Baking with Lily - Smartie Cookies

Finding time to bake when you have a baby isn't easy, and so baking for me has taken a back seat the last 2 years. But now Lily is old enough to help I want to get back into baking up some yummy goodies. 

So this week I popped on mine and Lily's apron and decided to make some Smartie cookies. These are really easy to make and the perfect treat for Lily. I set Lily up with her own ingredients so she could do rolling with the pin, they kept her busy while I did all the baking things she couldn't. 

I like the ingredients for these cookies as they are easy to find and if you bake often you will generally already have most of these. 

So you will need :- 

350g/120z of Plain Flour
1 Tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
1 Tsp Baking Powder
250g/9oz of Butter (You will need to leave it out to soften slightly)
300G/10oz of Caster sugar
1 Large Egg Beaten 
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
Pinch of Salt
As many smarties as you like. 2 Bags was enough for us. 

Set you oven to 180C / Gas Mark 4 

First you need to measure out your flour and sift it into a bowl. Add the bicarbonate of soda, the baking powder and a pinch of salt. Set this aside for later. 

Then you need to chop up your butter. I always find it makes it easier to mix with the sugar when cut into thin slices. When mixing it into the sugar I always use a baking spatular as I find its easier to spread the butter into the sugar. It should end up as a smooth creamy texture that has the slight appearance of mash haha. 

You then need to beat your egg and gradually add it to the sugar and butter mixture. I ended up using a egg and a half as there was no large eggs at the supermarket. After this is mixed in, add your vanilla extract. Then its time to add your flour that you set aside to the mixture. Do this gradually as you stir. This is the part that Lily had a really good go at. After you have mixed in the flour you should be able to push the mixture into one big ball without it being to sticky. If its to sticky, I say add a little extra flour. 

Ive never been one to stick to the exact ingredients and would rather bake to what I think feels right. I added extra flour and my biscuits came out just fine.

You should then be able to divide this ball into lots of smaller balls. The ingredients are meant to be for big cookies so if your oven is big enough for large cookies then make big round balls, if not then do what I did and make smaller sized balls. Of corse you will need to adjust the time you cook them for depending on the size they are. 15 minutes for large and around 12 minutes for smaller ones. Make sure you space them out. I got 6 smaller ones on a tray. 

When you have made your balls you then need to push your smarties into them, this will flatten your ball down to a round shape. I use around 5-6 smarties. They look like they don't fit but as your cookies expand when baking, they will fit easily. 

After baking your cookies should come out bigger than they went in. Leave them on the tray for around a minute and then transfer to a cooling rack. While they are cooling you can be popping the next batch into the oven. (unless your lucky enough to have a huge, or more than one oven). Hopefully they are nice and crunchy which is the texture I love my biscuits to be. If you want them chewier you could always bake for a little less time in the oven.

Im happy with my cookies. So far everyone who has eaten them say they taste good. I don't intend to say i'm the best baker in the world. But its a nice start.
Lily also was very delighted with them and never says no to them when I offer her one. 

Who would enjoy these cookies in your family? Will you be giving them a try?