Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Oatmeal Biscuits and Chocolate Chip Cookies
Today was my first anniversary - at work. It was exactly a year ago today that I sat in the lobby worried that I would mess up on my first day only to find out that I was not allowed anywhere near a computer until I'd completed a week-long training session with thirteen equally worried new hires. I can't believe a year has passed since... Time flies when you're getting older.Anyway, last week a colleague had brought in some cake to celebrate her anniversary so I felt I had to do something different. My brownies are turning into a bit of an old hat and I did not have the ingredients for my other favourite for such occasions, banana bread. In the end I opted for something that brings out the child in anyone - cookies. I made two different kinds, oatmeal cookies and vanilla cookies with Smarties, and watched them disappear as quickly as the months had passed on the job. So, if you ever want to see a large group of adults turn into kids again, these recipes are highly recommended.
Oatmeal cookies:Both kinds of biscuits were nice, but I should have known that everyone was going to prefer the colourful, childish ones with the Smarties in them. And I should have known to take a picture while I still had them at home. I didn't and they were gone before I knew it, so there is only a photo of the oatmeal ones. You'll get the Smarties next time.
220g soft butter
1¼ cups light brown sugar
½ cup caster sugar
2 eggs
2 tbsp milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp salt
1¾ cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
2½ cups soft oats
1 cup raisins (or any other dried fruit of your choice)
1 cup walnuts, roughly chopped (or any other nuts you like)
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius. Line two baking trays with non-stick baking paper.
In a bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate, larger bowl, combine the butter, sugar and brown sugar. Add the eggs, milk and vanilla extract and beat until creamy. Gradually beat in the flour mixture. Stir in the oats, raisins and walnuts. Combine well. Allow to rest in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Using a teaspoon, scoop out chunks of cookie dough the size of a large walnut. Arrange them on the lined baking trays spaced at least 5cm apart. They will spread out a lot during baking. Bake for 9 to 10 minutes if you like chewy cookies and 12 to 13 minutes for crunchy ones. Leave them to cool on the baking tray for 1 minute before transferring them to a rack. These should be eaten as soon as possible, but if you need to keep them, make sure they are in a dry, airtight container.
Smarties cookies:
75g butter
75g caster sugar
75g light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
175g self-rising flour
a pinch of salt
about 3 small tubes of Smarties (alternatively 100g chocolate chips - A bit of advice from a colleague of mine: Don't use M&Ms, they tend to lose their colour in the dough with less than pretty results.)
Combine the butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract until light and creamy. Slowly beat in the egg. In another bowl, mix the flour and salt, then gradually add it to the butter and egg mixture. Combine well. Stir in the Smarties.
Split the dough in two portions and roll each out into a sausage shapes approximately 5cm in diameter. Wrap them in cling film and rest in the refrigerator until ready to use.
When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Line two baking trays with baking paper. Slice the log into slices approximately 2cm wide. Lay the circles on the pre-prepared baking trays spaced about 2cm apart. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Allow to rest on the baking tray for a minute before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Christine at 11:44 pm
