120 biscuit recipe.... a great standby

I have always let the little kids get involved in the cooking.  Fills ½ hour in the babysitting day.

The mess is always a problem but my first attempt with a 20 month old  and the Thermomix  this week was reasonably clean and quite a success if I do say so.

Let’s say a combination of playdough  and a bit of cooking fun. Before you dob me into DOCS for letting a 20month old operate the Thermomix- I did the bit that involves blades.

The recipe is also an excellent  4 ingredient mass production.  Makes about 120 biscuits or you freeze half for another day.  These are a real winner so even 60 won’t last long.

The recipe goes under the name of 120 Biscuits for under $5 and an example is at http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/baking-sweet-recipes/clone-120-biscuits-5/79136

 Here’s what I used...

250 g raw sugar

250 g butter or margarine softened

1 can condensed  milk

5 ½ cups of self raising flour.

Basically you blitz the sugar for  8-9 seconds  seconds at speed  9

Add the butter and mix for  30  seconds at speed 3  

Add the  flour and condensed milk and mix for 40  seconds at speed 3  scraping down the sides if necessary.

This is the great bit ... remove the dough from the Thermo onto the Thermomat . Portion it out into about 5 lumps.  Roll into logs and cut or roll little balls getting  the toddler to “help “ flatten and sprinkle on the chocolate chips, sprinkles, fruit or whatever you want to use to decorate.  About 15-20 biscuits to the tray is good.

Make one biscuit ..eat some dough

Alternatively you can spoon on jam and make jam drops or return some of the mix to the thermomix and chop through Smarties, Milo, cocoa or peanuts etc.

Remember you can freeze some rolled dough for another day which might even be tomorrow- these are seriously good.

Cook for 10-15 minutes  or a little bit longer if you like them crisp.

Thermo takes a holiday

Hi I'm a new Thermo Nanny ... although a not so new Nanny.
Incidently the reference to Thermo is not a reference to hot flushes but is actually a nickname for my wiz bang new appliance the Thermomix. My daughter, Superkyles and her children have been using it a little  longer than me and I thought a bit of their expertise would rub off while on holidays.

We are holidaying in the beautiful Yamba... north coast of NSW for the unlucky. The whole family is here and the little town house on the water (sleeps 7) is groaning with 11 mouths to feed including one vegetarian and 2 toddlers. So the thermo got a holiday of sorts.  Well not really ...it has come away to show us what it has got when it comes to feeding a crowd.

Comes with its own travelling bag- meant to be taken on holidays!

Step up step up..   so far it has dealt out Pizza, Chinese dumplings, breads, mascapone (yes that was an interesting experiment), breakfast pancakes, smoothies, espresso Martinis, Asian style scrambled eggs and apple pies. Brings a little bit of gourmet eating to the traditional BBQ holiday without much fuss. Of course all the burgers, steaks and sausages came with the treat of various pre-made home made relishes and chutneys. I must say the passionfruit lemon butter and chocolate spreads went over well at breakfast time too.

My other reason for bringing the Thermomix is the need for bread.... they eat so much with breakfast lunch and tea that the ability to do "the loaves and fishes "thing and whip up fresh bread and rolls without a visit to the shop is a real bonus.

So read along about the bread adventures in my next blog.

Future blogs will contain stories of this Nanny "conquering" the Thermo. I have to learn to follow the recipes and then adapt as all "old cooks" do rather than guess and regret when the carrot comes out pureed for the coleslaw.

Cheers
Robyn