Right, that’s it. The wind is howling, the rain is pouring and the leaves are falling off the trees. Autumn is here and it is time to prepare ourselves for the cold winter months. One thing I adore about winter is the fact that you can sneak in some extra cookies and hot chocolates without feeling too guilty. How else are you going to cope with the cold?
So, I have prowled the web and investigated the minds of brilliant bakers, and discovered some simply fantastic biscuit bakes for you to make over the next few months. Oh, and they are all made with cost-effective items that are usually found lurking in the home too.
Let’s start with something Oh So Very American – the savoury biscuit. These biscuits are not for the faint-hearted or diet conscious and are utterly divine when matched with gravy and sausages and all other manner of delectable savoury.
You will find a reasonably awesome biscuit recipe on Mamas Southern Cooking. Don’t be put off by the site as this recipe works a charm. A fantastic recipe for a fine and scrummy gravy to go with these savoury biscuits is on The Pioneer Woman(an extremely famous and amazing website). She uses canned biscuits – not sure I’ve ever heard of such a thing before – but her gravy recipe is to die for.
Then I found, amusingly enough, some delicious winter biscuits on the Devon council website. The recipe is brilliant for kids and parents to make together and it has that sweet, ginger flavour that smacks of Christmas and sitting by the fire. You shouldn’t need to fork out much cash for the ingredients either, unless you don’t have any Golden Syrup. I always seem to run out of that stuff.
One of my all time favourite sites, Good To Know, has a ton of biscuit and cookie recipes that are easy to make and actually work. I have been burned so many times by online recipes that have failed epicly in one form or another, so it is nice to have a resource that does what it should.
Whether you are in the mood for savoury oaty cheese biscuits or want to try your hand at making macaroons (macarons), or fancy some chunky rocky road biscuits, there are recipes here for you to enjoy. My personal favourites for making with the kids are the Smarties Cookies and the Raisin and Banana cookies. So easy, so cheap and so much fun.
The BBC seems to have its finger in so many pies (hur hur) and their biscuit recipe section is YUM. I love the Aggression Cookies. I mean, have you ever heard of anything more appropriately funny? These cookies have been designed for the “domestically stressed” and don’t need much in the way of extra ingredients. Heck, the walk to the shops to stock up may stop the kids from throwing tantrums anyway…
Another of my secret biscuit recipe weapons is the basic butter dough recipe here. This is so simple to make and you can add in all sorts of ingredients to make them fun and interesting. This is brilliant for bunging in those leftover raisins or nuts. While the site doesn’t tell you otherwise, I tend to make it in bulk and freeze it up for later use. It is a bit tedious if you fancy a biscuit NOW but with a bit of foresight you have something yummy for everyone to enjoy.
When I was pregnant I discovered big, fat, chewy cookies. They made me fat. I forgive them for they are so utterly scrummy that they make life worth living. This particular recipehas delivered mixed results. Sometimes my cookies emerge looking like something out of a Jamie Oliver catalogue, other times they fail epically. I am not sure why.
The Chewy(hahah) is a great recipe from The Food Network and this recipe from Land O Lakesis awesome. Just ignore their desire to make you use a product not available in the UK and substitute as required. Eaten warm with coffee these are sublime and will make you walk away from store cooked cookies forever.
Finally, the BBC has a ton of biscuit recipesthat can be used to stock up your biscuit tin, create spooky Halloween treats and design fun Christmas biscuit gift tins. Lovely.
Do you have an amazing cookie recipe that defies the imagination? Please do share it!
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