Breton Biscuits
(this is where things started to go wrong - mine was salted and three months past the sell-by date, it had formed a bit of a crust)
5/12 cup (it's an American recipe) of sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 egg (I used a whole egg... the recipe calls for 3 times the amounts given here but I didn't have 12 oz. butter so I was dividing all of the ingredients by 3 - except for the egg, I forgot
Where was I...
1/3 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup cake flour (I used plain)
1. With an electric mixer on slow speed cream the butter, sugar and salt together.
I used a wooden spoon, that was fine. Except I microwaved the butter first because it wasn't quite room temperature.
A word to the wise! Butter melts really quickly in the microwave. It didn't seem to do any harm though. It smelt a bit rancid but I was hoping that would go away when it was cooked.
2. Slowly add the egg and vanilla. Continue to beat on slow speed.
It was at this point things got a bit runny.
3. Add the flour all at once and mix, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl once.
Okay... not so runny now. Things are looking hopeful!
4. Turn dough out onto plate wrapped in cling-film and pat into a half-inch thick rectangle. Put in fridge for one hour, or until firm.
So far so good.
5. Preheat oven to 375°F (180°C in the real world). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
What the hell are cookie sheets? Presumably flat trays. I used a grill pan. I actually have parchment paper but I imagine buttered foil would work.
6. On a lightly floured surface roll the dough out until it's a quarter of an inch thick and then use a 2" cutter to form the biscuits. Place one inch apart on the parchment paper. Gather up scraps and refrigerate until firm enough to roll out again.
I don't have any cookie cutters so I just cut the dough into squares with a knife while it was on the cling film, and then stuck the squares onto the grill pan. I didn't leave 1" gaps around them. This was a mistake. Leave big gaps. Also pay heed to the quarter inch thickness thing - it is not a good idea to have them half an inch thick, the insides don't cook properly. They still end up edible though, after a fashion.
7. Brush cookies with milk and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, or until a light golden colour. Transfer to wire rack to cool.
They smelt fine while they were cooking. I'm sorry to say that rancid butter doesn't get any better for being heated up. The taste of that was quite overwhelming. Also eating all of these things at once isn't recommended.
I feel sick. A butter slurry keeps repeating on me. It's going to be a long night.
More recipes here.
