Chocolate Chip Cookies

These little babies are meant to be the best chocolate chip cookies in the world according to the New York Times. Big call if you ask me. I noticed them when several bloggers were making them and decided they would be a good way to introduce a new little 9 year old who stays at our house occasionally to the kitchen.

They look good don't they? They were very but personally, the recipe took far too long (24-36 hours in the fridge) + my oven couldn't fit the cookies in one go for them to be the best ever plus I also like nuts in my chocolate cookies. Anyway, have a go, I don't know anyone who can say no to a chocolate chip cookie - yum!

2 cups minus 2 Tbsp. (240g) plain flour
1 2/3 cups (240g) bread flour
1 ¼ tsp. baking soda
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
1 ½ tsp. coarse salt,
2 ½ sticks (1 ¼ cups; 285g) unsalted butter, softened
1 ¼ cups (285g) light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. (8225g) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 ¼ pounds (570g) bittersweet chocolate chips or chunks, preferably about 60% cacao content
Sea salt, such as Maldon

Combine flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Whisk well; then set aside.

Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars until very light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Reduce the mixer speed to low; then add dry ingredients, and mix until just combined. (Unless you have a plastic guard that sits around the rim of the bowl, this will make a big mess at first, with flour flying everywhere. I found that carefully holding a dish towel around the top of the bowl helped a lot.) Add the chocolate chips, and mix briefly to incorporate. Press plastic wrap against the dough, and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. The dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

When you’re ready to bake, preheat oven to 180°C. Remove the bowl of dough from the refrigerator, and allow it to soften slightly. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat.

Using a standard-size ice cream scoop – mine holds about 3 fluid ounces, or about 1/3 cup – scoop six mounds of dough onto the baking sheet, making sure to space them evenly. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt, and bake until golden brown but still soft, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then transfer the cookies onto the rack to cool a bit more.

Repeat with remaining dough.

Yield: About 24 (5-inch) cookies.

Sathya-rating ***

Easypeasy Coconut Macaroons

Here's something super easy, quick and tasty. Coconut macaroons. I never knew they were so easy. If I did I would probably be 20kgs heavier than I am now! My lovely sister Surya threw these together and we were shocked by how they came out. Perfect. A good last minute go to recipe.

1 can of condensed milk
450g shredded coconut

Mix all ingredients together.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto generously greased baking sheets.

Bake at 180°C for 8 minutes.

Cool coconut macaroons slightly; remove to rack.

Sathya-rating ****

Amaretti

A

Amaretti are one of my favourite cookies to enjoy when I’m out for a coffee. I always thought there was something complicated about making them and never thought twice about making them. I have now discovered there’s nothing to them, they’re quick and easy to make. This is not a good thing. I think I ate almost the whole batch (um, it’s a small batch but) in one evening apart from the few I let Tony have. They’re so good!! My Dad would love these, almonds are his favourite, they’re crisp and crunchy on the outside and soft inside, and not overly sweet.

(makes 12 cookies)
100 grams ground almonds
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp plain flour
1 egg white
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp almond extract

Preheat over to 180C.

Whisk together almonds, sugar and flour in a bowl to combine. Then mix in egg white and both extracts until well combined.

Roll tablespoonfuls of the mixture into balls and place on a parchment line cookie sheet. Flatten the balls of dough slightly. (Note: I like my amaretti soft so I don't flatten the balls of dough too much. If you want the cookies to be less soft, flatten the balls more.)

Bake at 180C for 13-14 minutes or until lightly golden.

S

Gingerbread Men

It's my nephew Louie's 6th birthday today! And so there is a big birthday party at his house this Saturday. I was placed on gingerbread man duty which I was very pleased about! I hadn't made gingerbread men since I was a little girl with my nana. I did drink a bottle of wine, and then some as i made them, so the icing is a little skewif! But I'm sure Louie and his friends will devour them! I was lazy (and drunk) so instead of making up my own icing I used the colourful, premade icing in the tubes. It did make it a lot quicker and easier. However, the premade icing tastes like musk. I believe a true gingerbread man should have home made icing. But overall they were really fantastic! I was very proud!



Melted butter, to grease
125g butter, at room temperature
100g (1/2 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar
125ml (1/2 cup) golden syrup
1 egg, separated
375g (21/2 cups) plain flour
1 tbs ground ginger
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Plain flour, to dust
Icing, to decorate
Smarties, to decorate

Preheat oven to 180°C. Brush 2 baking trays with melted butter to lightly grease.
Use an electric beater to beat the butter and sugar in a bowl until pale and creamy. Add the golden syrup and egg yolk and beat until combined. Stir in the flour, ginger, mixed spice and bicarbonate of soda. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Press dough into a disc. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.


Place the dough between 2 sheets of baking paper and roll out until about 4mm thick. Use a 9cm gingerbread man cutter to cut out shapes. Place on trays about 3cm apart. Repeat with any excess dough.


Bake in oven for 10 minutes or until brown. Remove from oven. Transfer to a rack to cool.
Pipe icing over gingerbread men to decorate. Finish with Smarties.


E.

Passionfruit Shortbread Biscuits

This is another recipe from the Stephanie Alexander book. My nana gave me a good quality piping bag for my birthday so I wanted a recipe for which I could use it. These biscuits were very easy and ready to eat in no time. They taste like a summers day. I love shortbread but sometimes it can be a bit much, but these are light and quite refreshing...

According to the recipe they store really well and taste better if freshly iced. So they suggest only icing them as you need them and storing the rest in an airtight container.

180g softened unsalted butter

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

2/3 cup pure icing sugar

pulp of three passionfruit

100g cornflour, sifted

180g self raising flour, sifted

ICING

50g unsalted butter

1 cup pure icing sugar

pulp of 2 passionfruit

Briefly cream butter, zest and icing sugar in a food processor (be careful not to over process). Mix in passionfruit pulp, cornflour and flour. Scrape mixture into a bowl and chill for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 220 degrees. Pipe rounds or fingers of batter onto baking trays lined with baking paper and bake until golden brown, 5-8 minutes. Cool on a wire rack before icing.

To make the icing, melt butter in a bowl over simmering water. Add passionfruit pulp to butter and then stir in icing sugar. Beat hard for 1-2 minutes until the icing is really shiny. Dip each biscuit into icing and place on a wire rack with baking paper underneath to catch the drips.

E.