Do the hokey pokey

Today I am sharing a VERY easy, but also delicious biscuit recipe (cookies for my north American readers) beloved by my Cheeky Monkeys; a recipe for Hokey Pokey Biscuits.  It's so easy, in fact, that my Monkeys can bake these themselves, only needing supervision to ensure they don't leave a complete mess in my kitchen!

This recipe has been adapated from Slices, Biscuits & Cakes: 101 Fastbake Recipes by Robyn Martin, and I've also included alternatives to make them more "allergy friendly".  Let me know if you try baking some!

Ingredients

- 150g butter

- 1/2 cup caster sugar

- 2 tablespoons (40 ml) golden syrup

- 1 teaspoon baking soda

- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

- 1 tablespoon (20 ml) milk

- 1 3/4 cup plain flour (all purpose flour)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 C.  Put butter, sugar and golden syrup in a saucepan that is large enough to hold and mix all of the ingredients.

2. Heat the contents of the saucepan on low heat, stirring constantly until the butter melts and the mixture is close to boiling.  Allow melted ingredients to cool slightly.

3. Dissolve baking soda and baking powder in the milk and add to the butter mixture with the sifted flour.  Mix well with a wooden spoon.

4. Roll tablesppons of mixture into balls and placed on baking trays lined with greaseproof baking paper.  Flatten dough balls with a fork.  Bake biscuits for approximately 15 minutes, or until golden.

5. If you can wait, cool biscuits on a rack, then enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee and a nice chat!

Alternatives

- For those who can't or don't eat butter, alternatives such as Nuttelex spread, regular margerine and cholesterol-lowering margerine work well and don't alter the flavour too much.

- Gluten free and wholewheat biscuits can be made by substituting buckwheat flour or wholemeal flour, though this will affect the flavour of the biscuits somewhat.