Why is it that sometimes the ugliest looking biscuits taste the best?

Oaty White Choc Chip Biscuits
from Donna Hay Kids First Issue

125g softened butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup plain flour, sifted
1/2 tsp baking powder, sifted
1/4 cup slivered almonds (I skipped this and added milk choc chips instead)
1/4 cup white choc chips

Preheat the oven to 180 degees celsius. Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mix and beat until light and creamy. Add the eggs and beat well. Add the oats, flour baking powder, almonds (if adding) and choc chips and mix to combine. Spoon tablespoons of the mix onto a baking tray lined with non stick baking paper and flatten slightly. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden. Makes 40.

I’m always on the look out for a new biscuit recipe. The latest that took my fancy was “Healthy Chocolate Biscuits”. Really?

To be honest if I’m making biscuits it is not a priority that they are healthy. The way I figure is that a biscuit here or there never hurt anyone. Well…it certainly doesn’t hurt me because I normally only eat one or two, three at the most out of any batch I make.

When I looked through the ingredients list they didn’t look all that healthy. There was butter, albeit olive oil blend, sugar, yes brown – but is that really healthier? I had all of the ingredients on hand so I gave it a whirl.

Healthy Chocolate Biscuit
from taste.com.au

25g Olive Grove Lite Spread
80g Nutella
90g brown sugar
1 egg white
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 2/3 cup (250g) self-raising flour

Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a large baking tray with non-stick baking paper. Use a wooden spoon to mix the spread and Nutella in a large bowl until well combined.
Add the brown sugar, egg white, egg and flour. Stir until the mixture comes together. Knead the mixture gently until smooth.

Roll the mixture into 32 balls. Place on the tray. Use the back of a fork to firmly press, flattening slightly.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the biscuits are firm and crisp. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

The looked great, but…they tasted pretty ordinary to me. Then my husband came out with a great suggestion – add a thin coating of crispy white icing.

Perfect. But totally destroyed any element of ‘healthy’ that may have existed before!

Have you ever made chocolate chip biscuits with condensed milk in the recipe?  It adds a smooth, slightly caramel taste to the biscuit base.  Delicious!  I usually follow the Nestle recipe that incorporates condensed milk with white and dark chocolate chips.  This is one of my favourites.

But, for something different I tried a very similar recipe from Masterchef 2010 and was very happy with the result.

Chocolate Chip Biscuits
from Masterchef

250g butter, softened
½ cup caster sugar
½ 395g can (1/2 cup) sweetened condensed milk
21/2 cups self raising flour, sifted
1 cup white choc bits
1 cup milk or dark choc bits

Preheat oven 180°C. Line baking trays with baking paper.

Using the large bowl of the Mixmaster, beat the butter, sugar and condensed milk on high speed (7-9) until pale and creamy. Reduce speed to low (1-3), add the flour and mix until the dough almost comes together.

Remove the bowl from the Mixmaster, add the choc bits and stir until well combined. Roll heaped tablespoons of mixture into balls and place onto baking trays, allowing a little room for spreading. Flatten slightly with fingertips or a fork.

Bake for 14-16 minutes until light golden. Stand 5 minutes on trays before transferring biscuits to a wire rack to cool.

A little twist on Jam Drops with chocolate freckles replacing the jam to create Jewel Biscuits.

I used my favourite Jam Drop recipe to whip up this batch of yummy biscuits.

It’s been a miserable rainy day in Brisbane today. The boys were bored silly so we made and decorated biscuits. If you have a food processor you are going to love this oh, so simple biscuit recipe.

Animal Biscuits
based on a recipe on taste.com.au

250g chilled unsalted butter, chopped
2 1/2 cups plain flour
3/4 cup (165g) caster sugar
1 egg
ICING:
1 1/2 cup (75g) icing sugar, sifted
1 1/2 tabsp boiling water

Whiz butter and flour in a food processor until mix resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add caster sugar and pulse to combine. Add egg and process until mixture comes together. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for 1 minute or until smooth. Divide in half, press into discs, enclose in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 4 baking trays with baking paper. Roll dough out on a floured surface to 4-5mm thick. Cut animal shapes from dough and place on trays. Re-roll dough scraps once and cut more shapes. Bake for 8-10 minutes until light golden. Cool on trays.

Mix icing sugar and boiling water in a bowl, then spread over the biscuits with a palette knife or the back of a spoon. Leave to set for 1 hour.