Have you ever heard of
Biscoff? They're the spiced thin biscuits that sometimes get served with coffee in restaurants. In the UK they're called Lotus cookies, and you can buy them in a pack or individually wrapped (ideal for lunchboxes, or just general nibbling. But it is a bit fiddly to get the package off when you want one quickly). I have loved them for years, and always thought of them as coffee biscuits.
Lidl, the fabulous little supermarkets from Germany, stock their own brand of them (thus much cheaper, and you get more for your money) as a special treat leading up to Christmas. For me, this just added to the allure because I would invariably get sick of them after a 600g packet of them. Then a few years ago I saw them in local branches of
Tesco supermarkets and was thrilled - now I could buy them whenever I felt the need. Which strangely enough, wasn't that often.
But the point I wish to make here is that I recently saw a little sticker on the packets at Tesco, offering a new treat,
Biscoff spread! Now this I wanted to try. I follow a few baking blogs and a couple of ladies had mentioned them too, so I was really keen and went online to try to find a local stockist. No luck, as they are exclusive to Waitrose supermarkets at the moment, and we don't have that retailer in Scotland.
But my in-laws were due to be visiting from London, and they have a branch not too far away I think. Just as I was considering how much of an imposition it may be to ask them to trek across London in search of a peanut-butter like spread to bring up on an airplane, I found a jar of each smooth and crunchy in a local pound-store. Woo hoo!! And at a little under half the RRP. And within date, tee hee. Score!
Now, just to find those recipes...
Then I got
this recipe via
Bakerella and was off. Like her, I've never made Rice Krispy Treats before. A lot of bakers use this as a modelling substance, to make structures on their cakes, but I feel that's a little beyond my skill set at this stage. Suffice it to say, I found the melted marshmallow/rice crispy combination really odd. It's an odd colour too, because the Biscoff spread is brown, and many of my marshmallows were pink.
But it smoothed down well into the square tin and I decided to cover it in a thin layer of milk chocolate, some gold sparkle and a little message to a good friend who has just given birth to a bouncing baby girl - her first child.
She doesn't live locally any more, so I'll enjoy a slice with my afternoon coffee on her behalf.
Congratulations L and K!! She's a beauty, awww...
