to biscuit tin
What You’ll Learn Whilst Making This Recipe
- Melting syrup and zest into butter for infused flavour
- The brilliance and easy sophistication of orange zest in food
- Shaping by hand and spoon — no cutters required
- Watching for bake cues: golden edge, soft centre, crisp-on-cool
Related Plantastical Recipes and Courses
Roasted Rhubarb with Spices and Citrus
Waste Less: How To Use Up Your Ingredient Stash!
Got something spare — a handful, a spoonful, or the end of a packet? These tags help you find other ways to use it. It’s a small step toward cooking intuitively and wasting less❣️
flaked almonds, golden caster sugar, ground almonds, maple syrup, orange extract, orange zest, Stork, wholemeal plain flour
Golden Florin Biscuits Recipe
Golden Florin Biscuits
Small almond and wholemeal biscuits infused with the civility and lift of orange zest. A golden, coin-shaped treat with rustic edges — with a satisfying bite and gently sweet. The orange extract and zest comes singing through. This plant-based recipe yields 10–12 “coins” perfect for cosy treating times or any moment that calls for a simple homemade indulgence.
Photographed truthfully. If you cook it, yours will look like mine.
Ingredients
Ingredients for dry
- 30 g wholemeal plain flour
- 40 g ground almonds
- 30 g flaked almonds
- ½ unit orange zest
- 1 pinch salt | small
Ingredients for wet
- 25 g Stork | or use butter
- 35 g golden caster sugar
- ½ tbsp maple syrup | or use agave syrup
- ⅛ tsp orange extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180℃ (200℃ conventional). Get a baking tray out and line with baking parchment. You will have 16 biscuits.
Mix the dry ingredients
- Measure and mix ingredients listed.30 g wholemeal plain flour, 40 g ground almonds, 30 g flaked almonds, 1 pinch salt, ½ unit orange zest
Make the biscuit dough
- Measure the ingredients listed into a pan, heat gently to melt the Stork.25 g Stork, 35 g golden caster sugar, ½ tbsp maple syrup, ⅛ tsp orange extract
- Pour the ingredients from the pan onto the dry ingredients and with a spatula, push the wet into the dry and mix thoroughly. It's quite a dry dough.
- Get a teaspoon of mix onto your palm, roll into a ball 20g ball and put the ball on the baking tray. Repeat with the rest of the mix.
- Put into the pre-heated oven for 10 minutes. They will gently brown. Bring the trays out of the oven briefly and with a teaspoon, gently press the balls flatter. This 'frays' the edges (which looks cool and wholesome). Return to the oven for 5 minutes.
- Bring out of the oven and cool on a baking tray. They will be soft when they first come out of the oven and firm up when cooler. They are brilliant dunked into British tea or served as a side with soft fruits and compotes.
Nutrition
Calories: 160kcalCarbohydrates: 14gProtein: 4gFat: 11gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0.03gSodium: 70mgPotassium: 109mgFiber: 2gSugar: 9gVitamin A: 192IUVitamin C: 0.1mgCalcium: 51mgIron: 1mg
Nutritional values are estimates only and will vary depending on specific ingredients used. Nutrition is per serving. Information is for the main recipe, not optional accompaniments.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
COPYRIGHT
© The Golden Polar Bear, 2025. Recipes and photography by Julia Savory. If you share this, please pass it along with kindness and if possible share a link back to this site. #ForTheAnimals
Photographed truthfully. If you cook it, yours will look like mine.
Next Steps?
You’ve got the full recipe — now take it further. Inside Black Labrador, you’ll find structured video courses and an ever-growing cookbook designed to help you cook with understanding, not guesswork. Learn, revisit, and deepen your skills at your own pace.
‘Totally recommend the cookery course. The meals are really tasty and full of flavour (not like most of the vegan mush I make for myself).’
Kerry B, Cumbria
