Banana Angel Delight cookies recipe

Method

• Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.

• Before you do anything else you will need to locate your baking trays. If you do not possess two baking trays, fear not; just cook your cookies in batches using one tray.

• The next job is to line your baking trays with sheets of greaseproof paper. You can neatly cut the paper to size with a pair of kitchen scissors or you can wing it by simply tearing the greaseproof paper to a rough size. I’m a lazy cook so always go for the latter option!

• Now it’s time to bring in your budding little chef. You can ask them to help weigh the sugar and butter into a good sized mixing bowl. Make sure the butter is super soft as it will make it so much easier for your helper to work with.

• It is up to you if you wish to either use an electric whisk or a wooden spoon to blend the sugar and butter together. My little boy is highly suspicious of my noisy electric whisk so we opt for the wooden spoon. It takes far more elbow grease but it is quite a calming task for a hyperactive three year old!

• When the butter and sugar have combined into a light and fluffy mixture it is time to carefully mix in the egg. My son has a fascination for eggs and loves to help crack them. If your little helper is keen to get in on the egg action, it might be an idea to crack it into a separate bowl so that any stray shell can be easily picked out!

• Once the sugar, butter and egg have been mixed/whisked together, you are ready to add in the dry ingredients.

• Now it is time to turn your attention to the plain flour and baking powder. Carefully add to the mixing bowl to join the rest of the ingredients. You may find it a little less messy if you start off the mixing process. I speak from experience. My little boy grabbed the spoon straight away and we were immediately engulfed in a cloud of flour!

• After a minute of mixing, you can let your child take over and they can continue to mix until all the white flour has disappeared into the mixture.

• Now for the really fun part! Collect the packet of banana Angel Delight and try to stifle squeals of excitement as you pour the entire sachet into the mixing bowl!

• Your little one can happily mix the Angel Delight powder into the other ingredients while you chop the fudge into small pieces; perhaps you could sample a few when your child isn’t looking!!

• Carefully add the chunks of fudge to the mixing bowl and give one final mix.

• The mixture is fairly firm so it’s quite easy to shape into cookies with a spoon and fingers. We gathered up spoonfuls of sweet smelling mixture and placed heaped piles on to the awaiting trays. We then used our fingers to press our cookies down a little.

• Leave a little space between your cookies as they will spread in the oven.

• Place your loaded baking trays into the pre-heated oven and leave to cook for 12 to 15 minutes. When the cookies are ready they should be lightly golden brown but still soft in the centre.

• Leave the cooked cookies to cool on the trays for a few minutes to firm up and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

• Time to eat a cookie. Tell yourself you’ll only eat one, then find your hand reaching for another!