No-Cook Treats (assuming melting isn’t cooking)

20 March 2008

These treats are full of bran, which I think officially cancels out all the fat and sugar that must be in the other ingredients. It’s yummy; a bit of a bugger to make and you might lose a tooth while eating it, but I think it’s worth it.

225g cereal bran
60g chopped peanuts
285g golden syrup
225g peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla essence
115g plain or milk chocolate

1. Weigh out the cereal bran and peanuts. Chop the peanuts now if you bought whole nuts. Leaving it until later could lead to vital things solidifying while you’re chopping. I hate it when vital things solidify.

2. Mix the syrup and peanut butter together in a large saucepan. Melt together over a medium heat, stirring until the mixture begins to boil.

3. Remove from the heat. Stir in the cereal bran, chopped peanuts and vanilla essence. Not all at once though, because this is damn difficult. At several points I had that “any minute now I’m going to injure myself” feeling. I wonder if it would be easier if you didn’t remove the pan from the heat, but simply turned it down a little. Stir until well-blended and you’ve come close to burning yourself a couple of times.

4. Spread the mixture into a greased baking tin (7″ x 11″). Press out evenly using a number of spoons and fingers. Burn your fingertips a little. Chill for 1 hour. (The mixture, not you)

5. Turn out onto greaseproof paper. Melt the chocolate and spread over the top (of the mixture, not you) using a palette knife. Cut into squares when set.

Recipe from “Mary Ford’s Biscuit Recipes” (ISBN 1-85479-519-8), with photos and “helpful advice” from me.