Each end of term at my daughters’ kindergarten, reveals us baking cheese biscuits for their holiday. They’re the ideal answer to the quandary of providing a treat break for faculty banquets and holidays, that doesn’t break the school rules of minimizing sugar but is still fun for the children. They’re also an essential item at birthday parties for my youngsters.
The last birthday had me desperately rolling and cutting out these cheese biscuits, between making an attempt to get a roast lunch on the table before the afternoon party. The first plan had been for the youngsters to do all of the work, to keep them entertained and gainfully employed in the lull before the party, but the birthday girl was too busy playing with her new toys and the others too busy bewailing the fact it became so long before their birthdays, so I was left with the job at the very end.
This still needed a fair quantity of timely intervention, to get the dough to hold together before disappointment set in and make sure my youngest got an opportunity to cut out some shapes without eradicating her bigger sister’s meticulously ordered design. I also had to get a bunch of bread done while they were cooking, as we had finished up the last cut at lunch, but that used up the remainder of my energy reserves so I settled on baked potatoes as a little effort dinner. The stove was on anyhow for the biscuits and bread so it was all in help of energy conservation mine and the planet’s in equal measure.
Here is the recipe for the cheese biscuits:
100g/4oz finely grated cheese
50g/2oz self-rising flour
25g/1oz soft butter
A pinch of cayenne pepper
In a mixing bowl put together all the ingredients, knead the mixture for 5 minutes or until it forms a soft dough. Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface and using a cookie cutter cut into whatever shapes you have.
Bake at 200C/400F for 10-12 minutes or until golden. Cool on a rack.
The cheese biscuits go down very well with adults too. At the last birthday party one father polished off a whole plateful, rather than sample the birthday cake. They would make a great accompaniment to drinks before dinner. You could cut them into long strips and give one twist to make them into cheese straws, then sprinkle them with extra parmesan or find a more sophisticated shape as a cookie cutter – the star shapes would still be good. Mind you most laid-back adults would be just as happy as the kids to be eating pigs and bunnies!