Midnight Snack?

For the last week I seem to have gotten into a terrible habit of staying up way past my usual bedtime.  I am forever cutting circles for my Daisy Pads and have been trolling the Internet looking for design inspiration for my online store.  It is during these wee hours of the night I find I need a little snack and a cup of tea.  I could go for the healthy option, but it usually is something sweet that I crave.  And now I have come across what is just the perfect temptation for the recipe of the week Midnight Cookies.  They are fast to make (under 10 mins of preparation) and they have all the elements that I love.  Little crunch, softer middles and chocolate.  Yes, my friends chocolate.  Any good creative mind knows that we all work better when there is tea and chocolate involved.  I would say wine, but as I sew, wine does not seem to mix well with sharp scissors and needles. 

Midnight Cookies

These are tasty little morsels and so quick and easy to make.  I fancied mine up a little with a dusting of icing sugar and put them on my good china!  Does make them just that little bit more special.  I would give these a most definite thumbs up!  They are chocolatey without being too sweet.  I've even added a few options for you to try out as well to make them your own. 

Enjoy!

Midnight Cookies
125 g/ 4 1/2 oz butter softened
175g/ 6 oz caster sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
125g / 4 1/2 oz plain flour
35g / 1 1/4 oz cocoa powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Preheat oven to 180C/350F.  Line several large baking sheets with baking paper.  

Place the butter and sugar in a large bowl and beat together until light and fluffy.  Add the egg and vanilla extra and mix until smooth.  Sift in the flour, cocoa and bicarbonate of soda and beat until well mixed.

With dampened hands, roll walnut-sized pieces of the dough into smooth balls.  Place on the baking sheets, spaced well apart.  

Baked in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until set.  Leave to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely before serving.

Additional options:

1) Drizzle melted chocolate in a zigzag fashion across the cookies and leave to set before serving

2) Sprinkle granulated sugar on a large plate and roll the ball of dough in the sugar to coat before placing on the baking sheets

3) After baking and cooled, dust with pure icing sugar. 

Happy Australia Day



Happy Australia Day!

Today, my first cookie near fail...and with a biscuit that I was so looking forward to making for the very first time.  I should not have been baking today.  I have a 1 year old who has not wanted to have a nap, tried for an hour this morning and she got the best of me.  So off to the grocery store for some Golden Syrup - of course, she fell asleep in the car on the way and stayed sleeping on my shoulder for the entire jaunt around the store.  She so nicely woke up going back into her car seat so I drove around and around hoping that she would nod off again as I know 15 minutes of cat-napping is not going to keep her a happy little girl today.  No luck, she just chatted and said "Hello" to every tree, stop light, and any other thing she could locate.  My husband even took her for a trip to Bunnings so she would have another chance in the car, no luck and they were back before I got down to baking. 

That leads me to my near failure with ANZAC biscuits.  I chose ANZACs as I have never baked them, but love them!  I am Canadian born and as such did not grow up on them and I seem to forget how much I love them until I start seeing the commemorative tins in the stores that I think "oh, I need to get some ANZAC".  So here on Australia day I decided to bake a day early and get some in the oven.  The making of the dough is easy and fast, although not really a good small child recipe as you need to melt butter and syrup on the stove which is extremely hot.  The smell of the dough once you add the liquid amber with the oats and coconut is divine.  They are a slow baking cookie with needing 20 minutes ( I personally wouldn't go this long as they are just a little bit too hard for little kids) in the oven on a low temperature which gives them a wonderful golden brown colour and a crispy texture.  Perfect with a cup of tea or glass of milk.  Today though instead of the nice slow bake, there started to be a burning odour in the air and I could smell a hot oven.  Hmm...strange it had only been 6 minutes of the baking time - best check.  Ah yes, Little Miss M had jacked the oven temperature up to a whopping 210 C!  Little bit of smoke coming out near the grill and the cookies were a toasty brown with very gooey middles and a hint of smoke flavouring.  My quick fix solution.  Turn the oven off, leave the cookies in for a few more minutes and somehow they turned out OK, not great, but definitely edible. 



