Oat Cookies

Oat cookies. Oh yes. They deceive you into thinking they're healthy... don't believe a word of it!

My notes on these are a bit random, I'll try and make sense of them - 170g butter, 210g light brown butter... what?
Try again... this is what I actually used

170g softened butter
110g light brown sugar
100g caster sugar
1 egg
1tsp vanilla extract
105g selfraising flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
260g oats
"1 cup" mixed exciting stuff (chocolate chips, dried fruit... etc I haven't put a weight, I just put a handful of each in)

Beat together the sugars and butter.
Add the egg and vanilla and mix together.
Sift in together the flour, salt and cinnamon. Stir until partially combined
Mix in the oats, stir again.
Add the mixed dry ingredients and stir to incorporate.

Using a teaspoon take scoops of the mix, and roll in to a small ball in your hands.
Place on a lined baking sheet, and press the centre of each to flatten slightly.

Bake for 10-15mins in a 190oC oven until golden brown.
Remove from tray and place on wire rack to cool.
Eat.

Flour-free Chocolate Chip Cookies

In other news: My cookie scoops have arrived!!

(Alright... Ice cream scoops. But I'll be using them pretty much exclusively for cookies and cakes.)

 Now I need a reason to use them...

These flour-free cookies were made using an American recipe (hence all the cup measurements).
If you're interested in following the authentic American version, here are the original quantities:

3 cups powdered sugar
2/3 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 to 4 large egg whites, at room temperature
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips


But... I didn't have that much chocolate in the cupboard, so I've halved the recipe (roughly) in cups and measured it in ounces.

See... I could use cups!

Annnd here's what I used

8oz Icing Sugar
1.5oz cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
1/2 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
4oz chocolate chips

Makes 12 HUGE cookies.
Stores in an airtight container for 3 days.

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180oC. Line two baking trays with non-stick sheets. (The recipe advises that if you use grease proof paper, you should "give it a light swoosh of nonstick spray.")

2. Sift together the icing sugar and cocoa into a large bowl, and mix thoroughly (again, the recipe says whisk... but for the love of all things sacred... don't use electric beaters!! You'll suffocate on sugar powder!)

Blow that for a game of soldiers. Just use a wooden spoon... it's so much easier...

3.  Mix in the egg whites and vanilla and beat together (the recipe author has given a range of ingredients as eggs may vary in size, if you're using her quantities, she says start with "two and beat just until the batter is moistened. You're looking for a brownie-like, thick and fudgy batter consistency. If it seems too thick, add another egg white-- then a 4th one if it still seems too thick." So, I started with one, which wasn't enough, and added another, which was too much, so added more icing sugar and cocoa - and adjusted the measurements accordingly.)

4. Gently stir in chocolate chips.

5. Using the shiny new ice-cream/cookie scoop (the small one, 3cm diameter) evenly space 6 cookie dollops onto each tray. (these bad boys spread like you wouldn't believe)

Just remember these came out of a 3cm scoop...

6. Bake for 15 minutes until the tops are shiny and lightly cracked.

These are now about 10cm in diameter!!

mmm shiny and crackley!

7. When cooked slide the cookies (still on the non stick sheets) onto wire racks to cool completely. Or eat them warm. You know. Whatever...

I didn't know what to expect really, but they do look just like the ones in the original recipe, so that's a good start! They're crunchy on the top, and the edges, but really gooey and chewy in the middle.
Quite an unusual cookie! (But really quite tasty!)

Easter Biscuits

 

Easter Biscuits for Eileen!

Ingredients:

• 4oz caster sugar, plus extra for dusting
• 4oz butter, softened
• 1 egg yolk
• 8oz plain flour, sieved
• 1tsp mixed spice
• 3oz currants
• 2 tbsp milk

-Preheat the oven 160oC. Line two baking tray with greaseproof paper.

-Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl until light and fluffy. 

-Beat in the egg yolk until combined.

-Sift the flour and mixed spice into the mixture, and mix together

 

 

 

-Stir in the currants

-Stir in milk to form a stiff dough.

 

 

-Refrigerate mix for at least half an hour

-Roll the dough out onto a very well floured surface (this is a soft dough, and will stick if you let it!)

 

 

-Cut out the biscuits with a fluted cutter. 

-Place onto the baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.

 

 

 

-Remove from oven, and rest on their trays for 10 minutes before placing on a wire cooling rack, and sprinkling in sugar.

 

Christmas Biscuits

Ingredients:

8oz softened butter
5oz caster sugar
1 egg yolk
2tsp flavouring (here I've used vanilla)
10oz plain flour

• Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy looking.
• Beat the egg yolk and vanilla together, before mixing into the butter and sugar.
• Sift in the flour, and mix until just combined.
• Wrap in cling film, and refrigerate for at least half an hour.
• Roll out the dough on a well floured surface and cut out shapes.
• Bake on lined trays at 180oC for 10-15minutes until golden brown.
• Leave to firm on the trays for 5 minutes, before transferring to cooling racks

When cooled they can be decorated with icing and Christmas coloured sprinkles!

 

These can be made in various flavours, such as orange or lemon, with flavoured icing.

And if you fancy chocolate chip cookies, add chips at stage three as you're mixing the flour in.

Ninjabread Men!!

Ooooooh. Ninja cookie cutters!!

A-may-zing! Available from play.com, if you're so inclined.

And here's the best recipe I've found so far...

Ingredients:

125g unsalted butter
100g dark muscavado sugaer
4 tbsp golden syrup
325g plain flour
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
2tsp ground ginger (adjust to taste. I put in 4 for fun. These were mighty ninjas after all!)

