Banoffee Biscuits

Why yes, this is another banana based bake.  I have bananas left over from last week that need to be used up.  This recipe used one banana so I still need to find something to do with the other two.  Hmmm....

Anyway, I saw this really simple recipe in my 2012 summer issue of Baking Heaven.  I find a lot of things I want to try in that particular issue, though I rather enjoy flicking through the five other ones I own.  I wish I could afford to buy more issues but since I'll be off to university again after the summer I really need to reserve my money for important things like food and electricity.  And train fare.  So much train fare... 

I should stop side tracking.  Biscuits!  Right, so the recipe was for either banana biscuits or strawberry ones.  Obviously, since I had bananas I wanted to make the banana ones.  I decided to add to them though by including toffee chunks since banana and toffee is a common and much loved combination.  Plus it would make them a little more interesting.

I had to modify the recipe slightly because I used too much banana.  I didn't want to use just some of the banana because then what would I do with the other bit?  So I put it all in and of course the dough ended up very sticky.  It is meant to be sticky but not that much.  Hence I compensated by adding some extra flour.  It doesn't seem to have had any sort of negative effect.

These were fun to watch in the oven as all the toffee starts bubbling when it gets hot and it's like mini volcanoes.  You do get a fair amount of toffee spilling out of the cookies as they bake, which I removed after they were finish to keep the nice, rounded finish.  Plus the toffee that spilled cooked a lot faster and therefore burnt slightly and I'm sure most people wouldn't like burnt toffee.

The end result is a slightly soft biscuit.  The edges are crunchy, as is the toffee.  The fiancé isn't that keen on soft biscuits but he said the crunchy toffee makes up for the bits that are soft and so texture wise it is really nice.  You can taste the banana throughout and it goes well with the toffee.  He does recommend taking your time with them though and not trying to eat the whole thing in one mouthful or you'll end up gumming your mouth together.

Recipe - adapted from Biscuit via Baking Heaven volume 2

Makes about 20

• 100g/3.5oz butter
• 100g/3.5oz golden caster sugar
• 150g/5.5oz banana (about 1 banana)
• 240g/8.5oz plain flour
• 75g/2.5oz hard toffee sweets

1. Mash the banana in a large bowl with a fork.
2. Add the butter and sugar and beat together until smooth and creamy.  If it starts to curdle, add a spoonful of the flour.
3. Crush the toffees into small pieces and add them and the remaining flour to the mixture.  Beat together until a soft, sticky dough forms.
4. Form dough into a rough ball and wrap in clingfilm.  Chill in the fridge for about an hour.
5. Preheat the oven to180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 and line 2-4 baking trays (I only own 2 but ended up doing 4 batches) with greaseproof paper.
6. Shape the dough into balls about the size of a walnut and then squash the balls flat so they are about 5mm/0.25inches thick.  Place on the trays spaced about 3cm/1.5inches apart.
7. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the edges of the biscuits are golden brown.  The centres will still be a little soft.
8. Allow to rest on the trays for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.  (Once mine had cooled I broke off any hanging bits of toffee that spilt out during baking).