Bran Biscuits

175g butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 Tbsp golden syrup
1 cup EDMONS Wheat Bran
1/2 cup EDMONDS Wholemeal Flour
1 cup EDMONDS Standard Grade Flour
1 tsp EDMONDS Baking Powder
pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven to 180C
2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy
3. Add eggs and golden syrup and beat well.
4. Mix wheat bran, flour, baking powder and salt until well combined and soft dough forms.
5. Tip dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll to 5-7mm thickness.
6. Cut to desired biscuit shape and place on greased or lined oven tray.
7. Bake for 15-20 mins or until golden brown and baked. Makes about 20


This was another recipe on the back of a packet. The Edmonds Natural Wheat Bran packet.
At first I was quite surprised as to how much butter was used but I made it anyway.
It was quite sticky (probably because of the amount of butter!) so I actually added some more flour and made sure my surface was quite covered in flour when it came to rolling out the dough.

It's quite a healthy biscuit when it comes to most of its ingredients but because I have always eaten bran biscuits with a bit of butter spread on it, I still think it uses quite a lot of butter.

Chocolate Chip Biscuits

Ingredients 
125g butter
½ cup Chelsea Soft Brown Sugar (lightly packed)
½ cup Chelsea Caster Sugar
½ tsp vanilla essence
1 egg
1¾ cups self-raising flour
½ tsp salt
½ cup chocolate chunks or chips

Method 
Preheat oven to 180°C conventional or 160ºC fan forced and grease or line two baking trays with baking paper. Beat butter, sugars and vanilla until pale and creamy, add egg and beat until mixed.

Sift in flour and salt, mix until combined before stirring in the chocolate chunks or chips. Roll heaped teaspoon sized balls of mixture and place on tray, press down lightly with a floured fork. Bake for approx. 12 minutes.

Tip: Substitute chocolate with Smarties, M&Ms or chopped nuts.

This was a recipe from a New World advertising flyer. It is actually from the Chelsea website and can be found here.

This as an easy recipe to follow and is quite sweet so of course enjoyed by many.
I personally would not use as much sugar and do actually like my own recipe I have used for years that can be found here.

ANZAC Biscuits

recipe one on the left - recipe two on the right

I am going to do two recipes for this post.
Both are from advertising material that comes through our letterbox.

Recipe one

Ingredients 
125 g butter 
¼ cup golden syrup 
½ tsp baking soda 
1 tbsp hot water 
½ cup plain flour 
½ cup sugar 
1 cup desiccated coconut 
1 cup rolled oat 

Preparation 
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. 
Melt butter and golden syrup in a saucepan large enough to hold all the ingredients. Remove from the heat. 
Dissolve baking soda in hot water and mix into the melted ingredients. 
Mix flour, sugar, coconut and oats together until combined. Mix into the butter mixture until well combined. 
Using a measuring tablespoon, take spoonfuls of the mixture and place on an oven tray lined with baking paper. Press with a fork to flatten – allow room for spreading. 
Bake for 10–12 minutes or until golden. 
Leave on the oven tray to cool and firm up before moving to a cooling rack. 

This recipe was contributed by Robyn Martin in the “New World” catalog. You can actually find the recipe here.  She makes an interesting comment on how she changed recipes for her to cook/mix it all in one pot instead of creaming the butter and sugar etc. I have made different versions of ANZAC biscuits and they have all been melt in the pot ones.

Recipe two

Ingredients 
115g butter 
1 Tbsp golden syrup 
1 tsp baking soda mixed with 2 Tbsp boiling water 
1 cup sugar 
1 cup desiccated coconut 
1 cup rolled oats 
¾ cup plain flour 
1 cup chopped walnuts 

Method 
1. Preheat oven to 140°C, not fan bake. 
2. In a medium sized pot, melt butter and golden syrup. Add baking soda and stir well. Remove from heat. 
3. Add sugar, coconut, oats, flour and walnuts stirring the mixture until well combined. 
4. Line 2 baking trays with paper. Roll the mixture into dessert spoon size balls leaving a space in between each. Gently flatten with a fork. 
5. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, then swap the trays around for even cooking for a further 10 minutes. Remove and let the biscuits sit for 5 minutes before moving to a cooling rack. 

Makes approximately 25 biscuits.

This recipe was from the Countdown flyer. It can be found here.  There is no reference as to where they got it from.

Both recipes were good but I must admit I liked the second one with the added walnuts although this is a twist on the original recipe. The instructions for both are easy to follow and I would recommend either to anyone looking for a recipe.

Springtime Biscuits

125gr Butter
1 Tbsp Golden Syrup
1 Tbsp Brown Sugar
1 Cup Plain Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
¼ tsp Salt
1 ½  Cups Bran Flakes
1 egg, beaten

Warm butter and golden syrup.
Add brown sugar and beat until smooth.
Add all the dry ingredients and beaten eff.
Mix well.
Roll into balls and flatten with the back of a fork.
Bake at 180°C for about 15-20 minutes. 

This is a recipe off a Bin Inn mailer. I didn’t have any bran flakes so I used corn flakes. I liked the whole idea of just not having to cream the ingredients so just used the microwave to warm the butter and golden syrup and beat in the sugar. I added the egg next and then carefully stirred in the dry ingredients. Always remember to use a bowl bigger than you think so nothing spills over the sides.

They were a nice biscuit with a slightly soft cake type texture rather than a hard biscuit. They were a bit bland so I am wondering if bran flakes would be more flavoursome. Even adding a bit of essence may help. I am unsure if I will make this again.

