Crispy and chewy cranberry oat biscuits in less than 30mins
It takes me longer to cook a fry up then it does to make these biscuits. Here they are squished down and ready for the oven.
If you’re an impatient baker like me, you’ll love that these biscuits take less than 30 minutes to make and bake
Yay, it’s the weekend and that can mean only one thing – a chance for me to tinker in the kitchen! Which is exactly what I did the moment I woke up this morning.
I had asked my husband on Friday night if he’d like cake this weekend but instead of a cake, he asked me for biscuits.
He always wants biscuits!
Sometimes it’s a problem because I like cake, and I’d like to practice baking more muffins and cakes, but he always just wants biscuits. It’s the Englishman in him, the one that loves having his cup of tea or coffee with a biccie in hand.
I also secretly think he prefers it when I bake biscuits because there’s more of them, and he seems less upset when I take some away on Monday morning; whereas when I bake a cake, I literally only leave him a slice (maybe two at most) before the rest of it is whisked away.
One of the things I love about baking is the preparation. I take my time over cutting the paper to fit the tray. I find it very relaxing.
When it comes to sweet things, he doesn’t really like sharing. Unfortunately this batch only made 18 biscuits so my colleagues might not get any at all if my husband has his way. I guess we’ll have to wait and see how many he munches his way through first – he’s already told me that if I want to give some out at work, I’ll have to make another batch…
In a token ‘nod’ to being healthier – I say token because let’s be honest here, my baking efforts are rarely healthy – I made these crispy, chewy cranberry oat biscuits this morning.
This biscuit has my name on it!
I’m limited by what I have in my cupboard as we haven’t been to the shops yet. They would have been even healthier if I’d had wheat flour but my strong bread flour worked just as well.
But how can they be both crispy and chewy? Well, if you eat them hot out of the oven, they’re very chewy but once they’ve cooled, they crisp up beautifully. You get that perfect biscuity brittle crunch when you bite into them but you also get the stickiness as you chew the oats and cranberries.
They spread out and almost double in size in the oven so give them plenty of space to grow.
Crispy, sweet, chewy and somewhat healthier than my usual type of biscuit.
My husband says you have to judge a biscuit by its bottom, and he said these were perfect. He'd know too because he eats enough of them! 😛
Hand on heart, these biscuits are truly too easy to make and take less than 30 minutes from start to finish. Perfect for impatient bakers like me who find it hard to sit still (or resist opening the oven door all the time).
My husband, who is somewhat of an expert on bottoms (biscuits, that is!) says these were top notch – you always have to check the bottom of a biscuit to know if they’re cooked enough and if they’ll yield good crunch!
I would have used even more cranberries but I only had 40 grams in my cupboard and it was just about enough.
These are water crystals which formed on the roof of our conservatory.
It’s bitterly cold here at the moment – the needle dropped to minus 18 degrees last night in the UK – but the sun is up in the sky now so the hard frost is finally leaving my garden.
The sun’s burning off what snow is still left on the ground but we’re in for quite a few more freezing nights and frosty mornings to come.
My poor purple sage in the garden is suffering this morning. I'm glad this shot came out ok because I ran out into the cold to snap this picture and was still in my pyjamas and therefore freezing!
This caught my eye as I was running back into the house. I love mother nature - she made these lovely frost drawings on our shed window this morning too.
Crispy and chewy cranberry oat biscuits. Perfect with a cuppa of your choice.
Meantime, there’s nothing like waking up to a house filled with the smells of yummy, buttery baking.
I’m off to the shops now to get enough supplies in for for more kitchen antics this afternoon.
Click here for the printer-friendlier recipe.
Lots of love
thebigfatnoodle
Crispy and Chewy cranberry oat biscuits (makes 18 biscuits)
75 grams flour (I used strong bread flour but wheat flour would probably be best)
25 grams oat bran
75 grams rolled oats
75 grams brown sugar
75 grams butter
2 tablespoons golden syrup or honey
40 grams dried cranberries (feel free to add another 10-20 grams)
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
Preheat your own to 180 degrees celsius (my oven’s super hot so I set mine at 170).
Line 2 baking trays with baking parchment.
In the microwave or in a small saucepan, melt the butter and golden syrup.
Put all your dry ingredients and cranberries into a mixing bowl, pour the melted butter and honey into it and stir well.
Dollop about a generous tablespoon’s worth of mixture onto your baking sheet and use your fingers to press them together and flatten them slightly.
Spread them well apart, at least 2-3 centimetres apart, and then bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
Allow to cool on the tray for a couple of minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.
Crispy, crunchy and sweet - cranberry oat biscuits
thebigfatnoodle 
3 down, 14 to go….
Piglet! I’m going to have to hide them from you …
This looks terrific and I amazed that it can be done within 30mins!
They really are simple and fast to make, great if you’re pushed for time 🙂
These look gorgeous and healthy!!!! And I forgot – yummy!!!!
They are and I definitely have to make another batch as my husband is getting through these fast!
They look soooo delicious! As usual, your photography is GREAT!
Thank, amazing what I can do with my camera phone nowadays 🙂
Hi,
Is it ok if I replace the wheat flour with plain flour?
Thanks!
Pat
Yes, definitely. I actually used plain flour but the strong white flour type for bread. If you wanted to make these healthier, wheat flour would be better.
YUM!! I love it when you are rattling about in the kitchen making good stuff!! c
Me too 🙂
I can be SO impatient – it’s really quite bad. I like that these take next to no time. This is a truly lovely recipe, Noodle. I’m feeling some real WordPress love at the moment :
LOL, I fall in wordpres love every day whenever I see someone else’s recipe of the day, including yours 🙂
Great photos! Brrr
It is chilly, but hopefully it’ll warm up soon enough 🙂
These look and sound delicious, while the photography accompanying this post is really quite good. What a great post!
Thank you 🙂 the biscuits are disappearing fast and I’m learning to keep my hands a little steadier so I can take better pictures. I just use my iphone to take all the shots too and then play around with them using an app called camera+, it’s great!
Oh it really does look crispy & chewy the same time. Just delicious! Love the photos from your purple sage.
Cheers:)
J & C
Thank you. I’m always taking pictures of the sage, ot’s my favourite herb to look at in the garden, so pretty in summer especually when it flowers.
I love your sunny photos!
Thanks.
You have no idea how badly I’d like one of those right now 🙂
If you were here I’d happily share them with you.
Your husband sounds the same as mine when it comes to biscuits – it is very rarely that I get to eat any because he has usually inhaled them.
Sounds like they’re two peas in a pod then 🙂
They look grand – totally agree… biscuit bottoms are always a sure sign of awesomeness! I’d probably add some nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon to them, but only because I’m obsessed with that flavour combination in biscuits… I’m sure they’re absolutely amazing as they are – they certainly look golden and delicious 🙂
I love those spices too but was accused of making things to Christmassy after Christmas. 🙂 these would definitely with those spices and I’d like to try a variation soon using Cardamom and dates too.
These look absolutely delicious!
Thank you, they were!
these sound great for breakfast! Hope the winter weather did not prevent you from going shopping 🙂
Hi Tandy, nah, we made it to the shops just fine but a little muddy from slushing through what was left of the snow. Hope the weather’s much better in s. Africa!