It's biscuit week on GBBO today, and I have a confession to make: I am not actually a huge biscuit fan. I would much rather have a brownie or slice of cake (or even better, a freshly baked bread roll), than a biscuit. Biscuits are gone way too quickly once you start eating them. And with the exception of one particular - no make that two- cookies, I would choose anything else over a biscuit. My two exceptions are actually The Corker from a place called The Brownie Bar back in Newcastle, and some homemade cookies that my science teacher gave me the recipe for back in sixth form. We had a Biology Bake Off (aka. Cake Thursday) each week. This was the only way to get us through learning about genes and alleles and cystic fibrosis and such. I did win in Year 13, with my Millionaire's Cheesecake. But that's besides the point. Basically, biscuit week would be the week I could see myself being kicked off the show.
Now, to my biscuits. I've not exactly sold them very well up until this point, but if you like melt-in-the-mouth, crumbly yet soft biscuits, with zesty lemon flavour and exotic coconut on top, then you may very well enjoy these. They're also possibly one of the easiest biscuits to whip up quickly (saving the more complex things until pastry week). I adapted a recipe I found in an old Be-Ro book of my mums to make these, and if you're after easy bakes then Be-Ro is definitely the way to go. Having said that, these are my second attempt- because I really hate making biscuits.
Ingredients
- 70g margarine
- 40g Trex
- 75g caster sugar
- 1/2 egg
- 1.5tsp lemon extract
- 150g self-raising flour
- Scant 1 cup desiccated coconut
Method
- Pre-heat the oven to 180*c, and grease two baking trays.
- In a large bowl cream together the margarine, lard, and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and lemon extract.
- Stir in the flour, until the mixture comes together.
- Empty just under 1 cup of coconut onto a plate. Use two teaspoons to dollop the mixture on to the coconut, before slightly dampening your finger tips, and then rolling the mixture into walnut sized pieces, picking up the coconut as you do so. Flatten each slightly using your fingertips.
- Place onto baking trays, and then into the oven, before baking for 10 minutes maximum. The melting moments should puff up, and begin to go slightly golden around the edges...
Labels: baking, biscuits, coconut, cookie, dessert, easy baking, Food, lemon, melting moments, The Great British Bake Off
