Stuck on Repeat and Honey Jumbles

My current food status is a bit boring and stuck on repeat.

With a toddler in the house I’ve found myself having to resort to very simple foods, mainly consisting of meat and 3 veg to get him with eating with us.

I am just now getting to the stage where we can occasionally find the time to bake, and even then we seem to stick to making Anzac Biscuits.  Yummy and a great way to get oats into the little one, they are also easy to make and he can get involved with the measuring, pouring and mixing which is win win.   I only regret the mess a little bit afterwards, but I’m working on teaching him the ins and outs of the vacuum cleaner.

I won’t lie though, I miss having a variety of food and the same old, same old is just quietly doing my head in and making me very uninspired to cook.  I have to keep reminding myself my desire to get him eating well and not cook multiple dishes for a meal is driving the menu, so I’m attempting to be consistent.

So when I happened upon the latest Coles Supermarket mag, I grabbed a copy hoping there might be something to spice up our options.  I was actually quite delighted by the array of recipes and tips in the current edition and have book marked about 20 things to try for us that are quick, healthy and perhaps even toddler friendly.

Leave it to me to jump to the baking first, but these looked too simple not to try.  The method was so easy that I was able to get said toddler involved in the baking and create something delicious for our Sunday afternoon tea.

Think a dense biscuit quite like my Christmas ginger cookies, with a honey twist which will be as flavoursome as your honey that you choose to use.

Perfect with a cup of tea or a glass of milk.  Or skip the icing and serve with a crumbly tasty cheese and a BIG glass of red wine!

Honey Jumbles

Biscuits

• 80g unsalted butter
• 3/4 up (185ml) honey
• 1/4 cup (55g) brown sugar
• 2 cups (300g) plain flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 table spoon ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 2 table spoons milk

Icing

• 1 egg white
• 1 1/2 cups (240g) pure icing sugar
• 2 drops pink/red food colouring (optional)

Makes: approx 24 biscuits

Method

Melt the butter, honey and sugar together in a saucepan, over a medium heat.  Bring to a simmer and then set to the side to cool.

In a medium mixing bowl, measure and pour the dry ingredients for the biscuits.

In my case do this 5 times as little hands don’t quite understand measuring yet.  Oh and be careful not to overdo the cinnamon or cloves as a table spoon will not be quite as nice as a teaspoon.

Add the milk to the butter mixture.  Pour the liquids in the mixing bowl with the flour and spices and mix until it forms a dough.  The dough will be quite stiff and sticky. (much like the toddler at this stage)

Tip the mixture onto a large sheet of baking paper and roll into a log.  You can shape this what ever your preference.

Allow the toddler to bash the dough inside the baking paper with a toy hammer because its fun.

Then place in the fridge to rest and chill for a minimum of 30 minutes.  Longer is okay.

Place toddler in bath and then in bed in the hope of also having a rest.    Realise thats not going to happen and abandon baking for next two hours in search of a park.

Fortunately this dough is very forgiving so when you’re ready to bake the biscuits, heat your oven to approx 180c.  Line 2 large baking trays with non-stick baking paper.

Take the dough from the fridge and unroll the baking paper.  Put the dough still resting on the paper (it will probably still be a little sticky) and using a sharp knife slice the dough into approx 5mm pieces.  Place evenly on the baking tray, allowing room for the biscuits to spread. They probably need about 2 cm in each direction breathing room.

You can choose to bake the trays separately for approximately 10 minutes each (or until the edges are going golden brown) or you can do both trays at the same time.  Just swap the shelves the trays are sitting on at the 10 minute mark and give them another 5 minutes or so to finish the biscuits off.

Once cooked remove the trays from the oven and allow the biscuits to cool completely.

This is about the time I finally got said toddler asleep and spend the next hour cleaning the kitchen for real.

Once the biscuits are cold you can ice them.  To make the icing, white the egg white in a bowl until its frothy.  Add the icing sugar and combine until smooth in texture.  It will be very stiff but don’t be tempted to add more liquid as you don’t want it to run.

Using a metal butter knife or spatula spread the icing on half the biscuits if you’re doing both colours.  Add a few drops of colouring to the icing and mix until the colour is even.  Spread on the remaining biscuits.  Allow to set for at least 30 minutes before eating or putting into storage.

OR

Skip the icing, pour yourself a big glass of red wine and eat the biscuits with a chunk of really tasty cheese or a smooth blue. Cheers!

Shared With Love,

Leah xx