Brown sugar walnut biscuits are a delicious, simple cookie perfect with a cup of tea.
If you're a love of walnuts you might also enjoy our Maple Glazed Walnuts, Soda Bread With Walnuts, Chocolate Walnut Cookies or our Best Ever Easy Carrot Cake Cupcakes.
Hi Claire, I used your recipe and made delicious cookies (biscuits). Just wanted to say thanks and I appreciate your efforts.
- Leo
Quick look at Brown Sugar Walnut Biscuits
- ⏲️ Ready in 25 minutes.
- 🛒 Ingredients: Just 8 (probably in your pantry)
- 🍽️ Makes: 25 cookies.
- 🧑🍳 Difficulty: Easy (kid-friendly).
- 🗃️ Make ahead: Airtight container 5 days (or freeze for months).
When my husband describes a biscuit as ‘the best biscuit you’ve ever made’ it’s hard to ignore him. He’s rather fussy when it comes to baked goods.
When he asked met to make a second batch of brown sugar walnut biscuits I told him I couldn’t make the same thing twice or what would I have to blog about? The poor guy.
Why This Recipe Works
- Caramel-like flavour - Brown sugar gives these cookies an almost toffee-like flavour and a cake-like middle with crunchy edges.
- Texture - A delicious nutty crunch of walnuts in every bite. But not break-your-teeth crunch seeing as walnuts aren't too hard.
- Quick & Easy - A great recipe to make with kids or when you need cookies stat. No fancy equipment needed.
Recipe Ingredients
To make walnut cookies you will need just a few simple ingredients. Here are some tips:
- Butter - while most baking recipes call for unsalted butter, I'm not a stickler for that rule. Just use what you have. Make sure it's the pure stuff wrapped in foil though not out of a tub.
- Vanilla extract - (I used vanilla bean paste) here's how to make vanilla extract with alcohol & vanilla beans.
- Brown sugar - we just use regular light brown sugar but you could use a dark brown sugar for a deeper flavour. Did you know you can make brown sugar easily at home.
- Walnuts - usually you can get 'walnut pieces' from the supermarket or grocery store for a lot less per kilogram than whole walnuts so look out for the packet.
How to make brown sugar walnut cookies
Step 1: In the bowl of an electric mixer (or with a hand-held mixer, beat the butter, vanilla, sugar and egg together until smooth and creamy.
Step 2: Sift in the flour, soda and mixed spice and beat them through until just combined.
Step 3: Add the walnuts and stir them through.
Step 4: Roll the dough into walnut size balls & bake on a baking paper lined tray at 150C fan-forced for 15-17 mins.
Step 5: Leave the baked walnut biscuits to rest on the tray for 5 minutes.
Step 6: Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely then store in an airtight container.
Recipe Tip
Don't be tempted to chill the dough or dough balls before cooking to try and reduce the spreading. This is what will happen if you try - you'll get a cookie in the middle and an outer border of almost-burnt crust.
These cookies are meant to be quite flat. If you like something chunkier, try our Healthy Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies or for something a little more indulgent - Mexican Spiced Chocolate Snickerdoodles.
Recipe FAQs
Yes you absolutely can use pecans instead of walnuts in brown sugar walnut cookies. In baking, pecans and walnuts can pretty much be used interchangeably to give flavour and a nutty crunch.
You could add chocolate or white chocolate chips to this recipe when you add the walnuts.
We'd recommend replacing some of the nuts with the chocolate to keep the add-in to biscuit dough ratio the same.
Recipe
Brown sugar walnut biscuits
Ingredients
- 200 g 7oz butter
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract I used vanilla bean paste
- 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 ¾ cup plain all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- ½ teaspoon ground mixed spice
- ½ cup coarsely chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 150C fan-forced and line two baking trays with baking paper.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter, vanilla, sugar and egg together until smooth and creamy.
- Sift in the flour, soda and mixed spice and beat them through until just combined then add the walnuts and stir until incorporated.
- Using a level tablespoon of dough at a time, roll the dough into balls and place on the lined trays leaving at least 3 cm between each one.
- Bake biscuits for 15 minutes and then leave to cool on the trays.
- Store in an airtight container when cool.
Notes
Nutrition
Claire Cameron says
'The best biscuits ever' as judged by my husband.
Liz says
Hi Claire,
Well have made your biscuits 3 or 4 times in the last couple of weeks.
But have changed the flours. Use spelt, 1 1/2 cups, & 1/4 cup of coconut
flour. Plus added nutmeg, & cinnamon with the mixed spice. Yum.
Can't have wheat so I substitute with spelt a lot, 1st time I've used the
coconut flour though but it seems to work ok.
Added cocoa today as well as the spices. Even more yum
Thanks for a great easy recipe.
Claire says
Yum yum yum! Great ideas Liz I'll have to try your version. You're very welcome.
Leo says
Hi Claire, I used your recipe and made delicious cookies (biscuits). Just wanted to say thanks and I appreciate your efforts.
Claire says
Thanks so much Leo. I love hearing when people try my recipes!
My Kitchen Stories says
Lovely bikkies Claire. I want to make them ....1.5 boxes left... thats great
Shirley from Rhubarb Whine says
Hi Claire, hope you are settling in. Look forward to hearing how you settle in to your new kitchen. It's always fun to sort out a new oven :)
Claire says
Thanks Shirley!
The Café Sucre Farine says
Haha Claire, my family asks me to make something again and I always tell them I can't go backwards. This weekend, I made doughnuts, not the old family favorite, but a new, interesting recipe. They didn't really like them and Lindsay said "if it's not broken, don't fix it". I cracked up! These cookies look fantastic, poor Will will probably never see them again in his life!
Claire says
Haha our poor families! He actually requested them again yesterday the poor boy!
Stephanie @ henry happened says
Oh, those sounds yummy! So are these cookies? Do you call cookies biscuits? Good luck with the last few boxes - for some reason those are the hardest!
Claire says
Haha yep our biscuits are your cookies. Your biscuits are a little like savoury scones to us. I got through the boxes this weekend!!!
Lisa the Gourmet Wog says
emptying boxes onto the floor counts ;)
These look awesome Claire! I too am drawn to brown sugar recipes, especially when they're spiced. Yum
Claire says
I finally managed to move the stuff from the floor to the cupboard so we are nearly unpacked!
Maureen | Orgasmic Chef says
Moving is the worst job ever. We still have a whole roomful of stuff that doesn't fit in our house. One day...
I love your biscuits, although they'd have to be cookies at my house :)
Claire says
Yes cookies in the Orgasmic Chef house!
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella says
Hehe I think Will could have some interesting conversations with my husband! He just wants to go to the same Shanghai dumpling place but I can't do it! There are so many places to eat at! These look lovely and I "oohed" as soon as I saw the name!
Claire says
Oh they'd get on great! They both share the same lack of sweet tooth.
The Life of Clare says
Oh how I hate moving house! I also tend to unpack onto the floor, where it gathers dust until the right place arises. These biscuits look wonderful!
Claire says
Glad I'm not the only one Clare!