Chocolate and Coconut Biscuits

Anyone from the UK (and Australia) would be well aware of the lovely Davina McCall.  I have enjoyed watching her on Long Lost Family on the telly for years.  She has a number of cookbooks out, including Davina's Kitchen Favourites, from which this recipe comes.  She doesn't pretend that she devised or wrote the recipes, but she is front and centre throughout the book, displaying her lovely teeth (hehehe). 

The cover says sugar-free, but the recipes have lots (and lots!) of maple syrup and some honey, so still plenty of sweeteners here.  The cover also says 'no-fuss' which is true.  These are fairly simple and tasty recipes "to enjoy together".  I believe a child of hers is vegan so there are some vegan recipes in here too.

Speaking of vegan, I lived with various vegans and vegetarians in my student days, and I helped a mate write a vegan cookbook.  I must hunt it up, and see if there are any recipes I can make for the blog.  I seem to remember there was lots of tofu and soybeans!  And whatever happened to those tinned soybeans in tomato sauce you could buy back in the day? 

ready for the oven (yep, more chocolate)

Makes 30 biscuits:

ingredients:

200g./7 oz butter

175g./6.2 oz/135 mL of pure maple syrup

250g./9 oz plain flour (Davina says to use wholemeal spelt, but I ain't got that stuff here)

50g./1.8 oz cocoa powder

300g./10.5 oz dessicated coconut

2 tsp baking powder

a large pinch of sea salt

25g./1 oz dark chocolate, coarsely grated   see Notes

more chocolate on top before baking  (you choose how much)

icing sugar, for decoration after baking (I added more chocolate too)

use the good stuff

Method:

Throw the butter into a small saucepan and let it melt, then add the maple syrup - give it a good stir and let it cool down

Grab a large mixing bowl and add the flour, cocoa, coconut, baking powder, and salt - and give it a good stir with your whisk

Then pour in the cooled butter and maple syrup mixture, and you guessed it - stir really well! Looks like a bit of a hot mess for a bit, but it comes together into a thick dough

Now wrap in cling film or a clean plastic bag, and into the fridge to chill for half an hour or so (or more if you forget!)

Turn on your oven to 200C/390F to heat up

Grab 2 baking trays and line with baking paper  see Notes

Divide the dough into 30 pieces (I had two lumps of about 520g./18.4 oz, which I then divided into 35g./1.3 oz blobs of dough - yep, I did indeed weigh them out to make sure they were similar

Davina says to use a 6.5 cm/2.6 inch cookie cutter, but if you weigh the pieces, you can just shape the blobs into round-ish biscuits

Grate on more chocolate if you fancy then ...

Bake for 18-20 minutes till they go crisp around the edges (too dark to tell if they're browning hehehe ...)

Let 'em cool, and then cast on some icing sugar if you like and some extra bits of grated chocolate on top

These biscuits are NOT sweet in themselves, so guess what!  I melted some dark chocolate and poured it all over the tops, then put on heaps of 100s and 1000s too.  More chocolate is always more better :=)

make sure it's not expired :=)

Notes:

I used way more chocolate than that!  I added a Flake bar 30g./1 oz, and about 50g./1.8 oz chocolate bits to the dough

I divvied up my dough into 2 lumps, one for the freezer (after slicing into discs), and one to be baked - as 30 biscuits are a bit much for us!

I actually weighed them out, and then weighed each disc so I had the same size biscuits = each biscuit was about 35 grams

BTW, these are very coconutty, so don't make 'em unless you are a coconut fan

oops not Davina's spelt flour - oh well!

ingredients gathered

melt the butter and stir the dry ingredients

add in the chocolate

stir well to combine into a thick dough/mixture

divvy into two lumps if not baking all at once (each lump about 520g.)

spread 'em out on your tray(s)

ready for the oven @200C

mmm just slightly overdone? :=)

yep smother 'em in icing sugar - why not?

butter is better

Lemon and Poppy-Seed Crinkle Cookies

I can't seem to keep away from Emelia Jackson's book Some of my best friends are Cookies!  I decided to make these for Bookclub in September, as I wasn't going to be there in person.  My biscuits would have to be an excellent substitute :=)  Hehehe ...  

We have a wonderful children's bookshop (which also stocks books for adults) just up the road - The Quick Brown Fox, where we have our monthly bookclub.  We tend to read fiction, which is not big on my reading list (I go for non-fiction and crime usually), but everyone needs to expand their horizons sometimes, n'est-ce pas?   

crinkly, lemony, sugary deliciousness

Makes 35 small(er), or 25 large(er) ones:

ingredients:

125g./4.5 oz butter, softened (not melted)

210g./7.5 oz caster sugar

2 large eggs (about 66g./2.3 oz each)

1/2 tsp lemon extract, or vanilla extract   see Notes

Grated zest and juice of 2 lemons

350g./12 oz plain flour 

1.5 tsp baking powder

30g./1 oz poppy seeds

80g./2.75 oz white sugar

80g./2.75 oz icing sugar

one guess?  Yep lemons, my friends :=)

  aka all-purpose flour!

