Is there anything better in the world than the smell of fresh bread straight out of the oven? I reckon it’s pretty hard to beat, although fresh biscuits out of the oven might almost do it.
This week has been a little bit stressful. There has been sickness in the family (thank you unpredictable autumn weather) and the death of a young person in the community which has really shaken everyone. It’s with that in the back of my mind that I have found myself looking at comforting recipes.
Chocolate chip biscuits are always a welcome and comforting food around here so it was the perfect time to test the recipe on page 40. The recipe is called both chocolate chip biscuits and Santé biscuits depending on which edition you have. I believe they were originally called santé biscuits after the chocolate that was originally used for it. I have used this recipe for many many years and I find it’s always a great success. I did follow the recipe to the letter of course but usually I quadruple the ingredients and when I shape them I make them about half the size so that they are a bit dinkier. These biscuits freeze really well so it’s a great idea to make a bigger batch. The resulting biscuit is firm but they crumble and almost melt in your mouth. They are definitely a winner to my family and anyone else I have made them for. This recipe gets a definite A+ from me. Although when I make them I must admit I add a wee bit more chocolate. The original recipe has a good amount but I wouldn’t say it was a generous amount if you know what I mean.
Some people are quite fussy when it comes to chocolate chip biscuits preferring a softer biscuit. I have included a chocolate chip cookie recipe that is reminiscent of Cookie Time style cookies. They are big and soft and the recipe is very forgiving so you can play around with chocolate combinations or even add dried fruit. You can find that recipe here.
The Edmonds recipe is an excellent recipe though. They are quick to whip up and are perfect when you want to take something when visiting or something to fill the baking tins.
The weather wasn’t too bad this week and whenever the sun is shining it makes me think of bread making because of course dough needs a nice warm place to rise and, as I said earlier, it’s a comfort thing too. So I pulled out the wholemeal bread recipe on page 26. This recipe is really simple to put together and the addition of honey adds an interesting hint of sweetness to the bread. The recipe produces two loaves of really lovely bread. The bread is best eaten the day you make it but was really nice toasted the next day. I would say it would freeze well too.
If you like wholemeal bread with your soup in winter then this recipe is for you.