Home
About

Grasmere gingerbread

Blue and white plate of Grasmere gingerbread top right. Silver dish of preserved ginger pieces top left. Closed packet of gingerbread left. Open packet revealing 2 pieces of gingerbread bottom. Beige linen cloth. For Grasmere gingerbread recipe.

The popularity of gingerbread to the Lake District is thought to have developed with the importation of sugar and spices to Whitehaven in Cumberland during the 17th and 18th centuries.  Dorothy Wordsworth mentions buying locally made gingerbread in her journal in the early nineteenth century.  However, the gingerbread we now associate with Grasmere was not invented until 1854 when Sarah Nelson, a domestic servant, began to sell her gingerbread in the Grasmere village school.

Equipment

  • 20cm square shallow baking tin (with rim of at least 2cm)
  • Food processor
  • Small bowl

Preparation method

  • Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4. 
  • Grease the baking tin with butter.  
  • Place the flour, oatmeal, sugar, ground ginger and baking powder in the food processor. 
  • Pulse a few times until the ingredients are just combined, then add the diced butter.  
  • Process until the mixture looks like fine sand – be careful not to overwork the ingredients or you will end up with a stiff dough.  
  • Remove 8 tablespoons of the sandy mixture and set aside in the small bowl.  
  • Add the stem ginger to the mixture in the food processor and continue to pulse the mixture very briefly until the ingredients are mixed, then tip into the prepared tin.  
  • Press into an even layer with the back of a spoon and then sprinkle the reserved sandy crumbs evenly on top.  
  • Place in the preheated oven and bake for 25 minutes, until lightly golden.  
  • Remove from the oven and carefully run a round-bladed knife around the inside of the tin to loosen.  
  • Gently cut into squares or rectangles.  
  • Leave to cool completely before removing from the tin.   
  • Serve immediately or place in a cake tin or plastic container.  They will keep for a few days.

More baking recipes using ginger
Barnstaple Fair gingerbread
Ginger biscuits
Gingerbread
Ginger bread cake
Gingerbread cake
Ginger cobnut cake
Parkin

Victorian

Serves:
16
Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Cooling time 1 hour
Total Time 2 hours 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • 150 g wholemeal plain flour
  • 150 g oatmeal
  • 150 g light muscovado sugar
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 170 g unsalted butter, chilled and diced
  • 50 g stem ginger, drained and finely chopped

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
Grasmere gingerbread
Serving Size
 
42 g
Amount per Serving
Calories
190
Percent of Daily Value*
Fat
 
9.6
g
15
%
Saturated Fat
 
5.5
g
34
%
Cholesterol
 
23
mg
8
%
Sodium
 
43
mg
2
%
Potassium
 
52
mg
1
%
Carbohydrates
 
25
g
8
%
Fiber
 
2
g
8
%
Sugar
 
9.3
g
10
%
Protein
 
2.7
g
5
%
Calcium
 
14
mg
1
%
Iron
 
0.8
mg
4
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Share this recipe

Keywords

biscuits, Ginger, Oats, Victorian

© Dr Caroline Gordon 
2026
Illustrations by Chichi Parish
Site by Anselm Eustace