DBFG Cornflake and Coconut Biscuits

My 7 y.o daughter's book du jour is The Daring Book for Girls . On the back cover it announces that this book is ‘for every Australian girl with an independent spirit and a nose for trouble…” and it contains a plethora of information such as ‘how to fold a sari’, ‘putting your hair up with a pencil’, ‘ the story of Joan of Arc’, amongst others.  I used it as a reference book when I needed to identify the snake I encountered on my maiden bike ride down the Kew Boulevard with my new bike last December.  As I careered down the steep descent on the bike track in a state of unalloyed exhilaration, I notice something  grey with white stripes coiled ahead.  At first, I assumed it was a garden hose but then when it began unwinding I knew it was definitely not an inanimate object!  My joy morphed into sheer panic and so I swiftly swerved off the bike track onto the road narrowly eluding  a collision with a car.  I made it home in record time and later, in a somewhat becalmed state, I referred to the heading on ‘Snake Sense’ in DBFG and learnt that it was the venomous  tiger snake.  Did you know that Australia has 8 of the 10 most venomous snakes in the world?

Well, this charming book also has a couple of pages devoted to baking.  It contains a simple recipe for  cornflake biscuits, which I’ve altered by substituting  the sultanas for coconut.  I’ve made them so many times with my children who adore them.  And because they don’t contain nuts they are a superb addition in school lunch boxes.    Makes about 24.

140g butter

¾ cup sugar

2 drops vanilla extract

1 egg

1 cup self-raising flour

1 cup desiccated coconut

Cornflakes, to coat

Preheat oven to 180⁰.  Grease and line with baking paper 2 baking sheets.

In a bowl, cream butter and sugar until pale in colour.   Beat in vanilla and egg, combining well.  Stir in the flour and coconut.  Roll teaspoonfuls of the mixture into balls and roll in Cornflakes to coat, flattening them slightly.

Place 10 biscuits on each baking sheet, leaving plenty of room between them as they disperse quite brazenly in the oven.  Cook for 12 to 15 mins.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool.  They will look and feel soft, but they will harden up.