Honey-oat biscuits for cheese
We’re not exactly monarchists here at the LSC. While we don’t have anything against Kate and Wills and Harry et al, we just don’t really dig the whole ‘divine right by birth’ schtick. We’re simple, egalitarian types who just want everyone to be friends and essentially equal. Sort of like Animal Farm before Napoleon got his hands on the levers of power and things turned to custard. But what we are fans of (or, what we WERE fans of), is the King’s Duchy Originals. Now sold under the Waitrose Duchy Organic label, these are biscuits, Jim, but not as you know them. They’re the most refined, delicious oat cookies imaginable; they first appeared in the 1990s and you used to be able to get them here. Duchy Original products were made using organic ingredients grown on Charles’ Duchy of Cornwall land and for an oat biscuit, Duchy Originals were posh. And expensive. They came in lovely, understated box-packaging and each biscuit was heavily stamped with the Duchy Original logo. They looked simple but at the same time terribly regal and refined. They tasted like a gazillion dollars. There were a few flavour variations: we seem to remember an orange one and a stem ginger option but don’t quote us on this. They were insanely good with cheese. Sigh. We haven’t had them in years but if you visit England you’ll be able to pick some up at Waitrose and we suggest you do. And bring some back for us. Please.
Because we don’t float about in ermine-trimmed velvet or own tracts of prime farmland in Cornwall, our oat cookies are not the same as Duchy Originals. Not even close. But they do taste rather good in a vaguely sweet, oaty way and they are killer with cheese; especially a really ripe brie or a stinky washed rind. The dough is quite firm and seems to get more-so as you re-roll the scraps, but persevere. We re-roll every last skerrick so nothing gets wasted and we feel that Charles, a long-time environmentalist who seems very comfy in a kilt, would approve of this Scots approach.
MAKES ABOUT 24
185g (1¼ cups) self-raising flour
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon sea salt
135g (1½ cups) quick-cooking rolled oats
2½ tablespoons honey
2½ tablespoons caster sugar
100g unsalted butter
1 egg, lightly beaten
Preheat the oven to 180˚C and line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
Sift flour and baking soda into a large bowl, then stir in the salt and oats. Combine honey, sugar and butter in a small saucepan then gently heat, stirring often, until butter has melted and mixture is smooth. Cool until warm then stir in egg. Add mixture to flour mixture in bowl and stir until a firm dough forms – you may need to use your hands. Knead lightly then divide mixture in half. Roll one piece out on a lightly floured work surface until 4 mm thick then, using a 7cm round biscuit cutter, cut out rounds, saving scraps. Repeat with the remaining dough, and then with scraps. Place biscuits on trays, prick with a fork then bake for 12 minutes or until light golden, swapping trays halfway through. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Biscuits will keep, stored in an airtight container, for up to 1 week.
