Coffee Biscuits

I don't like the taste of coffee, and can only drink a very small Turkish/Greek coffee very occasionally. I do love how good coffee smells though. Bad coffee can just be sent to the bottom of the ocean for all I care, it's so olfactorily offensive I can hardly bring myself to imagine how it would taste. 

My Nanna's coffee biscuits smell amazing though, better than any coffee. Ever. I made these and could hardly stop myself walking into the kitchen to sniff the biscuits over and over. I make a bold statement, and say that these are the best biscuits I've ever eaten in my life. These biscuits could bring about world peace* because of their deliciousness. 

This recipe has made up for the 'Scones of Horror' by far, and I'm glad I decided to keep going. I have had many offers of help with the scones — thank you everyone! — and will be giving them another go next week. Maybe.

Coffee Biscuits

1½ cups wholemeal self-raising flour

115g butter or margarine, room temperature

½ cup sugar

1 egg

1 tbsp. coffee essence

Preheat oven to 170°C

Using an electric beater, cream the butter and sugar. Add the egg and coffee essence, then work the flour into the mixture to form a (sticky) dough.

At this point, pop the biscuit dough into the fridge for about 10-15 minutes, as the next stage is a little easier when the mixture is cool.

Turn the biscuit dough out onto a well floured surface, lightly knead then roll out thinly (3-5mm), using a floured rolling pin.

Cut into biscuit shapes then place onto a greased baking tray (or use baking paper).

Bake for 9 to 12 minutes. Remove the tray from oven and place the biscuits onto cooling racks after about 5 minutes or so. 

For this recipe I used store-bought coffee essence, however if you want to make your own, I've included a recipe for it below. 

Coffee Essence

4 cups of water

½ tsp. salt

250g coffee grounds

2 cups sugar

Bring water, salt and coffee to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours.  Into a heat-proof container, strain the coffee (use muslin cloth or clean thin cotton cloth), discarding the leftover grounds.

Return the coffee mixture to the stove, adding the sugar and simmer for another 30 minutes.

This makes quite a lot, so you may want to halve the recipe. It will keep in your fridge for some time. Simmering coffee for 2 hours also makes your house smell tasty. Like a giant macchiato.

*I know that's not possible, but still...


~

For those of you who are not in Australia, please find here a selection of Measurement & Temperature Conversion Charts which should help with the accuracy of your own cooking.