There’s a restaurant near where we live. It’s also a bar. And a bit of a cafe in the day. It has an identity crisis.
I like it there a lot as it’s where I met Mr. B the first time when I was 23. It’s also where I met him for the second time when I was 27. It’s also where we had our wedding reception 4 months later when I was 28.
It has a special place in my heart but something about it’s been bugging me for a long time. They don’t sell anything small to pick at with your coffee. Madness surely? I know they’re trying to direct you to their dessert menu but hell, sometimes a girl wants a biscuit, or a nice slice of cake. Not panna sodding cotta.
I made these biscuits recently for Mr. B to take to work for his birthday. They wouldn’t win the prettiest biscuit award, but my they make it hard to stop at one. I’m thinking of taking some samples into the aforementioned restaurant/bar/cafe. Partly to demonstrate just how well they go with their fabulous coffee and partly to see if they’d like me to bake for them. Does that make me one of those annoying frustrated cafe owners who should keep her snout out? I think it does.
Adapted from ‘Oaty Cherry Cookies’ from Good Food Cakes and Bakes. Makes about 30 but really does depend on how big you make them.
Ingredients:
- 250g soft butter
- 150g soft brown sugar
- 150g self raising flour
- 225g porridge oats
- 100g glace cherries cut in half with scissors
- 100g soft dried apricots, cut into thirds with scissors
- 100g shards of white chocolate (bashed whilst still in the pack with a rolling pin)
Preheat the oven to Gas 4/180C. Get as many baking sheets as you have and line with greaseproof paper. Now to make these easy and yet oh so delicious biscuits…
Beat the butter and sugar together using a hand held mixer until light and fluffy. Stir everything else into the mix using a wooden spoon. Then roll up your sleeves and give the mixture a last good mix using your hands. Very satisfying texture in my opinion.
Take a tablespoon of mix and roll into a ball, then pop on the baking sheet and squash to about 1.5cm thick. Continue rolling until you’ve used all the mixture up. Bake for around 15 – 20 mins – the edges should be starting to brown. Remove from the oven, cool on the baking sheet for 5 mins and then transfer to a wire rack. Eat with coffee or tea or alternatively pack into a tin and leave on the doorstep of your favourite restaurant/bar/cafe that doesn’t sell biscuits. They might just get the hint.
See the biscuits in all their glory here.
Get the monthly newsletter...
and subscribe to get all recipes straight to your inbox!
Holly Bell 
Made these with what i had in the cupboard – 80g chocolate, 150g raisins, no apricots/no cherries. Stuck to the rest of the recipe and they are yummy, 3 year old agrees.
Excellent – I love a storecupboard sweep recipe. x
Ok so these are now following the Ginger Fairings into the oven…. biscuit tin will be re-stocked. Not for long though I reckon. :-)
Hurrah! x
Apricot and dark choc sound yum. Dark choc and anything sounds yum. :-)
sounds delish, gonna go make some now :)
apricot and dark choc instead, hopefully it will work, thanks for the recipe x
We need to do that – unfortunately the ironing gets in the way far too often. :-(
we have a favorite cafe too, it's the one where we first met few years ago ;;) once in a while we like to set up a date to the cafe just like old times.
your cookies sound really good. love the no waste theme. thanks for sharing
I love any recipe that uses up bits and bobs. I hate waste! I should have been a wartime housewife!
These look really nice, I love the concept of "whatever's in your cupboard biscuits"!