Honey Snaps – Cooking with Nana Ling

Remember Arnott’s Honey Snaps? They disappeared from our supermarket shelves in 1998. Like many Aussies, I still miss them. So, I’ve done a little bit of research and experimentation to come up with a recipe that delivers a biscuit as close as I can get to the original store-bought biscuits.

These homemade Honey Snaps Biscuits are sweet and crisp, just as they should be, and perfect with a cuppa. I even managed to make the Honey Snap Caramel Tarts which were always a hit at parties (pictured further below).

Sweet memories

Forget the never-ending packet of Tim Tams. If a genie appeared in my lounge room (remember the ad from the 1990s?) I’d be happy with just one packet of Honey Snaps. They really were something special.

Whether you remember the good ol’ days when these biscuits were around, or are just curious to discover the magic, I reckon this recipe will bring a smile to your face.

There are a few other recipes out there that are good. But I’ve tested and tweaked, and added an extra ingredient (mentioned in this interview with a representative from Arnott’s) to come up with something that I think comes even closer to the original.

The original Honey Snaps Biscuits seem to have come onto the market in 1939, when they were made by Peek Frean’s and described as “something new” (see ad below on the left). You might better remember them several decades later, when they were made by Arnott’s (see pictured below on the right).

Ingredient notes

These biscuits are mostly made with pantry staples. Be sure to use good quality local honey if possible – you want to make sure the honey in your honey snaps is something wonderful.

(And if you love honey recipes, check out my Honey Joys, Honey Biscuits and Honey Cake recipes.)

One ingredient you may have to head to the shops for is semolina. Semolina is a coarse flour made from durum wheat, a hard type of wheat. This is the additional ingredient that I didn’t find in other Honey Snaps recipes. It’s widely available at supermarkets. (I also sometimes substitute a little in place of flour when making fried foods such as my Chicken Tenderloins – it adds a little extra crunch!)

So, why did I add semolina? A representative from Arnott’s indicated it was used to line their baking trays in the production of Honey Snaps. It also adds a subtle coarse texture and extra crunchiness – something that I remember about these biscuits. After testing, I’m convinced it may have also been an ingredient in the original biscuit. I’ve used it here in my version of the recipe.

You may notice ginger in the ingredient list. It’s only a very small amount and you can’t really taste the ginger in the biscuit. You could leave this ingredient out, however and I think it adds depth to the flavour and subtly balances out the sweetness.

See recipe card at the bottom of the post for a list of the ingredients with quantities.

Instructions

Start by adding the butter, honey, sugar and vanilla extract in a medium-sized saucepan. Stir over very low heat (see image 1) until the butter has melted and all ingredients are combined well (see image 2).

TIP: You just want the butter to melt. Do not allow the mixture to boil.

Sift the flour, semolina, baking powder and ginger into the melted mixture in the saucepan. Stir until combined.

Allow the mixture to stand at room temperature for 15 minutes and then place it into the fridge for half an hour.

While the mixture is cooling, prepare 4 baking trays by lining with baking paper and pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees celsius / 360 degrees fahrenheit (fan-forced).

TIP: If you only have 2 baking trays, bake in two batches but be sure to let the trays cool between batches and place the mixture back into the fridge while the first batch is baking.

Once the mixture has cooled in the fridge, scoop out heaped teaspoons of mixture (they should be close to 15 grams) (see image 3).

Roll each teaspoon of mixture into a ball with your hands and coat in semolina (see image 4).

Place the balls on the prepared baking trays (see image 5).

TIP: Be sure to leaving plenty of room for spreading during cooking by placing a maximum of 6 balls on a standard size baking tray.

Bake for 13-15 minutes or until biscuits are a rich, golden colour. Allow to cool on trays for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack (see image 6).

TIP: Keep an eye on the biscuits as they are cooking as slight differences in size and heat will have a big impact on cooking time.

Enjoying and storing your biscuits

Once completely cool, store biscuits in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to one week.

You can also freeze these biscuits. Wrap and store in an airtight container for up to a few months. Defrost overnight at room temperature before serving.

I also used these homemade Honey Snaps to make the caramel tarts I remember from my childhood. These were just the bee’s knees when I was a kid, and I did enjoy re-living my childhood through a bite into one of these caramel tarts.

To make the caramel tarts, pop the Honey Snaps into cupcake tins and into a warm oven for a few minutes. Once they are soft, take them from the oven and gently shape them into shallow tart cases. You can push them into the cupcake tins (gently!) and then take them out once they’re a bit cooler and continue to gently shape with your fingers.

Once cooled, fill with caramel and decorate with a little mock cream. I used condensed milk caramel which I purchased from a local bakery (shout out to Kurri Hot Bread who still do the caramel the old-fashioned way and also sell the tins to customers).

You can boil it up yourself – you just boil a tin of condensed milk for a good 2 hours and then let it cool – though some people say this is now a little risky with the ring pull lids more susceptible to exploding during the boiling process compared with the tins that required a can opener. You can also buy the condensed milk caramel from the supermarket but it is nowhere near as nice as you get when you just boil the condensed milk tin yourself (or buy from a bakery that does the same).

More Arnott’s Biscuits copycat recipes

If you love a good Arnott’s copycat recipe, you might like these ones, too:

Made this recipe and love it? Please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. (And it really makes my day to hear how Nana Ling’s recipes are being made, shared and loved all around the world! – Libby x)

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Honey Snaps

Libby Hakim

A recipe that’ll deliver something close to the Arnott’s biscuits you remember so fondly.

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Cooling time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine Australian

Servings 24 biscuits

Calories 65 kcal

Instructions 

• Add butter, honey, sugar and vanilla extract in a medium-sized saucepan. Stir over very low heat until the butter has melted and all ingredients are combined well. Do not allow to boil.

• Sift flour, semolina, baking powder and ginger into the melted mixture in the saucepan. Stir until combined.

• Allow mixture to stand at room temperature for 15 minutes and then place into the fridge for half an hour.

• While mixture is cooling, prepare 4 baking trays by lining with baking paper and pre-heat oven to 180 degrees celsius / 360 degrees fahrenheit (fan-forced).

• Once mixture has cooled in the fridge, scoop out heaped teaspoons of mixture (15 grams), roll into balls and coat in extra semolina. Place on baking trays, leaving plenty of room for spreading during cooking).

• Bake for 13-15 minutes or until biscuits are a rich, golden colour (as pictured).

• Allow to cool on trays for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Notes

Storing: Once completely cool, store biscuits in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to one week.
Freezing: You can also freeze these biscuits. Wrap and store in an airtight container for up to a few months. Defrost overnight at room temperature before serving.
Nutrition: The nutrition information is an automatically generated estimate and is not guaranteed to be accurate.
Tips: 

• Keep an eye on the biscuits as they are cooking as slight differences in size and heat will have a big impact on cooking time. 
• Be sure to leaving plenty of room for spreading during cooking by placing a maximum of 6 balls on a standard size baking tray.
• If you only have 2 baking trays, bake in two batches but be sure to let the trays cool between batches and place the mixture back into the fridge while the first batch is baking.
• See post for how to make Honey Snaps Caramel Tarts.

Nutrition

Calories: 65kcalCarbohydrates: 9gProtein: 1gFat: 3gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 8mgSodium: 25mgPotassium: 17mgFiber: 0.1gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 94IUVitamin C: 0.02mgCalcium: 6mgIron: 0.2mg