These are Christmas biscuits. There’s no point in making them at any other time of year. They’ll just make you feel a bit depressed and nostalgic. Maybe even start you off on out of season cravings for Quality Street. So make them this week. Enjoy them. Then bookmark for next year. READ MORE
It’s biscuit week and I feel a wave of nostalgia. I’ll be honest that I wasn’t especially worried about biscuit week before it started back in 2011. You see I’d taken my macarons to the audition so I knew they were okay with Mary and Paul (should they not have been abbreviated by now to ‘Pary’ or ‘Maul’? I think Maul is better, more fitting).
Oreos and milk; how American can you get?
Of course as a maker and baker of a lot of kid’s cakes I do love Oreos for their ability to immitate soil once whizzed up in a food processor.
Mother’s Day is looming. This recipe isn’t a Mother’s Day suggestion. Not that these cookies aren’t delicious and a wonderful gift to bestow on any well behaved mother, but well, they’re not quite formal enough for my liking. I think Mother’s Day needs something a little more old fashioned and restrained.
So, Mother’s Day gifts. I have been contemplating buying some frames, filling them with prints of the children and wrapping them in pretty tissue paper for the family matriarchs. But then it occurred to me that this could well be the worst kind of self absorption. Obviously I would never frame a picture of myself and bestow it to a family member. That would make me seem rather in love with my own reflection, a little bit of a horror frankly. But giving photos of my offspring seems okay, thoughtful even. But is it?
They’re my greatest life’s work, my biggest, most important project. They’re the thing I point at as an excuse for my under eye wrinkles, sagging belly and constant yawning. So to frame photos of them as a gift, is it really a right and proper gift for Mother’s Day? Or is it akin to an ex boyfriend of mine who prided himself on buying his girlfriend’s massage courses for their birthdays. As in ‘how to massage’ courses; not a course of massages. Perhaps these photos are a similar indulgence. A projection of being obsessed with oneself and ones achievements. A silent scream of “Look what I made! Aren’t they just wonderful?”
Or maybe I’m over thinking it.
Lots of great recipes like this in my book, Recipes from a Normal Mum, out now… on Amazon, The Works, at Waterstones, WHSmith, The Book Depository and many smaller outlets.
One year ago: Florentine quiche and Flourless chocolate cake and Cadbury Creme Mini Egg chocolate flapjackand School fair rocky road
Two year ago: White chocolate & cranberry hot cross buns and Cadbury creme egg mess and Banoffee pecan mini pavs
Three years ago: Easter Apostles scone loaf and Carrot cake in a cup for Mother’s Day and Cranberry oaty biscuits
Four years ago: Mini chocolate birds nests and Puff pastry and Walnut bread
Chocolate chip cookies
Ingredients:
Makes about 15
Preheat the oven to 190°C/gas mark 5 and line 2 baking trays with greaseproof paper. Melt the butter and syrup in a saucepan over a low heat until dissolved. Remove from the heat and add the flour, sugar, and bicarbonate of soda and give it a good mix with a wooden spoon. Leave the mixture to cool for a few minutes before stirring in the chocolate chips.
Using your hands, form handfuls of the warm mixture into balls about 4cm across, you should make about 15. Place them on the lined trays, making sure that there’s plenty of space for them to spread in the oven. I leave a 5cm gap between each. Bake in the oven for 12–15 minutes until the dough has spread into cracked looking biscuits.
If you like your biscuits with a bit of ‘chew’ (more cookie like) then take them out when only the sides are brown. If you like them crunchy then let the whole biscuit get a suntan. Let them cool on the baking tray for a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
There’s a natural saturation level of competance in pretty much everything. Reach your limit and the wheels come off. In business it’s called the Peter Principle – where one gets promoted to a level above what they can cope with. Readers, I think I have reached my parenting Peter Principle.
I have always been on time. Hey who am I kidding, I’ve always been early. I never really got it when other Mums would chat about it taking 2 hours to leave the house and then still forgetting something. Well 3 kids in and I get it. Yesterday I drove to a park 3 miles away, all set up for a stomp around, some swing pushing and dodging of drunk people, plus lunch at the cafe with my baby and next eldest son as dining companions.
I opened the boot to remove the balance bike (yes, I am a walking middle class cliche) and the changing bag was missing. So, basically the baby was completely ill equipped. We had to cut the trip short. My 3 year old was not impressed. I think I saw a look of disapointment in his eyes at my organisational skills. There is nothing like a 3 year old finding you a let down to focus the mind.
Today I will endeavour to be a less forgetful mother. And to make more of these cookies, as they may just help with forgiveness.
