Anzac biscuits

I don't think there is anyone in Australia or New Zealand, or any Australian or New Zealand expat that hasn't heard of the Anzac biscuit.  It is synonymous with these countries down under (the story of where they originated can be found here).  I can't remember when or where I tried my first Anzac biscuit, though I do remember that I made my first ones in Home Economics back in yesteryear.  I believe they were edible.  Since then, I've tried many Anzac biscuit recipes and while most have turned out tasting like Anzacs, I find that most recipes I can taste the bicarb, though I do not want to reduce the amount lest it makes it chewier than I prefer.  I found a new recipe that adds a teaspoon of ginger.  While the ginger is quite subtle, it does give the biscuit a nice spice aftertaste, and it takes away the bicarb aftertaste!  I think this may become my go-to Anzac biscuit recipe, and the bonus?  It takes only 10 minutes prep!

Anzac biscuits
Makes 30

Ingredients

• 115 g (3/4 cup) plain flour
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats 
• 3/4 cup caster sugar
• 1/2 cup desiccated coconut
• 2 tablespoon boiling water
• 1 tablespoon golden syrup
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 125 g butter, cubed, melted

Method 

1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Line 2 large baking trays with non-stick baking paper. 
2. Sift the flour and ginger into a large bowl. Add the rolled oats, sugar and coconut, and stir to combine.
3. Combine the boiling water, golden syrup and bicarbonate of soda in a small jug. Once the mixture froths up, stir in the butter. Set aside for a few minutes to cool slightly. Add the cooled butter mixture to the flour mixture and use a wooden spoon to combine.
4. Scoop 2 heaped teaspoons of mixture and place onto lined trays and flatten slightly. Repeat with the remaining mixture, leaving about 3cm between each (they don't spread much). Bake in preheated oven for 13 minutes for chewy biscuits or 16 minutes for crunchy biscuits, swapping trays around halfway through cooking. Set aside for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool.

Pinwheel cookies

I came across a recipe for pinwheel (otherwise known as swirl cookies) in a magazine which required using melted white and dark chocolate for the separate doughs.  Not wanting to go out just to buy a block of white chocolate, I had a look on the web for a recipe where I could use a basic shortbread dough for the 'white' of the pinwheel, and I did find one!

It was a bit of a fight between myself and the dough to get it to roll up without it cracking, and in the end I just rolled it up quickly, and went fixing the cracks by smooth dough over it.  Had that failed, I would've probably made checkerboard cookies though Mum said that I could've just used the dough made them into separate cookies but I was determined to make a two-toned cookie!  The biscuit is buttery and crumbly and nor too sweet and keeps well in an airtight container for days.

Pinwheel cookies 
Recipe from My Buttery Fingers
Makes about 30

Ingredients

Vanilla Dough

• 160 g plain flour
• 100 g salted butter, cold, cut into 1cm cubes
• 50 g sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 1 large egg yolk
  

Chocolate Dough

• 140 g plain flour
• 20 g dutch process cocoa powder
• 100 g salted butter, cold, cut into 1cm cubes
• 50 g sugar
• 1 large egg yolk

Method

1. Make the vanilla dough - place flour and butter into mixing bowl and rub together until mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add vanilla, sugar and egg yolk, mix together gently until a ball of dough forms. Form dough into a disc and warp dough with cling wrap and chill whilst you prepare the chocolate dough.
2. Prepare the chocolate dough as per the vanilla dough, adding the cocoa in with the flour.
3. Unwrap the vanilla dough and roll until 5 mm thick between 2 pieces of baking paper, trying to maintain a square shape.  (Wendy places it in a large Ziploc bag to roll which I'll try next time).  Place in fridge while you do the same with the chocolate dough.  
4. Place the chocolate dough on top of the vanilla dough and roll up tightly but gently like a Swiss-roll gently (I found it pretty difficult to roll without it crumbling, and not too sure why ... in any case, I just patched up the cracks). Chill for 1 hour.
5. Preheat oven to 180C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.  
6. Remove dough from the fridge and slice into 5 mm slices and place them slightly apart on baking sheet (they spread only slightly). 
7. Bake for about 12-15 minutes or until the biscuits are just turning pale golden around the edges, let cool on the tray for 2 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before storing.

