Mary Berry's Fork Biscuits

Fork Biscuits!

Hey bakers!

Mary Berry is, I'm sure you'll agree, a goddess. I love her recipes, I always have. The first things I learned to bake on my own came from her 'Baking Bible', which I still use today. It's a brilliant book. Check it out here. And really, what self respecting Brit doesn't love watching Bake Off? 

My personal favourite Mary Berry recipe is her fork biscuits. I believe these were based off of an old Cordon Bleu recipe, but I still choose to credit Lady Mary Berry in the hope that she adopts me.

The Right Honorable Mary Berry

These fork biscuits are ridiculously easy, insanely quick and so moreish you'll have to eat them on a treadmill. They're so easy to switch up and adapt. My favourites are plain, chocolate and lemon. To make the plain one, you only need three ingredients that everyone is sure to have in their kitchen.

The Holy and Righteous Mary Berry

So let's get started.

Whack on the oven to about 170°C. The original recipe says 180° for regular ovens and 160° for fan, but I find the high burns them and the low leaves them soft. I'd go for somewhere in the middle ground. Really, just keep an eye on them when they're in the oven and you'll be okay. 
The following are the instructions for plain cookies. These are ideal for dunking.
Flour, sugar, butter.
It's really that simple.
Weigh out the butter and beat it a little to soften it. It should be room temperature anyway, but as we all know, in winter room temperature and fridge temperature are the same. You could put it in the microwave for about 30 seconds, but take it out of the wrapper. Some contain foil, and foil is metal, and metal catches on fire in the microwave. I learned this is hard way.
Set fire, to the butter

I prefer to use unsalted, unless I'm making chocolate. Chocoholics, sing with me; chocolate with a touch of salt is too much for the human soul. So salted butter for chocolate, but unsalted for anything else.
Cream in the sugar. Use caster sugar, obviously, but granulated works as a last resort.The softer this mixture is, the easier the next step will be. It should be really pale and creamy. Not quite liquid, but about the same consistency as mayonnaise. 

Now add the flour. Don't use self-rising. It makes them go all puffy and weird. Use self-raising if you're into that. You can try stirring it in, but this will only go so far. you'll need to add some and press it together with you hands. If it's too sticky, as some more flour. 
Take clumps of the dough and roll it in your hands to form balls of dough, about the size of a walnut. They should be really smooth spheres, and not too sticky. 
Mary Berry, Lord and God above

Lay them out on a baking tray. I butter and flour mine, but these don't stick to the tray too badly. They don't spread out too much, but leave about 4-5cm space between each one. 
Now take a fork. Three tines or four tines, its up to you. Dabble it into some cold water. Press down gently but firmly onto each dough ball. You can do the classic one-way pattern, or you and criss-cross or carve... Get creative with it.

Put the in the oven for about 15 minutes. Depending on how big they are, you'll need to adjust this. Keep an eye on them while they bake.
They're so good, hot, cold, and anywhere in between. 

You Will Need:

100g unsalted butter, (but salted for chocolate)

50g caster sugar

150g plain flour.

Method:

1. Preheat oven to around 170°C (340°F).
2. Beat butter to soften. Cream with sugar.
3. Add flour. You can do some of this with a spoon but you'll have to add some with your hands.
4. Roll dough into little balls. Dip a fork into some cold water. Press it down onto the balls to flatten them and make shapes. 
5. Set on baking tray. Bake for approx. 15 minutes. 
6. Enjoy!

For chocolate: Add only 120g flour and 10-20g cocoa powder. Less = sweeter. More = dark chocolatey-er.

For lemon: When you cream the butter and sugar add in the zest of one lemon.

For orange: When you cream the butter and sugar add in the zest of one orange.

For almond: When you cream the butter and sugar add in 1-3 tbsp ground almonds, depending on how almond-y you want it.

Happy baking!