Lots more recipes like this in my book, Recipes from a Normal Mum, out now… on Amazon, with The Book People, at Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Waitrose, The Book Depository and many smaller outlets.
Photography by Minal Photography
One year ago: Hazelnut cupcakes with Nutella buttercream and Red root reblochon bake and Simple banana cake
Two years ago: Cherry tomato frittata and Lemon brioche or Death by chocolate cake
Three years ago: Tiramisu profiteroles and Drunken cherry brandy mincemeat or Macarons
Four years ago: Easy cheesy pasta and Almond coated chicken and Mince pies for mince pie haters
Peanut & raisin cookies
Made about 30 but it really depends on the size of the dough balls
Ingredients:
Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4. Line four baking trays with non stick baking paper.
Cream the butter and sugar for 4 minutes in a stand mixer using the flat beater starting low speed and working up, or 6 minutes with a handheld electric mixer or about 8 – 10 minutes with a wooden spoon. The mixture will be lighter in colour than when you started and very creamy.
Add the flour, oats, peanuts and raisins then mix well until combined. Take pieces a little larger than the size of a plum and form into a ball using your hands. Place on the baking tray and squash down a little until your ball is about 1cm high. Continue until the dough is all used up and remember to space the biscuits about a biscuits width apart.
Bake for around 20 minutes until the edges are starting to go a little golden but the middles will still look uncooked and soft and puffy. Leave to harden on the tray and when you’re happy they won’t fall apart – about 20 minutes later, transfer to a wire rack to cool. Store in an airtight tin.
We’re back from France. Mildly café au lait coloured in skin tone, a respectable amount of tanning for any factor 50 obsessive mother with an eye on Vitamin D intake. I don’t want to give the wrong impression, I don’t want to sound spoilt or in any way ungrateful, because really, I’m not. Here comes the but…
I can’t help but think everyone would have been happier at home. More toys, less being dragged around castles, less long distance drives with Thomas’ Misty Island Rescue songs resounding from the portable DVD player, less of me asking ‘so boys what’s the best part of the holiday?’ Less moaning about the heat from the kids, less ridiculous exclamations of ‘some children never go on holiday and all you can do is moan about missing your friends’ from me. Gosh, we sound a miserable lot.
So to be a bit more Pollyanna about it, perhaps I should count the blessings of the static caravan holiday to France. There was wine, loads of it – and red too. Tick. There was cheese, loads of it – and stinky too. Tick. There was sun, loads of it – and hot too. Tick. And there were lots of dresses with no waistband, so that I barely noticed my girth increasing as I swigged and nibbled away. Perfect. Plenty of things to be glad for.
These oaty peanut butter cookies are nigh on the perfect guilt free treat. No, they are not in any way ‘diet’ – I don’t really make low fat biscuits, I just eat less when I feel the need. But they are full of oats and peanut butter; two ingredients to be glad for I’d say. Low GI oats and high potassium peanut butter. Just ignore the butter, sugar and more sugar.
One year ago: Lemon and coriander turkey burgers and Lemony, minty, halloumi, bean and asparagus salad
Two years ago: GBBO white loaf and Lemon cupcakes with Italian meringue buttercream
Three years ago: Carrot fritters and Fruit yoghurt lollies and Classic Victoria sponge
Oaty peanut butter cookies
Makes 20
Ingredients:
Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4. Line 3 trays with non stick baking paper. Cream the butter and sugars together until light and creamy – about 4 minutes in a stand mixer with a flat beater or a little longer by hand. Add the egg and mix well with the flat beater or wooden spoon. Add all the other ingredients and mix until combined – don’t go crazy and mix for ages. You just want the ingredients to come together. Scoop walnut sized blobs onto the lined trays spacing at least 5cm between blobs as these cookies spread quite a lot. Bake for 8 – 12 minutes until browned and puffed up. When removed from the oven they will puff back down. If you like a brittle cookie bake until very well tanned. If you like a chewy centered cookie then bake until just blushed with tan. Cool on the trays before moving.
I know everyone else is sweltering and eating salad and waiving fans about. There’s even a little low level moaning going on. Well I love this heat. I really love it. And it doesn’t make me want to turn the oven off; it makes me want to bake even more. As if the extra heat of the oven somehow welcome the suns rays saying ‘give us everything you’ve got.’ Or something like that.
So whilst everyone else is eating ice-poles and salad and sitting in the shade glowing I shall be eating curry, drinking hot tea and basking in the sun eating squidgy homemade chocolate ginger cookies. The best bit is they’re even better for this weather, all the more squidgy for sinking your teeth into.