Cranberry, oatmeal and chocolate cookies

My first recipe post on this site (and of this year) happens to be a batch of cookies I made as Christmas presents.  I can't remember what inspired me to use cranberries, but perhaps seeing more than a handful of cranberry breads, cranberry shortbreads, cranberry cookies, etc, turning up on my Google reader feed in the weeks leading up to the festive season.  I settled on a cranberry cookie (easy to pack, easy to eat, and keeps longer).  As is habit before I set out on a new recipe, I read over a dozen recipes to read, compare and pick out before I have the one I will try.  It can be time-consuming but sometimes I end up some uncovered food blog gems and a fabulous recipe, which then makes everything worthwhile.

The original recipe is from Epicurious.  After reading the reviews, I've cut down on the chocolate chips, which I make by chopping up a good quality block of chocolate, to make the cookies less sweet (so one can have more and not feel guilty!) and have substituted fresh cranberries for the dried ones (there are no fresh cranberries grown in Australia apparently!).  These turned out to be my favourite kind of cookie -- crisp on the outside, chewy in the middle and the tart cranberries gave a great flavour surprise amongst the sweetness of the chocolate.

Cranberry Oatmeal Chocolate cookies

Makes 25-30 cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup all purpose (plain) flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
• Pinch of salt
• 140 g unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats (not instant)
• 3/4 cup dark, milk or white chocolate chips (personal preference)
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries

Method

1. Position rack centre of oven and preheat to 175°C. Line 2 baking pans with baking paper.
2. Whisk flour, baking soda, cinnamon (if using), and salt in medium bowl to blend.
3. Using electric mixer, beat butter and both sugars in a large bowl until smooth (4-5 minutes).  Beat in egg and vanilla.
4. Add flour mixture and oats and stir until blended.  Stir in all chocolate chips and cranberries.
5. Drop batter by rounded tablespoonfuls onto prepared sheets, about 5 cm apart and flatten. Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until edges are light brown, about 10-12 minutes (depending on your oven). Cool on sheets 5 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool completely. 

Pistachio, fig and lemon biscotti

Baking isn't something that is automatically considered to be healthy, and generally speaking, it isn't.  I mean, who are we kidding when we know exactly how much butter, sugar, flour went into making that cake.  But over the last couple of years where people have become more health conscious, I think baking has become healthier -- there are recipes that have less sugar, less fat, use whole wheat flour or try substitute ingredients to deliver the cake, muffin or cookie as we know it but healthier.   I think it's amazing -- not only in the 'progression' of baking sense but the fact that everyone can still enjoy baked treats a bit more freely.

I was trying to find something to bake for someone who was diabetic, and there are certainly a lot of desserts out there.  However, a lot of them suggested using Splenda in replace of normal sugar.  After researching a few reviews for these recipes, I was a bit skeptical of how it would turn out as most of them talked about an odd aftertaste with Splenda and I had never cooked with Splenda before.  In the end, I went to my trusty recipe source (Taste.com) and found this recipe under a diabetic friendly recipe collection -- a pistachio, fig and lemon biscotti.   The bonus with this is that I didn't have to use butter!

Shelling the pistachios was awfully tedious, but worth it for the bright green colours dotted in the biscotti.  They didn't turn out as crisp as I like my biscotti, but they still tasted pretty nice, and the natural sugar of the figs gave the biscotti enough sweetness.  Having it with a nice pot of herbal tea made it a great afternoon snack.

Pistachio, fig and lemon biscotti

Makes about 30



Ingredients

• 1/3 cup pistachio kernels
• 3 egg whites
• 1/3 cup caster sugar
• 1 tbs finely grated lemon rind
• 3/4 cup plain flour, sifted
• 1/3 cup finely chopped dried figs

