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!

'Use Up That Jar Of Miso' Biscuits/Cookies

Who would think to add salty, umami miso paste to a sweet biscuit?  Cherie Hausler that's who, in her cookbook A Plant-Based Farmhouse.  Then again, I love a bit of sea salt on a chocolate biscuit or dessert ...  so it's not that odd!

I took some of these into our local bookshop, thinking the miso flavour might be a bridge too far, but they went down a treat, apparently.  We are so lucky in our little suburb to have this fabulous bookshop (Quick Brown Fox) run by two fabulous ladies!  They run heaps of craft sessions during school holidays, and run many a bookclub in the shop.  I've made treats for bookclub, and Love Your Bookshop Day, and book launches ...  Such fun!

gotta make these again!

Makes around 25:

ingredients:

150g./5.3 oz butter, at room temp.

110g/4 oz caster sugar

1 large (60+g.) egg

105g./4 oz white miso paste  (or red)   see Notes

250g./9 oz plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

choc bits or chopped nuts on top - I used a (290g.) bag of white chocolate melts, and some Lindt choc-orange!

one Flake chocolate bar, and/or more chopped chocolate after baking, to decorate  -  

Method:

Butter and sugar go into your food processor (or a mixing bowl where you will beat like the devil), and whizz away till you have a fluffy, creamy mixture (scrape down the bowl when and if needed)

Add the egg (motor running), then the miso paste

And then add the flour and baking powder - and pulse it in, briefly -Cherie says till you have a soft, thick, mousse-like dough!

Now divvy up the dough into two pieces, and slap each piece onto a piece of baking paper

Then knead very briefly (you might not need to knead, as the dough is very soft) and shape into 15cm/6 in. logs

Roll up the dough in the paper, screw up the ends and whack into the fridge for 2-3 hours

On goes the oven to 160C/320F, while you grab a baking tray and line it with baking paper

Slice up into 1cm (c.½ inch) discs, place them on the tray, and press the sprinkles and/or chocolate bits into the dough

Bake for 20 minutes or till golden

Cool on the tray completely  (can be stored in an airtight container for a few days)

Add extra chocolate bits or sprinkles after baking, if you fancy - I did!

Notes:

You can use other pastes like Nutella or peanut butter or whatever takes your fancy (Cherie even suggests marmalade!)

She also says to use unsalted butter, but that's the devil's work!

You can use electric hand beaters to cream the butter and sugar, if you don't have a food processor

I used 90g. of white miso and 15g. of hulled tahini paste

divvy up the dough!

lay them on baking paper

twisted up like Egyptian mummies

cut into discs

onto the tray, and press in the sprinkles and the chocolate

cool 'em down on the tray, then onto a wire rack

looks like the white chocolate melted, then hardened - yum!

Hazelnut Anzac Biscuits

Did you know that it's actually illegal to change the ingredients in Anzac biscuits?  Or to call them anything other than biscuits?  You can be fined up to $51,000 or even go to jail for a year.  So I was a wee bit surprised to see this recipe in an English cookbook, with a slightly changed name and extra ingredients.  Naughty, naughty!

Okay, so I am a bit late with getting my Anzac Day post up (25 April late!).  Nevertheless here we have hazelnut anzac biscuits from A Good Day to Bake by Benjamina Ebuehi.  Our local Historical Society (not the one that Mr P. is the President of) helps put on an Anzac Day service each year.  

They have a sausage sizzle, and sell Anzac biscuits to raise funds for charity.  So each April, I make a bunch of biscuits to help out.  One year, I made over 65, but this year I just made a couple of dozen (in 2 batches).  I found out from this recipe that the tastiest way to make Anzac biscuits is to toast the oats (and nuts) first!  

looking delightfully toasted and chewy/crunchy

Makes 12-16:

ingredients:

65g./2¼ oz hazelnuts, blanched

80g./2¾ oz rolled oats (not instant)

190g./6¾ oz plain flour

90g./3¼ oz desiccated coconut (unsweetened)

1/2 tsp sea salt flakes

150g./5½ oz butter (unsalted if you wish - noooooo)

150g./5½ oz soft brown sugar

70g./2½ oz golden syrup    see Notes

1 tsp bi-carb soda (baking soda)

Method:

On goes your oven to 180C/350F to heat up

Line 2 baking trays with baking paper

Chop up the hazelnuts roughly and throw into a large frying pan with the oats

Over a medium-high heat, toss and turn till they are toasty (c. 5 mins.)

When smelling delicious and looking nicely toasted, take them off the heat, and tip them into a large bowl

Then add the flour, coconut, salt, and give it a good stir

Grab a medium saucepan, and melt the butter, sugar and syrup together

Once it's simmering, add the bi-carb, stirring with gusto to bring it together

When it is foaming and a bit thicker, remove from the hob, and tip into the dry ingredients

And stir very well! till everything is evenly coated

Grab a tablespoon or a small ice-cream scoop, and place these nicely formed balls of dough onto the baking tray, about 2.5cm/1 inch apart

Use a fork or your fingers to flatten out the tops a wee bit

Bake for 12-16 minutes (mine took 16), till you have firm edges (whatever that means)

If you want 'em crunchier, give them a few more minutes in the oven

Place them on a wire rack to cool

You could even use them for ice-cream sandwiches, especially if you dip the whole thing in melted chocolate after putting ice-cream between two of these lovelies

Notes:

If you can't get golden syrup, you can try honey or molasses or corn syrup (if you must) or brown rice syrup etc.  Just Google 'subs for golden syrup', my friends

gather your ingredients

toast your nuts and oats!

looking golden-brown and delicious

bi-carb in, and the magic happens

stir the foamy wet into the dry

ready for baking at 180C/350F for about 16 mins.

ready!

don't they look golden and munchable? :)

cool 'em down on a wire rack

I made 25 or 26. My second batch was a siren call I could not resist

c. Sherry M.