INTRODUCTION

Most of us grew up with western style  biscuits together with Asian items such as kuih, porridges etc.. as our breakfast items…..However, the so called western biscuits that we have then or even now are very different from the biscuits appeared in our recipe books….

I have many recipes of homemade biscuits from our cook book but none resembles our childhood biscuit  that is plain and can be used to dunk in a cup of milo or coffee or tea… Most were made from butter and texture are slight denser though crispy…  However, it is common that we do make these  biscuits for special festival such as Chinese New Years or occasional indulgence…

After I issued the Cheesy Bites post and Little Mantou aims for kids, one friend PM me and post in my Facebook picture asking me if I have any recipe for Marie biscuits or Mcvites Rich Tea biscuits. She told me that her kids like the biscuit very much and just try her luck asking if I have the recipe..

This childhood biscuit really stir up my curiosity to find out further… I make a lot of biscuits but I never make one that I commonly bought from the supermarket.. The external appearance of these biscuits are not oily, plain and have a unique taste but definitely not buttery taste… How can it be so tasty that I liked it for so many years and capture the hearts of many of us… Most will not be able to reject if they were being offered some for breakfasts or teatimes….

I looked for recipes for Marie Biscuit and I only have one or two recipes to refer but these two recipes are very different… I decided to design my own recipe after reading through the two recipes.. One recipes called for the used of barley malt syrup that I have never seen before, but I suspect “maltose” will help.. All this while, maltose is one of the wonderful ingredients in Chinese pastry and bakers have used it to make their bakes crispy…

I change the recipe to use maltose… Bingo, yes, the unique taste and crispiness came mainly from maltose..This home made plain biscuits taste very differently from the other western biscuits that I prepared but very much alike the  plain biscuit sprinkled with salt – 咸饼 that are sold in the stores。

Since this is designed for young kids and toddlers, I will leave you with a lot of alternatives in the ingredients except maltose, flour and milk.  You can use butter if you want; you can omit sugar if prefer; if you prefer denser, use plain flour, fluffier use self raising flour; eggless diet, omit eggs and that all depends on the objectives of your bakes…

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Recipe inspired from: RICH TEA BISCUITS and Marie Biscuits

Servings: Prepared about 20-25 pieces of 3cm diameter biscuits

• 150 grams of self raising flour (alternative plain flour for denser biscuits)
• 25 grams of cooking oil or melted butter or vegetable shortening
• 80 grams of milk
• 1/2 tablespoon of maltose （麦芽糖）or malt syrup (麦芽糖浆）
• One egg yolk (optional – substitute with 25 grams of milk) – not in picture
• Pinches of salt (optional)

STEPS OF PREPARATION

• Pre-heat the oven to 180 degree Celsius

• In a big mixing bowl, put all the ingredients (except milk) together, stir until well mixed. Gradually add in the milk, use hand to knead the dough until it form a soft pliable dough. The dough should not be too sticky and rather nice to touch.  If it is too sticky, add flour tablespoon by tablespoon. If it is too dry, add in milk teaspoon by teaspoon.

• Transfer the dough to a floured working surface, use a rolling pin to roll it until it is about 2mm thickness. If time permit, let the dough rest for 30 minutes before rolling. Use a cookie cutter to cut the dough  into a circle shape with 3-4 cm diameter. Use something sharp to make holes in the surface. Bake in the pre-heated oven of 180 degree Celsius for about 15-20 minutes or until it turns crispy. Let the biscuits rest in the baking tray for 5 minutes before transferring the biscuits to a rack for complete cooling. Once cooled, store in an air tight container.

CONCLUSION

Depending on your objectives of the bake, the biscuits can be as healthy as you want it to be.. This is a nice plain biscuit on its own and I should say that I am happy with this adventure. I hope this will help those readers who are looking for child friendly recipe… Again, never compare homemade biscuits with store bought … It will never be the same as that it is their trade secret and nobody would know their exact ingredients.. With this basic biscuit recipe, feel free to explore more variations, possibly adding cheese or desiccated coconut..

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.

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