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.  Brush a 7 x 25cm (base measurement) bar pan with melted butter to lightly grease.  Line the base and 2 long sides with non-stick baking paper, allowing it to overhang.
2. Place pistachios in a heatproof bowl.  Cover with boiling water and set aside for 5 minutes or until skins soften. Drain.  Peel off skins and dry on paper towel.
3. Meanwhile, use an electric beater to whisk the egg whites in a clean, dry bowl until soft peaks form.  Add the sugar, one spoonful at a time, whisking well after each addition, until sugar dissolves.  Add the lemon rind and whisk until combined.
4. Combine flour and figs in a bowl. Use your fingers to separate figs and coat in flour. Fold fig mixture and pistachios into egg-white mixture until just combined.
5. Spoon mixture into prepared pan and smooth the surface. Bake in oven for 30 minutes or until cooked through. Turn onto a wire rack and set aside for 1 hour or until cooled to room temperature.
6. Preheat oven to 160°C. Use a serrated knife to cut loaf crossways into 5mm-thick slices. Place in a single layer on a baking tray. Bake in oven for 10 minutes or until crisp and golden. Cool on tray.

Slice and bake cookies

Afer seeing the recipe for refrigerator cookies on Smitten Kitchen (one of my favourite food blogs), I had an urge to try it myself.  Usually, I give away most of the stuff I make or leave it for someone else to finish, namely my brother, but sometimes there are no other people to give it to and I end up finishing it to avoid it going to waste.  That said, a slice of cake or a couple of cookies in the afternoon after getting back from the hospital can be heavenly.  So these refrigerator cookies, also known as slice and bake cookies are perfect.  It gets shaped into a log, put in the freezer and taken out on a rainy day.  After baking, they are supposed to last 5 days (if they do last that long).

The recipe is perfect and can be adapted in many ways.  I decided on poppyseeds and lemon zest this time but I've also tried adding dried cranberries and some orange zest, earl Grey tea leaves (quite nice!), and swapping some of the flour for almond meal (which made the cookies a bit more crumbly but nutty) or dessicated coconut.  I've also added some chopped pistachios and walnuts which I thought turned out quite well.  They really are a versatile type of cookie!

Slice and bake cookies (with lemon zest and poppyseeds)

Makes 40-50 cookies



Ingredients

• 230 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup icing sugar, sifted
• 2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
• Pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoons vanilla or almond extract
• 2 cups (280 grams) all-purpose flour
• Grated zest of 2 lemons
• 1/4 cup poppy seeds

Method

1. Put the butter in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat at medium speed until it is smooth.  Add the sifted confectioners’ sugar and beat again until the mixture is smooth and silky.
2. Beat in the egg yolks, followed by the salt and any dried fruits, zest, nuts or seeds.  Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, beating just until it disappears (better to underbeat than overbeat - just blend in whatever remaining flour needs blending with a spoon).
3. Turn the dough out onto a counter, gather it into a ball, and divide it in half. Wrap each piece of dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
4. Working on a smooth surface, form each piece of dough into a log that is about 2.5 to 3.5 cm thick (no need to worry about the length).  Wrap the logs in plastic and chill for 2 hours.  (The dough can be wrapped airtight and kept refrigerated for up to 3 days or stored in the freezer for up to 1 month.)
5. Preheat the oven 180oC.  Line cookie trays.
6. While the oven is preheating, slice each log into cookies about 1cm thick with a sharp knife.  Place the cookies on the lined baking sheets, leaving about 1/2 inch (1.5 cm) space between them.
7. Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, or until they are set but not browned.  Cool on wire racks.

One bowl chocolate chip cookies

While every chocolate chip recipe that I come across, it is always prefaced with 'perfect', or 'the best', regardless whether it's the Toll House , the NY Times, The Neiman Marcus, The Martha Stewart, David Lebowitz's, the ones on the back of packets of choc-chip pieces, America's Test Kitchen, Alton Brown's, and the list goes on.  It seems, therefore, that every chocolate chip recipe is the perfect one.  I can't disagree, after all, everyone has their own preferences when it comes to their perfect choc-chip cookie.  I, for instance, like mine soft, chewy, not too flat nor too thick, without an overpowering sweetness, and with discernible chocolate chunks or chips in them.  I've tried many recipes from cookbooks, magazine cutouts, and some of the aforementioned places.  Soon, when I can remember to make the cookie dough 36 hours before I want to bake, I might try the NY times cookie.

