More often than not by the time I come home from work, get the kids sorted and in bed the last thing on my mind is making a big dinner. Usually it can be eggs on toast with some baked beans, typically followed by a mug of tea and a chocolate digestive! Now, as much as I love to cook and bake, there are some things that are just easier bought in a shop. Baked beans and digestive biscuits are two such things. However, it got me thinking, how difficult are either to make?
Not at all it seems. This was my first try making digestive biscuits and it’s no harder than a simple cookie dough. You just use oats and wholemeal flour instead of white flour. If you happen to own a food processor, it’s even easier again. It’s a basic biscuit mix – flour, butter and something to bind them. In this case, for approx. 20 digestives, you’ll need:
170g wholemeal flour
170g medium oat bran
150g cold butter, diced
55g dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
2-3 tbsp milk
Combine the oat bran and flour in a large bowl. Rub in the butter until it resembles fine breadcrumbs, if you had a processor you could do it in this. Next add the sugar, soda and salt and mix in. Use the milk to bring the dough together. Pat out to a circle on your kitchen bench and wrap in cling-film. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. Roll out to a 4mm thickness and use a cutter to cut into circles. Place on a parchment lined baking tray and bake at 170 for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.
Allow to cool on the tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. If you like your with chocolate, melt 150g of your favorite chocolate over a pan of boiling water. Don’t allow the water to touch the bottom of the bowl or you’ll seize your chocolate. Once cooled dip your biscuits into the chocolate and allow to set on some clean parchment. You may want to double dip them so they get a good coating of chocolate.
Enjoy with a mug of your favorite tea!
To make baked beans is no more labor intensive than the biscuits, but does take a little longer. They keep well in the fridge for a few days so it might be worth making a batch. Especially if your as prone to them as I am. I like mine with a little spice kick so I’ve added a small amount of paprika and chilli powder. Most recipes I’ve come across soak the beans overnight and boil before using here, however, I couldn’t get them like this so just used tinned beans. They can be hard to get on some supermarkets, some recipes I came across used cannellini beans so if your stuck just use these instead. You’ll need:
1 x 400g tinned haricot beans
2 x tinned tomatoes
2 medium onions, very finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tbsp sun dried tomato paste
150g dark brown sugar
200ml red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
Fry off the onion, garlic and spices. Once the onion is softened, add the remainder of the ingredients and give a good stir. Simmer on a low heat for approx. 1.5 hours. If it’s staring to thicken and dry out a little, add a splash of water and lower the heat. I love mine with a fried egg on brown bread or in baked potato with a little smoked ham and some cheddar. Let me know if you try them, what you think!
