Sweetened condensed milk biscuits are a family staple going back generations. Mum’s grandmother used to make them. They are crisp and warm and buttery, and dangerously more-ish. They work with almost any chunky inclusion you want, chocolate chips, nuts, dried fruit, or just vanilla bean, citrus zest or cinnamon. They’re super crispy because of the sweetened condensed milk, which is a fuss to say, so I call them SCM biscuits. I am firmly of the belief that there should be a tin of this stuff in your cupboard at ALL TIMES. You know, in case you need to make cookies.
Killer inclusions to the SCM biscuits my mum used to make were roughly chopped dark chocolate, walnut, and almond. They really do make superior chocolate chip cookies (though I also love my melt in the mouth, sable based “ultimate ultimate” chocolate chip cookies). These days, I also put in a vote for cranberry and pistachio SCM biscuits, or white chocolate and apricot. Today though: whole almond and glacé cherry.
What’s great about these biscuits is that you can make a double batch of plain dough, divide it into portions and add different inclusions to each. That means you can figure out your favourite combos quick smart! And there is another great thing – once you’ve made them, there will be an open tin of SCM in the fridge which you will have to finish by the spoonful! (Just kidding, you could also make my Carrot Cheesecake Cupcakes or Key Lime Pie. (with the pie it won’t matter if there is a little less SCM in the mix!)
SCM Biscuits
Makes about 32 – these keep really well in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. If you don’t eat them all first. If you are using just a single chunky inclusion use 1 cup! Add 1 tsp of vanilla, orange zest, lemon zest, or spice if desired.
ingredients
125g salted butter
1/4 cup caster sugar
2 tbsp sweetened condensed milk
1 1/4 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup whole blanched almonds
1/2 cup glacé cherries
mixing
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the sweetened condensed milk. Add the flour and baking powder and mix until a firm dough forms. Mix in the almonds and cherries.
At this point you can just roll tablespoons of the mixture into balls, transfer to a baking sheet and flatten with a lightly floured fork; but I prefer the cut round version that you see in my pictures.
Tip the mixture onto a sheet of bake paper (about 35 cm long). Form the mixture into a log about 5cm thick. Wrap the log in the bake paper like a roll of sushi and refrigerate at least 30 minutes until the dough is very firm.
If you are making the cookies via a roll, slice the roll into half and each half into half. Continue to halve the sections until you have 32 cookies about 1 cm thick. Transfer the biscuits to a baking sheet lined with bake paper. You might need to use your fingers to re-form the rounds a bit: the cutting process can sometimes flatten the log.
Bake the biscuits at 180 degrees Celsius for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool on the tray.
Enjoy!xxx
