Treat me: Instant biscuits

I won't bore you with the details but I have felt very addled this week. Maybe it's been the heat. Maybe it's because in the last few days our household was knocked sideways by sickness: one of us was sick, one of us was sick of work and one of us was sick of doing everything. Harrumph.
Anyway, I started making some biscuits one night and accidentally over-softened the butter to the point where it turned to a golden pool in the bottom of the bowl, a bit like the tiger in Little Black Sambo. Furious with myself, I decided to proceed anyway and cheered myself up immensely by realising that it is entirely possible to make really, really good cookies really quickly this way. Result!

Instant Cookies
The curious thing about these biscuits is that although they are extremely quick to make, they disappear almost as fast. Why is that, do you think? Use whatever dried fruit combination you have to hand, though I must recommend glace cherries for that retro touch. I'm now wondering if you could speed up the process even further and use oil instead of butter... does someone want to try it out for me?

150g butter
3/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1 1/4 cups flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup almonds, roughly chopped
1/2 cup glace cherries, halved (or quartered, if they are especially plump)
1/2 cup dried apricots, diced
1/4 cup mixed peel
finely grated zest of one lemon

Heat the oven to 180C. Line two baking trays with baking paper.
Melt the butter in a large pot. Add the sugar and remove from the heat.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into the butter mixture and stir well, then add the nuts, fruit and lemon zest.
Roll tablespoons of the mixture into balls and place on the prepared baking trays, leaving a little room for spreading.
Bake for 15-18 minutes, until golden. Leave on the trays to cool for five minutes, then remove to a rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container when cold. Makes about 18.

Have a great weekend, everyone x