Biscuit anyone?

One of my best tramping mates is Helen, 70 this year. She lived on Kawau Island for 20 years, so was a great guide when we first had a holiday home here, introducing me to the ‘secret’ gullies and underused walks.

The deal was, I’d walk for an hour over the hill to Swansea with something nice from ‘the mainland’ for a picnic, and she would pack a flask of tea and some home baked biscuits. I soon learnt not to bring “any of that fancy muck” such as bought muesli bars. Now, the roles have reversed: I’m the one living on the island doing the baking, albeit mostly a bit too “healthy” for Helen’s palette.

However, they are good tucker to take into the outdoors.

Ingredients

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup white flour
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• Pinch salt
• 8 Tbsp butter (or margarine, or Olivani)
• 2Tbsp golden syrup

Method
Melt the butter and golden syrup. Mix the dry ingredients together, add the butter mixture and stir in. If the mixture is too crumbly, add an extra tablespoonp of butter. Grease an oven tray using a knob of butter or spray with cooking spray.

Make biscuits, either by rolling some mixture in the ball of your hand and then flattening with a fork on the tray, or flatten the mixture with a rolling pin (or your hand) then cut out cookies.

Lay out on the baking tray, cook at 180°Cfor 10-15 minutes.

Cool on baking racks. Put in a container and take away for the day or weekend to share when spirits or energy levels are flagging.

Makes about 30 biscuits.

Healthy Biscuits
Ingredients

• 4 Tbsp butter (or margarine, Olivani)
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 cup white flour
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup muesli (can use half muesli and half All Bran cereal)

Method
Cream butter and sugar, add egg and beat well. Sift the flour, salt and baking soda into the bowl. Add muesli and mix in, so that mix is stiff but moist. Roll out onto a floured surface and cut into strips or square biscuits. If the mixture is a little too sticky to roll, put in the fridge to chill before rolling out. Put biscuits on greased oven tray and bake for 10–15 minutes. Cool and store in an air tight container.

Makes about 20 biscuits.

– Ruth Henderson