Week 1: Walnut Crumbles

So there we were on New Year's Day, recovering from a night of entertainment and excellent company, feeling a little worse for wear. And where better to retreat to when a little worse for wear than the comfort of the kitchen? As a treat to both me and guests Shaun, Al and Francesca, I thought I'd try something simple and sweet and so reached for The Great British Bake Off book and found these easy Walnut Crumbles.

I've always been wary of baking biscuits every since every effort when I was a child results in wafer-thin burnt sugary crisps, but this recipe is easy, fast and produced delicious biscuits. The flavour's really good and if you fancy, you can throw in a few other ingredients: they carry herbs of your choice quite well too, adding another dimension to the taste! This recipe makes 24 biscuits. 

Ingredients:

·        100g unsalted butter	·        ½ tsp of vanilla extract
·        100g caster sugar	·        250 g self raising flour
·        40g Demerara sugar	·        85g chopped walnuts
·        1 large egg (free range, of course)	·        15g walnut pieces to finish

Pre-heat the oven to 180ᵒC. Put the soft butter into a mixing bowl with both sugars and beat well with a wooden spoon or an electric mixer. Lightly beat the egg with the vanilla, then beat into the butter mixture. Sift the flour into the bowl and work in with a wooden spoon or your hands. Add the chopped nuts and work in. If adding other flavours/herbs, do this now.

Using floured hands, divide the mixture into 24 even-sized pieces and shape each into a ball. Set the balls well apart on the prepared baking sheets (sheets already lightly greased) and flatten with a fork. Scatter the walnut pieces over the biscuits and gently press in. Bake for about 10 minutes or until golden with light brown edges.

Remove from the oven and leave the biscuits on the baking sheets for a couple of minutes to firm up, then transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool completely. Store in an airtight container and eat within five days.

Today's learning:

Biscuits are surprisingly easy to make!

Picture from: http://elizabethryan-bakingcakes.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/week-10-biscuits-walnut-crumbles.html

Recipe adapted from: Collister, L. (2011) The Great British Bake Off: How to Bake. London: BBC Books