Margaret's Biscuits

Ingredients

• 1 cooked egg yolk
• 50 g butter
• 20 g caster sugar
• 1 g salt
• 50 g soft plain flour
• 50 g cornflour

Method

Warm the butter gently over a baking|bain-marie until it's fully melted but not foaming — you're after a liquid fat, not browned butter. While it warms, crumble the cooked egg yolk with your fingers until it breaks into fine, dry particles; this matters because the yolk will distribute unevenly through the dough if you leave chunks. Once the butter is ready, fold in the sugar and salt, stirring until the grains dissolve. The egg yolk goes in next. Fold gently but firmly until the mixture is uniform in colour and texture.

Sift the plain flour and cornflour together into the wet ingredients. The cornflour is the controlling agent here — it lowers gluten development and creates a biscuits|shortbread-like crumb rather than a chewy cookies|cookie. Knead the dough just enough to bring it together; overworking it will toughen the crumb. You want something that holds its shape but feels slightly sandy, not smooth. This typically takes thirty seconds to one minute of light kneading.

Divide the dough into 8 g pieces — use a scales if you want consistency, or pinch off roughly walnut-sized portions by eye. Roll each piece gently between your palms into a small ball, then set it on a parchment-lined tray. Press the top of each ball with your thumb to create a shallow dimple and slight cracking around the edges. This dimple serves two purposes: it shortens baking time for the centre of the biscuit and it's the visual signature Margaret's biscuits are known for.

Preheat the oven to 150°C. Bake for 18–22 minutes, checking at the eighteen-minute mark. The surface should be set and pale, with fine cracks radiating from the thumb-press. They'll be fragile when hot — this is correct — and will firm as they cool. The interior will remain slightly tender because the egg yolk acts as a richening agent, absorbing moisture and preventing a brick-hard crumb. Cool them on the tray for five minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. They'll keep in an airtight tin for three days, though they're best eaten within twenty-four hours whilst the butter flavour is still bright.