Method:

• Preheat oven to 170oC/GM3. Line baking trays with baking parchment.
• Melt the butter, sugar and golden syrup in a saucepan, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly while you
• Sieve the flour, bicarb and ginger into a large bowl. 
• Stir the melted ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix to form a stiff dough.
• Lightly flour a flat, smooth surface and roll the gingerbread to about 5mm thick.
• Dip the cutters into flour before cutting into the dough.
• Arrange the shapes onto the lined baking trays, allowing a little room for spreading.
• Bake for approx 10 minutes, until light golden brown. Remove from oven, and allow to firm up on the trays for 2 or 3 minutes before placing on a wire rack to cool.
• Decorate with icing!

If you don't eat them all at once, these apparently last for up to two weeks in an airtight container.

This was my first go at rolling out a hot dough, and it was a peculiar sensation. I did find the dough became harder to work with as it cooled, so work quickly, and try not to reuse the leftovers to often, it just becomes crumbly after a while!

Better Half Cookies

Half Coated Shortbread-like Cookies!


These are very crumbly, very buttery, and very moreish!

Ingredients:
250g Softened Butter
140g Sugar
1tsp Vanilla extract
1 Egg yolk
300g Plain Flour
200g Melted Dark Chocolate

Method-

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy


Add the vanilla and the egg yolk and mix well


Sift the flour and mix again.


Using your hands gather the dough into a ball, wrap in clingfilm and chill for an hour


Cut the ball into managable sized pieces and roll out onto well floured greaseproof paper (this makes it easier to lift the shapes up. They will try to stick to the surface!!)


Roll out to slightly thicker than a pound coin.


Cut out shapes, and place onto a greased and lined baking tray.


Bake at 180oC for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Leave to set for 5 minutes on the baking tray before removing and allowing to cool on a wire wrack.

When cool, hold the biscuit over the bowl of chocolate and spoon the melted chocolate over one half of each heart, placing back onto a tray lined with greaseproof paper until set. (or a cake tin... what ever you have to hand!)

Chocolate Crackle Cookies

Now these are magic!!

This recipe came from the magnificent Bakerella website. (looking back now, mine are some what larger than hers... and her photos may be a smidgen better. I suppose.) Her recipe came from a Martha Stewart webby. I have made some adjustments...

Since this was an American website, and I'm far too lazy to convert the cup measurements into useful weights, I decided it would be the perfect opportunity to use yet another Christmas present from another brother... This time the cup cake measuring cups.

 Pink and Shiny!

Right... On we go:

Chocolate Crackle Cookies

• 8 oz Dark Chocolate
• 1 1/4 cups Self-Raising flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 oz softened butter
• 1 1/3 cups light-brown sugar, firmly packed
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup milk
•  icing sugar
• granulated sugar

(as you can see, I've changed some of the amounts from the original American recipe. What's a stick of butter when it's at home? Well, it's about 4 oz, as it turns out.  And I've removed the amounts of icing and granulated sugar. I just poured the sugars into two saucers, and put more there as required.)

Now... Martha starts her recipe by suggesting you pre-heat the oven to 180oC.
Woah there, Skippy. There's two hours of refrigerating to be done before you bake them!

I would recommend using a stand mixer with a nice big bowl - I had to do mine by hand, as the mixer's still packed away somewhere... It just made it much more fiddly!

• Start by chopping up the chocolate, and melting it over a bowl of simmering water. Allow it to cool slightly.

• Sift the flour, cocoa powder and salt into a large bowl
• In a mixer bowl beat together the butter and light-brown sugar until fluffy and light.
• Add the eggs and vanilla and continue to beat
• Pour in the melted chocolate - reducing the mixer speed to low
• Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the milk until combined (here's where the original recipe used 1/3 cup of milk, but I  found that made for a very wet, slightly unmanageable mix, so suggest reducing the initial amount of milk, and adding more if required)
• here's where I stopped reading the instructions....
• Chill the mix in the bowl (in the fridge... or in the freezer for speed

• And this is where you should heat the oven!
• Use the patented scooping with a pair of tea-spoons method to scoop out small lumps of dough 
• Drop each into the saucer of granulated sugar and roll them until completely coated

• Drop the sugared balls into the saucer of icing sugar, and roll them around again.

• Place the balls onto lined baking trays, about two inches apart, and place them into the oven.
• Bake for 12-15 minutes

When they're cooked they'll have flattened and have a magically crackled sugar coating!

• Leave the biscuits on the tray for 5 minutes, to allow them to firm up.

• When firm, remove the biscuits, and cool on a wire rack

White Chocolate and Cherry Cookies

White chocolate and cherry cookies:
200g softened butter
85g light muscavado sugar
85g golden caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
225g self raising flour
100 g chopped white chocolate
85g glace cherries

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C.


Cream the butter and sugars together -

cream them!!!

Add the vanilla extract and mix again, then add the egg and beat thoroughly.
Sift the flour into the bowl and partially combine the ingredients.

Add the chocolate and the cherries, and mix until just combined. Try not to over work the mixture.

Using a pair of teaspoons scoop dollops of the cookie dough...

onto greased, lined baking trays...

 Don't put too many cookies on the tray, as they do expand during baking. They pretty well double in size.
Look at that cookie-doughy goodness!  

Bake for approximately 15 minutes (or until golden)

Remove from the oven, but leave on the trays for about 5 minutes to firm up, before putting them on wire racks to cool.
(or, if you're anything like me, take the photo and eat them while they're deliciously warm!)