Plain Biscuits

Whether Mum had just refilled the baking tins or they were empty because us kids had dashed off with the last crumb - you could always count on the 'plain biscuit tin'. It was where you went for a plain, bought bikky to spread with butter, to dip in your tea or as a portable snack so you could run off and keep playing. It was always there in the cupboard when I was growing up and it's still provides a 'dunker' for Mum & Dad's early morning cuppa all these years later! I am sentimentally attached to it... I bet it could tell a story or two about the days in the lives of our family.

There's been a lot of talk lately about some of our time-honoured, Kiwi, bought biscuits and how they ain't what they used to be. Smaller, too much palm oil in the chocolate, less of a 'puff' on the Mellowpuffs. Not to mention poor value for money. I keep thinking to myself 'let's bake our own'. Even with the rise in the price of butter... power to heat the oven - it is still more economical.

Lately we've enjoying a Bran Biscuit with our early morning cuppa. I found the recipe in the Edmonds Cookbook. Quick & easy to make and 'in my humble opinion' much tastier than the bought ones! Tui Flower, an iconic NZ baker from way back, now in her eighties is featured in the latest NEXT Magazine (November). She serves home made bran biscuits for morning tea when she is interviewed about a new cookbook that she has contributed to. It's called
'A Treasury of New Zealand Baking' Published by Random House $55. The royalties go to the NZ Breast Cancer Foundation. VIEW

Bran Biscuits.

125 gm butter
75 gm sugar (about 1/3 cup)
1 egg
1 cup flour
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup bran
1 cup wholemeal flour

Cream butter and sugar, add egg and beat well. Sift flour, baking powder and salt and add bran and wholemeal flour. Knead well. Roll out 2 mm-6 mm thick on a floured board, cut and bake 20 minutes at 190 deg C.