 

Chocolate Raisin Biscuits

125gr butter

½ white sugar

1 egg

1 ½ cup flour

¾ tsp baking powder

¾ cup chocolate raisins

Melt butter in a saucepan large enough to mix all the ingredients.

Remove from heat and mix in sugar and egg, beating well with a wooden spoon until combined.

Sift flour and baking powder into the mixture and mix to combine.

Add chocolate raisins and mix in.

Measure a tablespoon of mixture at a time, and roll into balls.

Place on a greased oven tray and flatten with the back of a wet spoon.

Bake at 180°C for 15-20 minutes or until golden and cooked.

Makes approx. 30.

I love recipes that are like this – melt the butter and add all the ingredients in in the same pot.

I followed the recipe (off an old 500gr Chelsea White Sugar bag) just as it was written.

It was very easy and quick to make.

A 130gr packet of chocolate raisins (Pams) is ¾ cup of chocolate raisins

I found that the chocolate raisins melted a little so gave the biscuits a kind of chocolate ripple effect which was quite appealing.

I cooked them for the full 20 minutes.

These are yummy and meet Katrina’s approval so are a definite keeper.

Cranberry Crisps

INGREDIENTS (Makes about 30 crisps)

1 cup flour

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 cup long thread coconut

1 cup rolled oats

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1 cup dried cranberries

125g butter

2 tbsp golden syrup

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup boiling water

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees C and lightly grease a baking tray. Or you can line it with baking paper, whichever you prefer.

2. Place the first seven ingredients into a large bowl.

3. Melt the butter and blend in the golden syrup. Then dissolve the baking soda in the boiling water. Pour the butter and baking soda mixtures into the dry ingredients and mix well until thoroughly combined.

4. Put heaped tablespoonfuls of the mixture about 5cm apart on the prepared tray and press them down well with a damp fork.

5. Bake the crisps for about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Then remove from the oven and leave them on the tray for 3-4 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

They can be stored in an airtight container or freeze. 

This recipe came with a reqest to donate to the Starship foundation and was a sneak peek at one of the recipes from the cookbook - Comfort: Food for sharing.

Its another one of those recipes where you can just mix everything in a bowl and there is no need for creaming the butter and sugar etc.

All went fine, mixing the first seven ingredients in a large bowl, melting the butter and golden syrup and then adding to the dry ingredients with the baking soda mixture.

I put spoonfuls on the tray and they seemed rather "wet"

I pressed them with a fork and thought to myself, this is not going to look like the biscuits in the photo.
Sure enough when I took them out of the oven they had spread out flat and seemed to be a complete flop.
I left them on the tray to cool for ten minutes as they seemed to just want to break up.

These do not look good in the photo, as you can see, the photo from the recipe is beside them there on the left.
They do taste very nice but don't eat too many or you will be visitng the little room for awhile.

I'm not sure if I will make them again and if I do I will be adjusting them. Maybe only a little water.
If anyone has bought the cookbook can you check the ingredients and let me know.

ANZAC Biscuits

I started today with an empty packet of Harraways Rolled Oats.

ANZAC Biscuits

In a bowl mix dry ingredients

2 cups Harraways Rolled Oats

½ cup sugar

½ cup coconut

½ cup flour

Melt together 125g Tick approved margarine

2 tablespoons golden syrup

Mix 1 teaspoon of baking soda with 2 tablespoons boiling water.

Add this to melted margarine then pour into dry ingredients.

Mix well.

Place spoonfuls on a greased tray.

Bake 180°C (or 160°C fan bake) for 15 minutes.

Cool and store in air tight containers

I put on my apron, turned the oven on, put the jug on (you never know when you are going to need hot water or at least a cup of coffee) and got a baking tray lined with baking paper. It’s always good to have what you are going to bake your item on/in prepared before you start.

Right; first of all you need a big bowl cos when you add the liquids to the dry ingredients there is a major science experiment going on. I was under the impression last time I looked that I had a tub of tick approved margarine (Olivani) but I don’t use it now and it’s been used by the other members of this family so there was hardly any left. Never mind there is some in the freezer.

Nope. That’s been used up too.

In fact there is no margarine in the house, how come no-one has told me. Oh that’s right no-one doesn’t do anything useful.

Well I had about 30 grams of margarine and topped it up with butter.

All went well until you mix the baking soda mix with the melted butter mix. I forgot – major volcano; just as well it was in a large jug.

I quickly poured it over the dry ingredients and mixed it all in.

The recipe says “place spoonfuls on a greased tray”. Now I have been cooking for a long time so I know what sort of size I like my biscuits but what about the people who haven’t – I mean what size spoon? I however rolled into balls about a dessertspoon of mixture.

Do they just sit on the tray or do we flatten them?

The recipe didn’t say so I left them. I am trying to do exactly what the recipe says!

Well into a 180°C oven for 15 minutes.

I am busy getting things ready for the other recipe and I suddenly think “Opps when did I put them in the oven?”

A quick check and they look about half cooked.

The phone rings and a good friend wants to know an address and to check how things are with me.

Opps again I have to ask her to wait a minute while I get the biscuits out as ANZAC biscuits can burn quickly (It’s the baking soda that does that)

I cool them on the tray (it doesn’t say to transfer to a wire rack which I normally do), and then sample.

And the verdict – I have a different recipe that is nicer. There is a slight baking soda taste, and not very sweet, which probably means they are good for you!

I’m not keeping this recipe
Verdict in from Katrina, she likes them, so maybe its here on the blog if she wants to make them.