Ultimate problem solving.

Let me set the scene...
Every Sunday, I bake for the week ahead.  What I bake will change from week to week except that I always bake a batch of biscuits for lunches and a sweet treat.  Those who know me well, know that in my life, routine is key and I do not like to deviate from my routines unless absolutely necessary.

Today, I had quite a dilemma.  After all of the week's baking, I didn't have enough butter to whip up a batch of bikkies! So I thought and I thought and I searched and I searched (just in case there was some more butter hiding in the nooks of the fridge where butter tends to hide).  After my thinking and much searching I was left standing in the kitchen with a block of Philly cream cheese.....lightbulb!

Here is the recipe for my Chocolate Chip 'Lightbulb' Cookies.  Oh, they are amazing.  These will be becoming a regular part of my Sunday bake routine!

Chocolate Chip 'Lightbulb' Cookies

120g unsalted butter

75g cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup caster sugar

 2 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cornflour

2 1/4 cups plain flour

200g chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celsius.  Cream the butter, cream cheese, sugars and vanilla.  When we//-creamed, mix in the egg.  Sift in the baking soda and flours.  Mix well and then give the dough a quick knead until smooth.  Use a spatula to incorporate the chocolate chips.  Roll into tablespoon sized balls and push to flatten a little.  Bake for 10-12 minutes until cooked to your liking.

Wishing you many a successful Sunday bake!

F. x

Winter + White Chocolate

Think about it...
It's a cold winter evening and you're snuggled on the couch with a lovely knitted blanket over your knees.  What could make this a better picture?  Only biting into a warm white chocolate chunk cookie!

Heaven!  You see, white chocolate and I...well, we have a bit of a 'thing'.  But please don't allow this to hold you back from experimenting with this recipe!  Instead of white chocolate, you could use ANY type of chocolate, chocolate bar, nut or dried fruit.  This is the wonderful cookie recipe of my childhood and you really can do anything with it.

White Chocolate Chunk Cookies

250g butter, unsalted

70g caster sugar

70g brown sugar

1/2 can condensed milk

2 tsp vanilla essence

350g S/R flour

80g plain flour

200g good quality white chocolate, chopped roughly

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees.  Cream the butter and sugars until well combined and lightened in colour.  Mix in the condensed milk and vanilla before adding your flours. When your mixture has come together, add the chocolate.  Roll tablespoons of the mixture into balls and place onto baking trays, allowing room for spreading. Bake for 15 minutes or until lovely and golden.

This recipe makes a whole lot of cookies so you could halve the mixture but what would be the fun in that?

F. x

Lest we forget.

ANZAC Day holds a special place in the heart of all Australians.  I spent this morning (as did most of the Blackwater community, so it seems) at the local war memorial for a rememberance service.  It is so touching to see that this important aspect of our Australian culture is being preserved: not in a glorification of war but as a celebration of those who have and who continue to serve our nation in the armed forces.  I also hold close the cultural values that ANZAC day represents - mateship, determination and pride.  As such, it would be wholly UN-Australian to bake anything today that wasn't an ANZAC biscuit. 

In addition to a recipe, I also thought it incredibly important to include the history of the ANZAC biscuit.  This is a recipe that stays true to that which was cooked in the kitchens of our great great Grandmothers during WW1.  It is heartwarming to know that the love that these women demonstrated for our soldiers lives on in our kitchens today.

During World War 1, the wives, mothers and girlfriends of the Australian soldiers were concerned for the nutritional value of the food being supplied to their men. Here was a problem. Any food they sent to the fighting men had to be carried in the ships of the Merchant Navy. Most of these were lucky to maintain a speed of ten knots (18.5 kilometers per hour). Most had no refrigerated facilities, so any food sent had to be able to remain edible after periods in excess of two months. A body of women came up with the answer - a biscuit with all the nutritional value possible. The basis was a Scottish recipe using rolled oats. These oats were used extensively in Scotland, especially for a heavy porridge that helped counteract the extremely cold climate.

The ingredients they used were: rolled oats, sugar, plain flour, coconut, butter, golden syrup or treacle, bi-carbonate of soda and boiling water. All these items did not readily spoil. At first the biscuits were called Soldiers’ Biscuits, but after the landing on Gallipoli, they were renamed ANZAC Biscuits.

Source: http://www.anzacday.org.au/

ANZAC Biscuits

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup plain flour

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup desiccated coconut

125g butter

2 tbsp golden syrup (or treacle)

1 tsbp water

1/2 tsp baking soda

Combine all of your dry ingredients.  Place butter, syrup and water in a saucepan and stir over a medium heat until butter has melted.  Stir in the baking soda before combining wet and dry ingredients.  Roll tablespoons of the mixture into balls and press firmly to flatten. Bake in a 160 degree oven for 15 minutes. 

This recipe gives you biscuits with a crunchy outer and a soft middle.  If you prefer you ANZAC biscuits really crunchy, flatten them more on the tray before they go in the oven and cook for 20 minutes instead of the stated 15.

F. x