Syrupy Oat Crunchy Biscuits

I made these biscuits (cookies to my friends across the water) on Tuesday as I was very fed up with being marooned without a car.

They are based on a very old recipe used both in England and Ireland for generations, and are truly yummy if you like a subtle syrup taste. They are also great for children to make as they are fairly easy (not young children as they need to heat a saucepan and stir it).

Of course they are healthy too as they contain oats...

Well kinda - the oats are healthy...

Syrupy Oat Crunchy Biscuits (Cookies)

4 ozs Oat Flakes
5 ozs Butter
5 ozs plain Flour
3 ozs Caster Sugar
2.5 tablespoons Golden Syrup
1/2 teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda

1. Put the butter, the golden syrup and the sugar into a saucepan and heat on a low heat.




2. Keep stirring the mixture gently until the sugar has totally dissolved and the mixture is smooth and syrupy.

3. Put the flour, oats and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl. Mix them in together.

4. When your syrup, butter and sugar mixture is as syrupy as the photo below, pour it into the dry mix in the bowl.

5. Mix it all in together well, until it is stiff but soft (if that makes sense) - malleable. If it is too dry or stiff - add a very small amount of milk (not much) to help it mix.

6. Form the mix into small walnut sized balls.

7. Flatten then slightly and place them well apart on greaseproof paper on a baking tray.

8. Bake in the oven at 160C (325F or Gas Mark 3) for about 30 minutes, but check them at 20/25 minutes just in case. You don't want them too brown, just a nice light brown.

9. Allow them to cool before moving. Keep them in an airtight tin or container if you want them crispy - otherwise if you want soft cookies, leave them out for a few hours before eating.