Right now my kitchen is warm and has that beautifully welcoming and homely smell of vanilla and coffee. The scent of the vanilla is sweet. It reminds me of buttercreams, of sponges and syrups. It reminds me of our old house. The house we lived for nine years, where I discovered the joy of writing and flirted with a cake-making business. For a while I was torn between the two as I only had limited time and the baking often edged ahead.
Whilst my son was at nursery I would bake birthday or wedding cakes. Sponge cakes were my specialty and I would ice them with buttercream or buttercream and sugarpaste. I’d have copious cups of coffee on the go to fuel my work and I was in my element. I enjoyed those times in that house. In our current house I always feel pulled by animal chores or outdoor tasks.
This scent of vanilla and coffee actually made me relax my shoulders a bit. And is one of the reasons why I enjoy making these Smartie cookies so much.
They are called Smartie cookies but you can also make them with the same amount of milk, dark or white chocolate (or a mix) which you’ve chopped into chunks – roughly the size of a Smartie.
Smartie Cookie Recipe
Makes approx 22 cookies.
Ingredients
150g butter, slightly softened
150g light brown soft sugar
3 tbsp golden syrup
a small dash vanilla extract
225g Smarties
255g self-raising flour
Method
Pre-heat the oven to 140 fan/ 160 degrees regular
Cream the sugar with the butter.
Stir in the syrup and the vanilla extract
Mix in the smarties.
Add the flour. Press the flour in with the back of your spoon. (You might need to get your hands in) and form a dough ball.
Divide into 22 balls. Do not flatten.
Place on greased baking tin or use baking parchment and put in oven.
Bake for around 15 minutes until slightly browned. They will still be soft but will harden as they cool.
