basesixty

Tag: biscuits

  • Red Velvet Cookies

    Makes 16 – 18 cookies

    You will need:

    • 175g soft salted butter
    • 200g light brown soft sugar
    • 100g caster sugar
    • 1 large egg
    • 2 tsp vanilla extract
    • ½-1 tbsp red food colouring gel, depending on strength
    • 225g plain flour
    • 25g cocoa powder
    • ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
    • 150g white chocolate chips or chunks
      For the drizzle:
    • 2 tbsp soft cheese
    • 6 tbsp icing sugar

    Beat the butter and sugars together with an electric whisk until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla and food colouring until you have a bright red batter. Sieve over the flour, cocoa and bicarb. Fold everything together to make a stiff evenly-coloured dough, then fold in the chocolate chips.

    Put the dough on a sheet of baking parchment, fold the parchment over the dough and mould into a sausage shape about 6cm wide. Chill until ready to bake. Will keep for a week in the fridge or one month in the freezer.

    Heat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Cut the cookie dough into 1cm thick slices using a sharp knife and arrange on two large baking sheets lined with baking parchment well-spaced apart so they have room to spread in the oven. Bake in batches, keeping the unbaked cookies on the sheet in the fridge while the rest are baking.

    Bake in the middle of the oven for 13-15 mins until the cookies are crisp at the edges, but still soft in the centre. Leave to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Beat the soft cheese in a small bowl to a loose consistency, then stir in the icing sugar. Use a piping bag or spoon to drizzle the icing over the cookies. Un-iced cookies keep for five days in an airtight container, or two days iced.

    TIP: Be careful not to overcook these. If the edges feel crispy in the oven, you have cooked them too much. You should take them out then the edges look bubbly and the middle is still soft. The cookies firm up a lot once they cool (like flapjack!).

    Original recipe: Anna Glover – BBC Good Food

  • Shrewsbury Biscuits

    Makes about 24 biscuits

    You will need:

    • 100g/3½oz unsalted butter, softened
    • 75g/2¾oz caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
    • 1 free-range egg, separated
    • 1 small unwaxed lemon, finely grated zest only
    • 200g/7oz plain flour, plus extra for dusting
    • 50g/1¾oz currants
    • 1–2 tbsp milk

    Preheat the oven 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Line three baking trays with baking paper.

    Put the butter and sugar in a bowl and beat until well combined and fluffy. Add the egg yolk and lemon zest. Sift in the flour and mix well. Stir in the currants and enough milk to make a fairly soft dough.

    Knead the dough on a floured work surface and, using a rolling pin, roll out the dough until 5mm/¼in thick. Using a 6cm/2½in fluted cutter, cut out 24 rounds. Transfer to the baking trays using a palette knife and bake for 8 minutes.

    Lightly beat the egg white using a fork.

    Remove the biscuits from the oven and brush the tops with the beaten egg white. Sprinkle over caster sugar and return to the oven for 5 minutes, or until pale golden brown and cooked though. Leave to cool on the trays for a few minutes, then carefully lift onto a wire rack to cool completely.

    TIP: These biscuits don’t spread very much while baking, so you don’t need to leave the usual ‘extra space’ as with other biscuits. I can normally get 12 on one tray!

    TIP: As these have a buttery taste, you really do need to use nice tasting butter for these. You will be able to taste old butter if used…

    TIP: You can replace the milk with a milk alternative (like oat milk) quite successfully.

    Original recipe: Mary Berry – Baking Bible