"Self-sufficiency does not mean 'going back' to the acceptance of a lower standard of living. On the contrary, it is the striving for a higher standard of living, for food that is organically grown and good, for the good life in pleasant surroundings... and for the satisfaction that comes from doing difficult and intricate jobs well and successfully." John Seymour ~ Self Sufficiency 2003

Monday 15 November 2010

Solar Baking - biscuits

I know all my northern hemisphere readers will think this posting is not applicable to them, but I think it is pertinent to both northern and southern hemispheres.  And, in addition, my northern friends have their entire winter to investigate the availablity, and source their recipes to plan their 2011 summer cooking schedule, whilst they are in the grip of all that lovely snow... :-)

A couple of days ago one of the blogs I follow had a recipe for Christmas Cherry Ripe Biscuits.  It sounded too delicious!  So I had to take a peek.

Yummy, yummy, yummy - all my favourite ingredients!

The recipe is as follows:

Beat together:

125gm softened butter
1/2 cup raw sugar (I didn't have raw, so I used brown sugar)
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg, beaten (I didn't beat - just shoved it in with all the above and beat the mixture well)


Finally, mix in:

3 tbls glace cherries
1/2 cup choc chips
1/2 cup dessicated coconut
3/4 cup self raising four )
3/4 cup plain flour         ) I didn't have plain flour, so I used 1 1/2 cups of s/f flour

The rest of the ingredients ready to be mixed in the bowl.
I then rolled portions of the dough into balls about the size of a walnut, placed them on the baking tray and flattened each ball slightly with a fork.


But, this is where I changed the method.  Instead of putting it into the oven to bake at 180oC until they were light golden in colour I put it in my preheated solar oven.


Batch # 2 - plus two eggs I'm hard boiling for tuna salad tonight
Cooking took approximately 45 minutes.

RMan couldn't wait - he swiped one off the tray whilst I was putting the next batch in... :-)

10 minutes work in the kitchen, then let the sun take over and this is the result - brown, crispy and delicious!  This is definitely a keeper!

The only electricity I used was my hand held blender, for 3 minutes, which beat the butter, egg, sugar and vanilla together!

But, it's a funny thing - I prefer the cool of winter to the (sometimes overbearing) heat of summer.  However, this year I am looking forward to hot sunny days and cooking more and more in my solar oven.  Watch this space for more eco-friendly recipes... :-) 
Posted by Dani at 11:17:00
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6 comments:

  1. ezrablu15 November 2010 at 15:55

    oh Dani, those do look absolutely delicious! And I do agree with you on the solar cookbook because I've been doing the same thing! You have a great advantage with all that sunshine to test out recipes just about any time...I'm jealous!
    Your solar oven is very nice...where did you get one like that?
    Nice photos...I can almost taste them :P

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  2. Dani15 November 2010 at 16:46

    Ezra - trust me - they were so good - past tense. They're all finished already - amazing what an RMan and and RSon can do to a batch of biscuits :-)

    The solar cooker I got from a place in South Africa - a long story - and not a pleasant one. Has taken over a year to finalise...! I'm hoping all the cooking I do in it will wipe out the memories.

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  3. Sam16 November 2010 at 10:19

    Dani that is unbelievably cool! Where on earth do you find a solar oven? That would be perfect for the Australian climate! Sam xox

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  4. Dani16 November 2010 at 10:33

    Sam - welcome to my blog :-) Yes - it would work a treat there LOL

    I have sent you a separate e-mail detailing how to get hold of the solar oven in Aussie.

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  5. Anonymous17 November 2010 at 04:54

    mmm, they look familiar!

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  6. Dani17 November 2010 at 05:08

    cityhippyfarmgirl - yes they do, don't they. Thanks for the recipe - I was so excited when they worked in my solar oven. Absolutely delicious - thanks again. :-)

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Thank you for taking the time to comment - it makes my day and removes the "loneliness' of sitting at my screen blogging supposedly to myself ;) I try and reply as quickly as possible so please forgive me if sometimes my response is delayed.

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