Biscuit Basics

Warning: this post could potentially make you very fat.

When Rach asked me to do a post on 'Biscuit Basics' it took me a while to realise what she was going on about.  Then it dawned on me: on holiday in Dunquin, Ireland last summer I made biscuits every day.  This is because no sooner would they be out of the oven than they'd be gobbled up by my greedy family and they'd be demanding more.  There were no scales and no recipe books in the house we were  staying in, and the nearest little shop was a half hour drive away.  Necessity is, as they say, the mother of invention, so it was time to improvise.   I should start by saying that the one thing we had a steady supply of was butter, without which you'd be fairly stumped (but not entirely - see below).  But all other biscuit ingredients, I believe, can be conjured up by rooting through cupboards and being adventurous.

Here's a good basic recipe to get you started.  You can't go wrong.  I certainly recommend following this or another recipe closely until you've got a good idea of mixture consistency and how much they spread during cooking (the following recipe won't too much but others will) before you start to play with it.

Simple Biscuits

250g butter at room temperature, plus a bit more for greasing

125g caster sugar

300g flour (my recipe states it should be self-raising; I don't think it makes a scrap of difference)

Grease a couple of baking trays.  Put the butter in a large mixing bowl and beat with a wooden spoon to soften.  Beat in the sugar then stir in the flour.  This is where you get to roll it out and use your favourite pastry cutter (or just an upturned glass) or if you're like me you'll just roll it into small balls and flatten with the heel of your hand (or a fork for a pretty pattern).  Bake at 180 degrees for 15-20 minutes, until golden.

Now, in a perfect world, you'd always have a recipe to follow for whatever kind of biscuits you want to make, and scales to hand.  But if not...  Here are my personal favourite additions/corruptions:

Mixed spice: Always, always have some in your cupboard (or separate pots of cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger, but remember mixed spice also contains cloves).  Rach's favourite were mixed spice biscuits when we were kids, and I used to have a fabulous recipe (that was in one of those great brown 60s recipe books) that I of course can't find now, but a spoon of the stuff is always a yummy addition, and particularly good with brown sugar or...

Golden syrup: remember to use less sugar!  And be careful to bind them well or leave plenty of space between them on your baking tray as they'll spread more during cooking.

Cardamom: I list this seperately because unlike all the other spices I like in biscuits it isn't included in 'mixed spice' you can buy in one jar.  Also delish in rice pudding incidentally.

Oats: a healthy addition!  Lovely texture and will stop them spreading too much during cooking.

Custard power: you may laugh, but the ones that got the highest accolade in Ireland were made with oats and a tiny bit of flour (because I ran out) and flavoured with custard powder I dug out the back of a cupboard.

Flour: well, obviously.  But do try using brown flour and any kind of flour to hand really.  It's not like you need them to rise or anything.  There are of course loads of gluten-free alternatives you can use.

Peanut butter: my preference for all cooking is the one with bits in.   This is the only substitute for butter that I can think of.

Vanilla/Almond etc essence: I recently made brownies (which I'm afraid you do need a recipe for) with almond essence in them and they were delicious!  A principle worth carrying over.  A nice idea if you are using coffee is to have two doughs of different colours, roll them both flat, brush one with milk and put the other on top.  Roll the whole thing up and chill for 30mins, then cut into slices and bake for stripy spirals!

I won't insult your intelligence by listing things like dried fruit, nuts  and chocolate.  Please do leave comments if you have any more ideas!

So I hope its clear that you can make biscuits, even fancy ones, from things you have lying around in your store cupboard.  No need to rush to the shops in a panic.  And a top tip:  a run of home made biccys can easily and quickly made into a posh dessert by adding a dollop of ice-cream/yoghurt/mascarpone; fresh or stewed fruit (kept on standby in my freezer); chocolate shavings or a dusting of icing sugar etc etc.  The list of possibilities is endless....