The Failed, but yet still tasty 1st Tray



Second tray still not that successful.  Have I met my cookie match?  They taste OK, but I really wouldn't serve them to anyone outside the household. Third tray in the oven, I was not going to be beat by a cookie that so many make and always say what a simple cookie it is.  Do you need to be Australian?  Does the cookie know this?  Is it because I have kept calling it a cookie instead of a biscuit? 

After discussion with my husband, he gave me some constructive criticism on how to improve or what they should really be like.  So here is the final I think successful result. 

Third time's the charm. 

My Helpful hints for this tasty little cookie:
1) watch them...the time is really long at 20minutes, but can be fine if your oven doesn't register too hot
2) do not let toddlers change your temperature setting
3) let an Australian tell you how they should really taste as they are the experts

Enjoy!

ANZAC Biscuits

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of rolled oats
• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups coconut
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 250g butter
• 4 tblspns golden syrup
• 1 tspn baking soda
• 2 tblspn boiling water

Method:

Turn oven to 160'C. Lightly grease oven trays.
Put oats, flour, coconut, sugar in big mixing bowl. Melt butter and golden syrup in pan. Take off heat.
Mix baking soda and boiling water in a cup. Add to melted butter in the pan. Quickly add to big mixing bowl. Mix well.
Roll tablespoonful lots into balls. put on trays 5cm apart. Press lightly with fork.
Bake for 20 minutes, one tray at a time.

Summertime looks to be here...

Summertime...I think it may have finally arrived here in Melbourne. 

How nice is it to be able to sit outside, the kids eating Freezies, playing with Bubbles and in the sandbox while Mum has a nice cold drink.  It is just sparkling water with a wedge of lemon but maybe after 5pm when Dad is home it will have a little something extra in it.  So now that brings me to the recipe of the week inspired by Summer Days and lemons.

Lemon Cranberry Wafers - Refrigerator Cookies

These sounded like they would be yummy little morsels to bake on a hot day.  The dough is made ahead of time and chilled in the fridge for no less than 2 hours and can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 days or in the freezer ( no specific time given but I wouldn't leave it for more than a few months.)  They took me a whopping 8 minutes to make and get in the fridge, so fast and easy too.  The recipe called for Pecans, but as all my recipes will be nut-free to accommodate my allergy I chose to substitute with dried cranberries.  They are chock full of of vitamin c and will look oh so lovely in the cookie.  I worked in a Credit Union in Canada  and the cafeteria served lovely fresh baked muffins each day.  My favourite of all time was the lemon cranberry one so I know this combination will be fantastic.  And with the leftover lemon you too can enjoy the above pictured beverage of your choice. 

After the mixing - here is the dough wrapped and about to be wrapped before getting chilled.  If freezing I would also include a layer of foil or pop in a freezer bag.  Chill for minimum of 2 hours.



The Finished Result

These are wonderful little cookies.  A nice lemony taste, soft texture (you could bake them a bit longer if you wanted them firmer) and the cranberries just add a nice extra flavour to them.  I would recommend these for a picnics, lunchboxes and with a great cup of Earl Grey Tea.  There aren't really any cons to these cookies other than having to wait to bake them, but then the pro is that you can make ahead and pop them in the oven when guests arrive and they will be ready and warm in 12 minutes!  You can't beat that!  There are so many other variations of fridge cookies too and I'll add some variations to my other pages for you to look through over the coming week.

Hope you enjoy! 

Aileen

P.S. Did you like Snickerdoodles or Chocodoodles best?  Leave me a comment below.

Lemon Cranberry Wafers - Refrigerator Cookies

1/2 cup (125gm) butter or margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon each grated lemon peel and lemon juice
2 cups all purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup dried cranberries


In large bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until creamy; beat in egg, lemon peel, and lemon juice.  In another bowl, stir together flour, salt, and baking powder; gradually add to butter mixture, blending thoroughly.  Stir in cranberries, mixing with your hands if necessary to distribute cranberries evenly.  Shape dough into 2 rolls, each 1 1/2 inches in diameter; wrap in wax paper and refrigerate until firm (at least 2 hours) or for up to 3 days.


Unwrap dough.  Using a sharp knife, cut into 1/8 inch thick slices; place slices about 1 inch apart on greased baking sheets.  Bake in a 350 F oven for 12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.  Transfer to racks and let cool.  Store airtight.  Makes about 6 dozen.