Crunchy Vs Chewy

In "Anna world" there is one type of cookie and that is crunchy. I love the texture of a crunchy biscuit. The sharp snap of the biscuit as you bite into it and the continuing crunch of the biscuit as you eat it.

In my investigations the crunchiness of a biscuit is related to three things the type of sweetener you use, the absence or presence of eggs and the amount of rice flour.

The crunchiest sweetener of all is white sugar, followed by brown sugar, golden syrup, treacle and finally Honey. Honey biscuits may start off crunchy but as time passes they will become soft as honey is hydrophilic IE "water loving" and it attract water from the atmosphere.

Eggs are liquid and as such they add moisture to biscuits making them soft and chewy.

Rice flour is great it adds a grittiness to biscuits and a crunchiness.

Below is a recipe for biscuits that are just the texture that I like.

Golden syrup melting moments

Ingredients:

250g Butter

3 tablespoons of golden syrup

160g plain flour

160g of rice flour

1 teaspoon of baking powder

Pure icing sugar ( read the label to make sure it doesn't contain corn starch)

Method:

1. Cream the butter and the golden syrup together

2. Slowly add the sifted flours and baking powder until a dough forms

3. Using a teaspoonful of the mixture make balls

4. Squash balls flat with fork

5. Cook in a preheated oven at 180^oC for 20 mins

6. When cooled sprinkle with icing sugar and store in airtight container.

7. Enjoy with Coffee or tea... mmm