Method:

Use your stand mixer if you have one, or just good old electric beaters (as I did) to cream the butter and sugar together for a few minutes, till "light and fluffy", as Emelia says

Then you chuck in the eggs, extract, lemon zest and juice, and mix again till combined beautifully - yes it may look ghastly at this stage - all split and curdled - but carry on, my friends - all will improve

Now in go the flour, baking powder and poppy seeds - and mix gently till you have a soft dough

And now chill this in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight - I think I chilled mine for about 3 or so hours  (don't skip this bit!)

Your oven then goes on to 200C/390F to heat up

Grab 2 baking trays, and line with baking paper

Now you need 2 bowls (large enough to roll your dough balls in), white sugar in one, and caster sugar in the other

Emelia says to divide the dough into 25g./1 oz balls with a small cookie scoop  (I went off to the shops to buy one!  And I'm so glad!)

So each scoop gets rolled in the white sugar, then the icing sugar, and then ends up sitting nicely on your trays

The biscuits can take from 13 to 16 minutes, depending on the size (mine took about 16 mins.)

They will spread a bit, and look deliciously crinkly, and a wee bit moist in the centre

Let 'em cool on the trays for 10 minutes, then onto a wire rack till cooled right off

I took half of these up to the Quick Brown Fox, where they went down a treat apparently.  And they wanted the recipe - can't do better than that!

you'll never guess - hehehe ...

Notes:

Don't rush out to buy lemon extract for just half a teaspoon.  That's crazy town :=)  Just use vanilla extract, like I did

ingredients gathered

get thee zesting and juicing

looks curdled and disgusting but fear not - all will be well!

just chuck in the other ingredients

See?  Told you it'd be okay in the end :=)

start scooping and rolling and sugaring up

and onto the trays

you caught me out - I took a bite

cooling off nicely

Bookclub said they were delicious!

kind words from the bookshop ladies!

Cookimisu

This recipe is from Emelia Jackson's book Some of my best friends are Cookies.  Emelia was first on Masterchef in 2014, and ended up winning Masterchef Australia in 2020.  She has made a success in the culinary world over the years since then, including writing two fabulous baking books (I have both of them).  

Emelia says these biscuits "rival the best tiramisu".  They are delicious, I know that for sure.  I made them for one of the cookbook clubs I am in - can't remember which one!  On a side note, I have just found out that tartaric acid and cream of tartar are not the same thing!  So I guess I've been using tartaric acid all along instead of ...  Oh well, we haven't died yet!  And I couldn't tell the difference in the taste or texture of my bakes.    

sooooo delicious!

Makes 12:

ingredients:

1 Tbs instant coffee powder   see Notes

1 Tbs warm water

120g./4.25 oz butter, softened (not melted)  see Notes

200g./7 oz brown sugar

2 large eggs 

1 tsp vanilla paste or extract

210g./7.5 oz plain flour

1/2 tsp bi-carb (baking) soda

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1/4 tsp sea salt flakes (or regular salt)

Coffee Sugar:

100g./3.5 oz caster sugar

1 heaped Tablespoon of instant coffee powder

Mascarpone Swirl:

300g./10.5 oz mascarpone

140g./5 oz icing sugar

2 tsp vanilla paste or extract

cocoa powder, for dusting over the tops

c. Sherry M.

coffee!

c. Sherry M.

Method:

Turn on your oven to heat at 180C/350F

Grab a couple of baking trays, and line 'em with baking paper

Mix the coffee powder into the warm water, till dissolved

Into a medium or large mixing bowl, place the butter, brown sugar and eggs, and mix with your electric hand beaters (or your stand mixer) till you have a lighter colour - don't go too wild!

In go the coffee mixture and the vanilla, and give it a good mix

Add the flour, bi-carb, cream of tartar and salt - and mix 'em in!

Now you make the coffee sugar - grab a small bowl, and mix the coffee powder and sugar together  (duh, so simple)

And then you roll or scoop the dough into balls - I made them into 50g./1.8 oz balls, though Emelia makes hers into 30g./1 oz balls, so make 'em as big or as small as you fancy   see Notes

Have fun rolling them in the coffee sugar!

On to the baking trays they go, leaving lots of space for spreading

Bake for 10-12 minutes (she says) though mine took 14!

