- Makes approximately 18 biscuits - 45 min -
These oaty 'Mearley Biscuits' are from an old family recipe - thanks Mum and Auntie Anne! They have been made by hundreds of infant school children. They are quick, easy and delicious, plus the baked biscuits freeze happily in an air-tight tub.
Gather together…
100g butter (plus 1 tsp spare, to grease the 2 large oven trays).
45g golden syrup (from a metal tin, not from a squeezy bottle – it does seem to make a difference!)
100g porridge oats.
100g white sugar (white caster sugar or white granulated sugar - either is fine).
100g plain flour.
1 tsp bi-carbonate of soda (use a small, level metal traditional teaspoon). SIEVE it in to avoid fizzy lumps!
Get cooking…
1. Preheat the oven 180 C (160 C fan) or Gas 4.
2. Grease 2 large oven trays, using a 1/2 tsp of butter for each, OR use the brilliant Eco Living silicone liners (which don't require butter as well).
3. Very GENTLY dissolve the 100g of butter and the 45g of golden syrup in a MEDIUM/LARGE pan on the hob (as you will add the dry ingredients to the pan shortly, once removed from the heat).
4. Into a medium bowl, measure the 100g of porridge oats, the 100g of white sugar and the 100g of plain flour.
5. Sieve the 1 small tsp of bi-carb into the bowl (sieving avoids any unpleasant clumps). Stir the dry ingredients together.
6. Once the butter and syrup have melted, remove the pan from the heat. Allow the pan to cool for a couple of minutes if children are helping, so they don’t burn themselves on the hot metal.
7. Tip the dry ingredients into the pan, on top of the melted ingredients.
8. Mix everything together thoroughly with a wooden spoon.
9. Place a 'small walnut' sized spoonful of mixture into your palm, roll into a ball and place onto the prepared trays - see image (i) below. Place the balls of mixture well apart (at least 6cm away from the next) - they spread a lot!
10. Flatten each biscuit very well, with your fingers and then with a fish slice - see image (ii) above. Small children enthusiastically squashing the biscuits down really flat is actually helpful at this point.
11. Bake for 8 mins until the biscuits are golden brown, then flatten them down again with a fish slice - image (iii) above.
12. Bake for 1 – 2 minutes more and then remove them from the oven as they are baked. At this point I'd flatten them again with the fish slice.
13. Allow the biscuits to cool for 5 minutes on the trays to firm up, so they don't break or bend when you move them.
14. Then remove them carefully using the fish slice and place on a wire rack to cool and to crisp up.
15. Once the biscuits have cooled fully, place them in an airtight container and eat them up within 5 days. They freeze well too and can be eaten straight from the freezer, making them very handy as an 'emergency snack'!