(They’re also dairy free, made especially for my pal who’s dairy free at the mo whilst breast feeding her not so keen on dairy son.)
One year ago: Clementine cake and Macadamia and white chocolate shortbread
Two years ago: Teacher’s pet chocolate and hazelnut oaty biscuits and Spelt loaf
Three years ago: Restorative chicken and leek risotto
And if you like ginger things: Ginger cake and Rhubarb and ginger chutney are very nice indeed
Squidgy chocolate ginger cookies
Makes 16 ish
Ingredients:
Mix all the ingredients together apart from the ginger until really smooth – you can do this by hand if you like. Then stir through the ginger. The mixture will be a sticky gloopy mess. Then chill for 1 hour.
Bake tablespoons of the mixture spaced 4cm apart on a lined baking tray at 180C/gas mark 4 for about 10 – 15 minutes until spread out and the edges are starting to look a little crispy. The middles will look a bit puffed up and almost uncooked – when you remove them slam the baking sheet on the workbench about 5 times and this will deflate the cookies a little. Leave to cool completely on the trays and gently peel off once cool. Store between layers of non stick greaseproof paper or otherwise you’ll just have one massive stuck together cookie – and fighting is not dignified in this heat.
Credit – debit, credit – debit. Oatmeal – fudge, oatmeal – fudge. Life is one long compromise. Like ordering a Diet Coke with your Big Mac, these cookies are almost neutral through their combination of virtuous oatmeal and sinful chocolate fudge.
The friend I made these for swears they’ve helped her (these are her words) not kill her partner. They’re having to do a lot of compromising at the moment you see. Food, relationships, just one long compromise. These are the cookies to help.
All comments gratefully received. I love reading them.
One year ago: Octonauts cupcakes and Walnut, fudge and Fleur de Sel cookies
Two years ago: Mutter paneer and Hot cross biscotti
Oatmeal & fudge cookies
Makes about 15
Ingredients:
Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4 and find 2 baking sheets. Mix the dry ingredients together and then rub in the butter until you have a fine breadcrumb consistency. They add the milk until the mixture comes together in a ball. Cut the fudge bars into 8 equal pieces and then take a piece of cookie dough about the size of a small plum. Squash, pop the fudge in the centre and then wrap the dough around the fudge until it sits in the middle. Roll between your palms until the cookie is smooth and sphere like and place on your baking sheet. Then squash a little so the top is just flattened. Repeat until all the dough is used, placing about 3 cm apart – these don’t spread like some cookies. I made 15 and had 1 piece of fudge left over perfect for my son to gobble up.
Bake for 20 minutes until just golden and starting to crack on the top. Allow to cool and enjoy with a chaser of compromise.
I have tried to write this post so many times and I can’t quite do it justice. So I’m just going to splurge my stream of consciousness out onto the blog and press publish and be damned.
Last year I met a great woman who I have been lucky enough to become great friends with. In fact I’d go as far as to say she’s become a close friend. She makes me laugh, she’s got a wicked sense of humour and she’s incredibly giving. She’s also a bloody great baker. Her name is Jo and she won the Great British Bake Off.
Jo sent me a copy of her new book recently and, well, it’s beautiful. Full of recipes I want to bake and written with such warmth and personality. When I first met Jo she was her own worst critic, I hope through her Bake Off win and this gorgeous book already being a best seller, she realises what a star she is. Here’s one of the recipes from her book which I have made two batches of today, printed with her permission:
Makes 10
Ingredients:
100g peanut butter, either smooth or crunchy
60g demerara sugar
60g caster sugar
1 large egg, beaten
100g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
60g salted peanuts or chocolate chips
Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4. Cream the butter, sugars and peanut butter together until light and fluffy. Gradually add the egg and mix thoroughly. Sift the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda into the bowl and mix until the dough comes together. Add the peanuts or chocolate chips.
Place scoops onto a prepared baking tray (lined with parchment) allowed plenty of space inbetween for spreading in the oven. Bake for 5 minutes in the middle of the oven, remove the tray and give it a sharp bang on the work surface to deflate the cookies. Return to the oven for 5 more minutes until golden brown. Cool slightly on the tray and then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Notes: I didn’t have any plain white flour so used plain wholemeal flour and this worked well. I don’t even think you could tell. I also didn’t have any demerara sugar so used all caster and again this worked fine. I also used chopped up block chocolate as I didn’t have any chocolate chips. Oh and I made my cookies quite small so got 21 out of the mix. These are just delicious! Make them. Please.
Holly Bell 