Oat cookie with fruit and seeds

This recipe is from the Be-Ro Homebaked Recipes book which I added to my kitchen shelf last year after reading about it in various articles, it was first published in 1923 and was produced by Be-Ro, a brand which produced flour and baking powder. It was so popular it expanded with every publication, the first edition had 19 pages but 41 editions later it now has 85 pages and it might be small (DL size) but it is packed full with 2 recipes on almost every page. So we're not talking lengthy processes here, the instructions are basic but all you need. It covers a vast amount of baking recipes from scones, to pies, traybakes and fruit loaves and lots of pastry and icing tips too. A little essential for your bookshelf I think personally.

I love an oat-y cookie and spotted these in the book which I wanted to try, especially as the kids love a biscuit too and at least I know exactly what's in them. Great for lunch boxes too. 

Ingredients:
75g demerara sugar

1 tablespoon golden syrup

110g butter or marg

110g self raising flour

110g porridge oats

50g dried apricots (I used dried cranberries and raisins so I would think almost any dried fruit would work

2 tablespoons sunflower seeds (I used mixed seeds)

- Preheat oven to 160C(fan), 180C(conventional)

- Grease 2 baking trays

- Place sugar, syrup, fat in a pan, heat gently to melt the fat.

 

- mix remaining ingredients in a bowl, then pour this into the melted mixture and combine. 

- Roll the mixture into 12 balls (I made about 18 out of it though, better bite size portions for the kids), place on baking sheet and flatten slightly as above pic.

- Bake for 12 - 15 mins until golden and crisp. 

These were delicious and very popular in our house, they did not last long. Feels much better to give these to the kids than cookies from a packet and yes, while there is sugar in them, you feel a little better about the fact they are getting some lovely dried fruit in their system and goodness of some mixed seeds ("I thought only birds ate seeds Mummy?"). A recipe we will be repeating again very soon, a great one the kids can join in with too shaping the dough. 

Luxury Family Hotels

Daydreaming to get my two back on a beach like they were here which was on the English South coast last year

It's that time of year, especially with this grim weather we are being fooled into thinking is spring, that you start to just get desparate to get away together as a family, some time out, even if for just a weekend. The cold weather seems more bearable when you're away from home in a pretty place being looked after, even if just for a short weekend in the UK.

Woolley Grange Hotel in Wiltshire

We have over the past couple of years tended to take our family breaks in the UK and always spend quite a bit of time researching and finding a family friendly location and accommodation whether it be for a week or a weekend, I think it's always worth putting the homework in to make sure every one of your family breaks are memorable. It's very refreshing to find that there are now more and more hotels out there that are working that bit harder to welcome and to accommodate families particularly those with younger children. Luxury Family Hotels offer just that with all of their hotels, you're pretty spoilt for choice with their 8 luxurious but affordable locations. The gorgeous Woolley Grange pictured above is one of their hotels and used to be a family home for 400 years, but was converted into a hotel in 1989 and sits in 14 acres. Children are positively welcomed and all boxes are ticked in terms providing for them such as a creche, baby listening service and even a chance to feed their chickens in their Good Life garden.

The Ickworth Hotel in Suffolk

Another of the hotels is The Ickworth (above) country house which also used to be a family home too. Set in beautiful grounds, you can hire bikes for all the family here and then hit the spa or cinema room to chill. You have the beach not too far away too if the sun does show up!

Bike hire also available at The Ickworth and at many of the Luxury Family Hotels

All the hotels have creche facilities

How's that for a view? You'll find this at Fowey Hall Hotel in Cornwall

I love to know that a hotel has everything you need to make your stay comfortable as a family. There's nothing worse than turning up somewhere on a break and getting funny looks for having young children who want to scream and shout and run around and be fussy about their food etc. etc.! The list goes on of course but hey, that's just what they do, they're very lovely at other times I promise! I'm looking at a weekend away currently for us over Easter and I'm certainly checking availability at these hotels for us. I know they have some great deals mid-week and also outside of school holidays if you're able to get away at that time, worth checking them out.