It’s half-term this week, which means wall-to-wall kids at home. Although it’s bad news for housework, I love being able to spend the extra time with them all, especially while they’re so young. School holidays also provide a welcome break for me from the early morning shoe-hunts and last-minute rushes to the school gates. It doesn’t seem to matter how much time I leave for getting ready, there’s never enough of it left when it comes to actually getting out of the house before the school bell rings. Our very literal ‘school runs’ must be a familiar sight to everyone in the village!
It’s not quite true that our house has been filled with children all of the time so far this half-term, though. Throughout these last couple of days, L has enjoyed bending, stretching and otherwise launching herself into the air on a gymnastics course held in the local Primary school. If tiring out kids can be likened to dog-walking, then it’s always good news when you find others who are willing to help with a bit of stick-throwing 😉 .
So while L was jumping up and down this morning, M, T and I went into Budleigh Salterton to order blinds for our kitchen windows. As we passed in front of The Crusty Rolle (a high-street bakery whose olde-worlde name is really a pun on the old Devon estate-owning Rolle family), M caught sight of some gigantic cookies decorated with Smarties in their window display. She pulled me to stop and her eyes went large.
“Oooo,” she whispered with reverence, “can we make some when we get home?”
Now, I’m sure that The Crusty Rolle’s cookies are truly excellent. But how could I refuse such a request from my little baker?
Back home, armed with several tubes of Smarties, M set to work in the kitchen. Apart from providing recipe-reading services, I really had very little to do except to keep T out of the sugar, flour, eggs … you get the picture 😉 .
amerrierworld.com 
Melinda
/ February 17, 2009Smartie cookies = smartie mum!
Joanna
/ February 18, 2009Those look fabulous – and what a wonderful reaction to say, can we make some when we get home. You must be very proud
Joanna
Jeannette
/ February 18, 2009And I bet they enjoyed them all the more because they made them themselves! They are lovely, too!
Chef Sandwich
/ February 18, 2009Great recipe. I’ve got to cook for some kids soon, and these cookies look just the ticket. Blue Smarties as well! Didn’t know you could still get them! Brilliant.
Look forward to reading more,
Lennie
anneskitchen
/ February 18, 2009They look really delicious, I love smarties!
amerrierworld
/ February 18, 2009You’re too kind, Melinda 😉
I’m just relieved it was something do-able that caught her eye, Joanna – I’m not sure we’d have been so successful if she’d wanted profiteroles and macaroons!
They certainly did enjoy them, Jeannette (and M was so proud to be able to offer one to her big sister when she came home starving from gymnastics).
They’re very easy to do with kids, Lennie – M especially liked the bit at the end where you roll the dough into balls and squash it down with Smarties. Just make sure that you leave enough room around each cookie as they do spread quite a bit when they’re baking. M thinks it’s very funny that some of our cookies turned out square because they bumped into each other on the baking tray!
We nearly couldn’t find any Smarties, Anne – M&Ms would probably have worked, but Smarties just taste better somehow.
shanice
/ February 6, 2011OMG got to have the respie coz iv got a cooking test this tuesday
amerrierworld
/ February 6, 2011Hi Shanice – You can find the recipe at http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/5369/smarties-cookies
Good luck with your cooking test 🙂