Melting Moments (or Mini Oat Cookies)
Ouf! It’s the school holidays. Enfin!
The children were desperately needing a break: they have worked so hard and are gradually becoming more independent. By that I don’t mean I can just leave them and they get on with it all. They still need the constant nagging and even more TLC, now that my eldest daughter has moved to Secondary School.
It’s a huge change for her – and seems even more ‘grown up’ in France, as they call it collège. One thing that hasn’t changed is their enthusiasm for Melting Moments.
Why Melting Moments? Well that’s what these biscuits or cookies were called from my Brownie’s Cookbook (Were you ever a Brownie? For those of you who think it’s just a chocolate cake, it’s the younger group that comes before Guides, as part of the Baden Powell Scout groups.) It was my first ever introduction to baking, when I also had precious moments with Mum in the kitchen and the chance to plunge my hands in sticky dough.
So I have a soft spot for these wee melt-in-the-mouth gems. They’re also one of the quickest and easiest cookies to rustle up for goûter (afternoon tea). They’re healthily full of soluble fibre using oat flour and finished off rolled in oat flakes.
The laugh is, they never even noticed I’d served them on a Beatrix Potter bunny plate – they were too busy devouring these mini cookies. Ideally, there should be the standard glass of milk for the photos, but truth be told we don’t like drinking milk on its own. My eldest (now 11) is now even drinking tea!
It’s great to see that through baking, they have also gained more confidence in the kitchen. When it comes to the tasting in the end, their final masterpieces always taste better when they’ve been made by their own hands. And ça va sans dire (it goes without saying), that making them is indeed precious melting moments together.
Recipe: Melting Moments
Adapted from the Brownie’s Cookbook (I have no idea where it disappeared to – must be in my parents’ attic.) I noted down the recipe years ago but since then have used less sugar and substituted half of the flour with oat flour.
100g butter, softened
65g caster sugar
1 small egg
1 tsp vanilla essence
75g plain flour
75g oat flour
2 tsp baking powder
oat flakes, for rolling
glacé cherries or dried cranberries for decoration
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Stir in the flour and mix well.
2. Roll walnut size pieces of the mixture into balls, and roll each one in the oat flakes.
3. Place them on baking trays covered in baking paper, flattening slightly each one with the finger, then place 1/4 glacé cherry on each (or any other candied fruit; candied orange peel is wonderful, too.)
4. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
A touch of glacé ginger is rather more adult, though. How often have you needed that wee kick to go with your cup of tea? Perfect for a quick break before going back in the kitchen for more fun. Although – it has to be said -for these memorable moments, there’s nothing to beat the good old simple glacé cherry on top.
Jill Colonna 
Delicious! And Jill, I LIKE the bunny plate 😀
I love these little butter burst in my mouth.. I love the idea of glace ginger to give it a little bite
I smiled reading the comments about Stew in a Haybox.I did this in the Boy Scouts . It was like a rudimentary Crock Pot. You got your Stew up to a boil early in the morning and place into a large box packing it tightly with hay. You then go about your business for the day. The theory being it continues to cook slowly and is beautifully tender when you return
I was a brownie and a guide, but I don’t think I ever got the cookbook. Looks like I missed out on these! Buzzed.
these look delicious! really nice idea. nice with a good cup of tea…
These look so cute, and really good! I mean REALLY good! I could pop about 10 of those in my mouth and still go for more 🙂
These reminded me of cooking with my mum too. My daughter is firmly in the macaron camp! I can even remember how these smell, very evocative thank you.
Melting Moments remind me of my mum’s baking sessions. I don’t think we ever made them in the Brownies, I was a ‘Sixer’ (leader)in my Brownie Pack. I still have my Guide handbook, full of useful stuff about cooking stew in a hay box – ha ha ha! I love it though. Well done to your girls.
Stew in a hay box? The mind boggles. Lot to be said about the Brownies and Guides., Mme Sixer!
I am ready to make my version of these mini oat cookies. I have dried apricots that I can place on top and another batch with dates…Can’t wait to get munching on these sweet treats!
Dates, apricots… they sound super. All sorts of glacéd fruits are great, too.
Glad to hear the Colonna girls are following in their mum’s culinary food-steps, Jill. Love these cookies and as they have oatmeal in them, they are practically breakfast. Enjoy the vacances with your lassies. H xo
Food-steps! 🙂
These are lovely 🙂 And I totally want mine on a Beatrix Potter plate! I was a brownie, I wonder if my mom’s got one of the cookbooks tucked away somewhere!
Buzzed!
And I wonder if we can find our brownie uniforms. I wanted to show off my badges to my youngest, even if it was my Mum that deserved them more 😉
I am always looking for new and unique cookie recipes and this does qualify. It is nice to find something that does not have a lot of add ins, just a simple classic taste of a sweet cookie. I will need to try these-thanks for sharing. Your pictures are stunning.
Thanks so much, Tina. Means a lot. They are simple all right but their taste is something I’d never want to change.
glazed cherries in the middle sounds perfect!
These look wonderful. I don’t usually think of melting moments as an exciting biscuit, but yours add a twist that very much appeals to me. Beautiful 🙂
What great cookies! Enjoy the break with your kids!
Great vacation activity. Pushing treats into the middle of cookies was always my favorite part of baking with my mom.
Jill these look divine. I’ve never had these before but have a sudden craving for sure now. It’s funny my kids are now 17 and 23 and I swear they still keep me hopping. They help tons around the house but I still like to go watch soccer games and hang out at the barn, watch tv together. So gonna miss them when they’re gone.