It’s school holidays again.
We all breathe a sigh of relief that there is a little reprieve in the crazy busy rush that the school term brings.
Ideas are being thrown back and forth as to what we will do over the coming weeks. Catching up with family and friends, park visits, bike rides and maybe a trip to the movies will be on the agenda. One request has been to make sushi at home, another has been to practise skate board tricks at the local skate park. Our littlest guy will just be smiling from ear to ear that his big brothers are home and will try desperately to keep up with whatever they are doing.
One thing for certain is that on any given day we will ride the highs and lows of family life. Negotiating screen time limits, working out what activity EVERY family member is happy to do, managing those who want quietness and space and those who want constant companionship and chatter.
I love school holidays. I love being with my kids. I love less rules and more spontaneity, but does that mean I can expect perfection and every experience to live up to my and their expectations?
Nope. It’s a good thing for this mum to remember that from the outset.
Anyway……apart from my gorgeous boys needing to physically move every single day, they will also EAT more in the holidays too. I will bake a lot to keep up with them and their friends appetites and we will also get to enjoy dinners that are less rushed than usual. I am looking forward to posting some of our holiday cooking adventures in the coming weeks.
I thought I would kick things off these holidays with our middle son’s FAVOURITE biscuits. One year for his birthday he simply requested a plate of these with a candle instead of a cake.
We have made orange ones and passionfruit ones, but this time the fruit bowl was full of lemons and limes. It was just meant to be.
These biscuits are ‘short’ and buttery with a citrus zing.
The melting moment is a very simple biscuit to make, so it’s a great recipe to get kids doing some holiday baking.
The base recipe is from Donna Hay’s MODERN CLASSICS 2 cookbook, but the lemon and lime twist is from my own imagination!
Ingredients
Makes approx 14-16 filled biscuits
Biscuit
175gm butter, softened
1/4 cup icing sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup plain flour
1/4 cup cornflour
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
Filling
60gm butter, softened
1 cup icing sugar, sifted
finely grated zest of 1 lime
juice of 1/2 a lime
Method
Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius (160 degrees fan forced).
Place the butter, icing sugar and vanilla in a bowl of an electric mixer (or use electric beaters) and beat until light and fluffy.
Stir in the flour and cornflour until well combined.
Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
Roll a heaped teaspoon amount of dough into a small ball and place on the baking trays, spaced evenly apart, leaving a little room for spreading. Slightly flatten each biscuit with a fork or the palm of your hand.
Cook for approx 11 minutes or until slightly golden.
Cool on trays.
Place all the ingredients for the filling into a small bowl and beat with electric beaters until light and creamy.
Spread small amounts of icing onto a cooled biscuit using a knife and then sandwich with another biscuit.
Dust with icing sugar to serve.
These will keep for 2-3 days in an airtight container.