And now they sit on the trays, quietly sighing and settling down into a cold state of trance (whoops, getting a bit lyrical there)

But what about the mascarpone swirl?  Yep, grab a small bowl, throw in the mascarpone, icing sugar and vanilla and stir till smooth

Of course, Emelia wants to be fancy here, so she says to pipe on the creamy topping, but being a non-piper kind of gal, I just swirled it on top of the biscuits with a spoon!  And then dusted them with cocoa (I think I might have added some drinking chocolate powder as well!)

Eat them on the day you make them - not that that will be a problem

vanilla      

Notes:

I bought Italian freeze-dried 100% Arabica instant coffee powder

Emelia says to use unsalted butter, but that's the Devil's work, my friends

She says to "roll the dough", but mine was way too soft, so I used spoons and fingers

ingredients gathered

beating butter, brown sugar and eggs

and adding the coffee and vanilla

add the flour, bi-carb, cream of tartar and salt

stir the coffee and sugar together

ready for baking after rolling in the coffee sugar!

looking delicious!

mascarpone?  Oh yes please!

sprinkled with cocoa powder

Raspberry and white chocolate cornflake cookies

This is my birthday post!  Finally, we get to my actual birthday, and Mr P. and I are away in freezing cold Granite Belt country.  Yay!  Hopefully it will snow.  I know I've said it before, but people just do not believe it sometimes snows in sunny Queensland.  Even Queenslanders tend not to believe it, but I assure you it does.

Admittedly it's on the border country with New South Wales (you should see the funny contours of the border), but boy does it get cold.  Officially the coldest town in Queensland!  Long-time readers will remember my story of getting lost here, and planning how we would keep warm overnight when it snowed on our (almost) petrol-less car!  Thank heavens we made it to Tenterfield (in NSW) where we found a petrol station!

so delicious - crispy, fruity and chocolatey

(Recipe from Some of my best friends are Cookies by Emelia Jackson - she of Masterchef Australia fame.  Soooo many recipes I want to make from this book!)

Makes 12 (or 13):

ingredients:

220g./8 oz plain flour

1/2 tsp bi-carb (baking) soda

1/2 tsp baking powder 

1/4 tsp sea salt flakes

150g./5.5 oz butter, softened (not melted)  Emelia says to use unsalted, but no!  that's the devil's work :=)

125g./4.5 oz brown sugar

100g./3.5 oz caster sugar

1 large egg, at room temp.

2 tsp vanilla bean paste  (or extract if you don't have the paste)

40g./1.5 oz shredded coconut

25g./1 oz cornflakes

125g./4.5 oz fresh raspberries

255g./9 oz white chocolate chips

15g./0.5 oz freeze-dried raspberries  (optional - as if!)  see Notes

bi-carb (aka baking) soda

Method:

Heat your oven to 180C/355F fan forced

Grab 2 baking trays and line 'em with baking paper

Into a medium bowl, tip the flour, bi-carb, baking powder and salt

Give them a good stir and a thorough whisking

Now get hold of your electric handbeaters (or a mixer with the paddle attachment, says Emelia), and cream the butter and sugars together till fluffy

Then add the egg and vanilla paste, and give it another good whizz

Add the flour mixture, and combine firmly but gently - you know what I mean? :=)

In go the coconut, cornflakes, raspberries and 180g./6 oz of the white chocolate drops, and fold them in; not too roughly

Weigh out 75g./2.5 oz blobs of the mixture  (Emelia says 12, but I got 13, so I ended up making my 12 blobs a bit bigger)

No need to shape them I found, just drop them onto the trays, leaving lots of room for each one, as they spread themselves out like a sunbather on a lounge chair

Bake for 20-22 minutes, till golden around the edges, and still soft and blonde towards the centre (says Emelia)

Take them out, and gently press the other 75g./2.7 oz of white chocolate drops into the tops of the biscuits/cookies

Then crumble the freeze-dried fruit (use whatever berry you fancy) over the tops

Cool completely on the trays, and hide from hungry husbands if you want to have some around for a bit

Will keep for a few days in an airtight container  (hahaha - as if)

Notes:

I could only get freeze-dried strawberries, and they worked out fine!  Tho' I did have to throw them into my mini food-processor for a bit, as they were jolly hard; too hard to crumble by hand

gather those ingredients

and beat that butter with the sugars

looking creamy

now mix in the other ingredients

plop 'em (75g. each remember) onto your lined trays

these took 21 minutes

press in the choc drops, and crumble over the berry bits

and let 'em cool right down

oh yes, get ready to be devoured little (actually big) biscuits!

white chocolate - but you know it's not really chocolate :=)

raspberries!