On my hunt to find my perfect chocolate-chip cookie, I came across this one.  I've made them twice already and both times I have made them (for other people), I have returned with an empty box.  So I guess it is also a (very) good chocolate-chip cookie.  It fits everything that I want as I have listed above -- my only gripe with it is that it's slightly a bit too sweet for my Asian tastebuds (but nothing that can't be solved).  What's more, there's only one bowl (and a wooden spoon) to wash afterwards.  I don't know whether it can get any better than this.

A one-bowl chocolate chip cookie

Makes 25-30

Ingredients

• 120g unsalted butter, softened
  
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups good quality chocolate chunks (I would suggest nothing more than 70% cocoa)

Method

1. Melt butter in a large mixing bowl.  Beat both sugars into melted butter.  Let the mixture cool to room temp and then beat in vanilla, egg and egg yolk.
2. When mixture is well blended, beat in baking soda and salt making sure that the baking soda is evenly distributed.
3. Add flour and stir just until it is mixed in. Add chocolate chips.
4. Chill dough for 1 hour or until pretty firm.
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment.
6. Scoop up tablespoonfuls of dough and drop onto a lined baking tray or cookie sheets spacing them about 5cm apart. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until cookies appear done and lightly browned around edges.  To get that chewy cookie, do not overbake!  It's hard to say how long they should be in the oven for, it depends on the oven -- in one oven, these were done in 10 minutes, in another it was 13.  My general rule of thumb is that they are 'done' when they get a bit golden brown on the outside.
7. Cool on sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to finish cooling. 
   

Linzer biscuits

I went through 5 years worth of my Super Food Ideas magazine collection and ripped out the recipes I wanted to keep, organised and filed them; and while doing so came across a recipe for Linzer biscuits.  Given that I had a) lots of time, b) had no inspiration to make anything else and c) love sandwiched goodies ... melting moments, macaroons, oreos and the humble sandwich itself, I decided to give these a go.

Mum goes to me as I was rolling out dough for the 3rd time, "Don't you find it time consuming ... having to knead, then roll, chill the dough, cut out the cookies, chill it again before you actually bake it?", and looks at me strangely when I reply to her, "That's why I'm doing these!".  When my mum bakes, she prefers things that are quick, easy and require minimal fuss; these however need time and patience, but of course is perfect for taking my mind off things for an hour or two.  The dough rolled out beautifully without cracking and after freezing it for a bit, was lovely to work with -- as all the offcuts would come off without a hassle.

I had a taste test of them and they turned out really good!  They were crisp and the biscuits themselves weren't too sweet so to allow for the jam to make up for it.  Will definitely make them again!  And invest in a proper Linzer cutter (I spent a while hunting around the kitchen for something just the right size for that hold in the middle).  I made a couple of them with holes for it to actually look like the real thing -- but my brother has a particular palate so I left most of them as they were as they came out of the oven.  Of course, one could substitute anything for jam .. nutella, peanut butter, frosting even.

Linzer Biscuits
(Recipe adapted from Super Food Ideas)
The amount varies depending on how big your cutters are.  I used 4cm cutters and got a good 30-odd prior to being sandwiched.

Ingredients

• 100g butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional) - I didn't add any and it tasted fine
• 1/3 cup caster sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 2/3 cups plain flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Jam or spread of your liking

Method

1. Beat butter, vanilla and sugar with electric mixer until well combined.  Add egg and mix well.
2. Sift flour, baking powder, cinnamon over butter mixture.  Stir until mixture forms a dough (may take a bit of time).  Knead gently to bring together
3. Divide dough into 2 and place between 2 sheets of baking paper and roll out until 3-5 mm thick (but really just so long it's not a centimeter, anything will do).  Place in freezer for a few minutes or until firm.  Preheat oven to 180oC
4. Using a biscuit cutter, cut as many as you can and arrange them on lined trays.  With a couple of them, find a smaller cutter and cut out holes -- the original recipe said to freeze them first before cutting the holes but I found that this caused the actual biscuit to crack so it's best to do it all in 1 hit
5. Freeze for another few minutes until firm to cut
6. Bake for 6-8 minutes or until lightly golden.  Allow biscuits to cool on tray for 5 minutes before transferring them onto a wirerack.
7. Before serviing, spread jam over whole biscuits and pop sandwich cut-out biscuits on top.