I suspect I am not alone but the amount of companies
contacting me wishing to provide products or items to review on my site has
rocketed lately. While I am pleased as
it means my blog is on a lot of companies’ radars, it does create a dilemma as
to what to accept and what to politely decline.
I don’t carry any advertising and that is a conscious
decision as I want to retain complete control as to what appears on my
site. However, when you review a product
you are automatically promoting it - it's the reason I decline far more products than I accept. I’ve
decided not to overthink things (how convenient!) – if it’s a brand I love I
will feature it; if it isn’t I won’t.
Therefore when Opies contacted
me I was delighted to accept. I adore
Opies products and love that they are still a family business.
I use Opies stem ginger as my ‘go to’ ginger for baking, but
also use their pickled walnuts in savoury cooking. One of Mr CC and mine’s favourite dinners is
steak topped with sticky onions slow cooked with pickled walnuts and the
vinegar from the jar, with a dash of mustard and chilli. It takes sweet and sour to a new level of
awesomeness!
These ginger oat biscuits aren’t going to win any beauty
contests but they have great inner beauty.
The texture is best described as crunchy flapjack with little pockets of
heat from the ginger. Crispy on the
outside, chewy in the centre they are a seriously tasty addition to a cup of
tea. If you can bear the wait, they taste even better on subsequent days.
They didn’t spread quite how I expected them to – I never
seem to make biscuits that spread; I always have to press down on them to
flatten them!
Ingredients
240g unsalted butter
1 tablespoon golden syrup
240g plain flour
120g caster sugar
240g porridge oats
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
3 balls stem ginger, finely chopped
1 tablespoon golden syrup
240g plain flour
120g caster sugar
240g porridge oats
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
3 balls stem ginger, finely chopped
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan oven 180°C/400°F/gas mark 6.
Line three baking sheets with baking paper or non stick
foil.
Place the butter and golden syrup into a small saucepan and
melt over a gentle heat.
Leave to cool slightly.
Place all the remaining ingredients into a large mixing bowl
and stir together.
While still stirring, pour in the melted butter and syrup.
The mix will clump but not form a ball of dough. It will be of the texture that if you squeeze
it, it will hold its shape.
Take small amounts and roll into balls – about the size of a
cherry tomato. I used scant tablespoons
of mix and got 26 biscuits.
Place on the baking sheets with space to spread – I put 12
per baking sheet.
Flatten with your fingers.
Bake for approximately 12 minutes or until golden and firm.
Leave to cool on the baking sheet for 15 minutes before
transferring to a wire rack.
Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.
Eat.
I am just sitting here with a cup of tea, and would so like one (maybe a couple?) of these to go with it. Ginger biscuits in any form are great, but these are just perfect.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I've only had a few approaches from companies, I've wrestled with similar issues. I have recently taken a conscious decision not to accept anything for the blog. I think you just have to go with what feels right for you. After all, it's your blog (and a great one, too!).
I love the thought of ginger in oaty biscuits. This is going on my to-do list.
ReplyDeleteLovely recipe. I always have a jar of Opies Ginger in my cupboard. I used this as a decoration on my last posting. You can't beat a ginger biscuit can I have one please?
ReplyDeleteI do love stem ginger - the cookies look lovely. I hadn't come across teh Opies brand before but i will look our for it in future.
ReplyDeleteLovely biscuits & very flavourful too! YUM! ;)
ReplyDeleteI love using stem ginger in syrup for baking! Using then with oats must taste fantastic!
ReplyDeleteI also have problems with biscuits spreading too much/not spread at all - I've concluded that the ratio of butter and sugar to flour is what makes the difference - if the recipe uses the similar quantities of all three the biscuits tend not to spread as much as ones with lots more butter and sugar. I'm sure you know that anyway tho:)
I love the rustic quality of an oaty biscuit, have never worked with stem ginger though. It's something I keep intending to buy.
ReplyDeleteThese look great! No-one has been beating down my door to give me anything.
ReplyDeleteThese sound mighty fine to me. I don't think I've ever bought a pot of stem ginger, I always use crystalised. But the thought of that ginger syrup is really very appealing as are those biscuits of yours.
ReplyDelete