peanut butter cookies...with extras...

i'm not a big peanut butter eater, but tend to buy too much of it thinking we might be out of it. enter peanut butter cookies - a hero in the "using heaps of peanut butter" world.

1 cup (260 grams) peanut butter (use your favourite - smooth or crunchy)
1 cup sugar (220 grams) sugar
1 egg

extras
m and ms
chocolate chips (again use your favourite - white, milk or dark)
dried fruit (your favourites, again - pears, apricots, cranberries)
nuts (cashews, walnuts, macadamias)

preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius and line a baking sheet with baking paper.
combine the peanut butter, sugar and egg in a mixing bowl. add your desired extras, just keeping in mind that if you like putting lots of stuff in, you will have to have enough cookie dough to hold it all together. all the bits you put in can be chopped as finely as you like or left as rustic as you like.
form the dough into balls and place the on the baking sheet. pressthem down a little to flatten and bake for about 15 minutes or until golden.

melting moments

i love these biscuits because they are delicate and delicious, filled with a lovely lemony icing. they are supposed to keep very well in an air-tight container, but they are so easy to eat, it doesn't matter if they don't keep well. i don't know anyone who doesn't love these biscuits because everyone asks for them.

2 cups of plain flour
1/2 cup custard powder
250g. butter, softened
1/2 cup icing sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence

icing:
3/4 cup icing sugar
60 grams butter
1-2 lemon juice
lemon rind

preheat the oven to 170 degrees celcius.
line a baking tray with baking paper.
beat the butter, vanilla and icing sugar until light and creamy.
sift the flour and custard powder together then add to the creamed mixture, mixing until everything is well combined.
divide the dough into 30 pieces and roll each piece into a small ball.
place the balls on the lined tray, and press each ball with a fork to flatten slightly.
bake for 15-20 minutes until pale golden but not brown.
make the icing by creaming together the second portion of icing and butter, with the lemon juice and rind.
place a little icing on half of the biscuits and sandwich together with the remaining biscuits.

langues de chat (cat's tongues)

when i was young, there was a french patissier in penshurst street, roseville, which had the most wonderful sweet things. of course, there were the pastries, but there would also be little bags of almond tuiles and madeleines. dad was wonderful and indulged me; i'd choose all the goodies and go home to have tastes of a little bit of all of them.
imagine my delight when i tracked down this recipe. admittedly, they were not for almond tuiles, but they possessed the same buttery crisp deliciousness. i loved making them for dad - he'd eat them with such gusto, a little girl could never resist making them for her beloved father. i loved the way my dad ate the biscuits i made - he made me feel so special.

60 grams butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 egg whites (one whole egg can be used - naturally, the result is slightly different, but still very delicious)
scant 1/2 cup plain flour

preheat the oven to 200 degrees celcius.
line a few baking trays with baking paper.
cream the butter and sugar together until light. whisk in the egg whites until just combined, and fold in the flour.
spoon the batter into a piping bag fitted with a plain 5mm tube.
pipe 5 cm lengths of batter on the lined trays, allowing room for spreading. tap the tray sharply on the kitchen bench to allow the mixture to spread a little.
bake for 7-9 minutes or until the edges are golden - being careful not to let the biscuits burn.

lemon coconut squares

i know this slice is as old as the hills and most people know how to make it, but i had never made it until recently. i avoided making it because i knew how delicious it was, having eaten other people's creations; i had to show some restraint - if i made it, i'd eat it, simple as that. what was i thinking?

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
125 grams butter
250 grams biscuit crumbs
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 cup coconut

lemon icing
1 3/4 cups icing sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
30 grams butter

place condensed milk and butter in a small saucepan and stir over gentle heat until the butter melts. stir in the biscuit crumbs, rind and coconut and combine well. press into a laminton pan lined with baking paper. chill for an hour.
make the lemon icing by combining the icing sugar, lemon juice and butter until smooth. spread over the prepared base and allow to set. once set, cut into squares to serve.

anzac biscuits

i always like to make anzac biscuits on anzac day. this is what we do.

there are lots of recipes out there for anzac biscuits and most are quite similar and contain the essential ingredients. this is my favourite recipe for them. mind you, when i make them, quantities sometimes vary, especially with the golden syrup. i usually eyeball that because it's messy to measure (i know you can warm the syrup or oil your measuring utensil of choice and all that, but these are homemade biscuits and it's good to have inconsistency with homemade. that's what makes it special), and invariably put in too much, but that's all right - the biscuits still turn out fine.

1 1 /4 rolled oats
1 cup plain flour
3/4 cup desiccated coconut
3/4 cup brown sugar
125 grams butter
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons golden syrup
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

preheat the oven to 150 degrees celcius.

line a baking tray with baking paper.

combine the butter, water and golden syrup in a medium saucepan. place over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the butter melts. remove from the heat and stir in the bicarbonate of soda.

combine the oats, flour, coconut and sugar in a medium bowl and mix well.

pour the oat mixture into the saucepan and stir to combine.

roll the mixture into walnut sized balls and place on the lined baking tray about 5 centimetres apart.

press the balls down slightly with the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar.

bake the biscuits for about 20 minutes or until done to your liking. if you like them chewy, try 18 minutes. if you like them crunchy, try 22 minutes.

sit down and enjoy these biscuits with a glass of milk or put a scoop of your favourite icecream between two biscuits and have yourself a anzac ice cream sandwich.....if you are someone with patience, put the wrapped ice cream sandwich in the freezer for a while and let the biscuits soften - i love them this way, but hey, if you're a crunchy person, you do your thing.

hazelnut rosettes

the big book of beautiful biscuits by the australian women's weekly was the first book i bought from the weekly library, and for all i know, it may well have been their first book (i'd love to know if anyone does know) from that collection. after buying this book (some nearly 30 years ago), i was hooked and now have a good number of books from the collection. i'm sure i don't have the entire library, but pretty close. there were some things which didn't interest me, believe it or not.
i'm not sure whether i'm stuck in a time warp, but i find the books from this collection a joy to own; the newer ones, while slick and stylish don't have the same appeal. i have many of the newer ones, but cannot say i have used them to the extent i have used the older ones...they're just nice to look at, but don't inspire me to get up and make something from them. to be really honest, i don't think i've cooked anything out of them....there, i've said it.....major confession, major sin.
but this biscuit book is my redemption. there are many biscuits i have made out of it and each one delicious. i haven't made all the biscuits, yet, but given the opportunity (read: finding people outside this household to help eat them) and the time, i intend to at least give it a try. other people's ambitions in life are to conquer mountains; mine, to conquer recipes (i'd really like to have the opportunity to travel more, especially america and europe, but making something out of a cookbook is more within my reach).
the recipe i offer today is a favourite. as a beginner cook all those years ago, this gave me the confidence to continue cooking and baking.

hazelnut rosettes
from the big book of beautiful biscuits by the australian women's weekly

250 g butter
1/3 cup sugar
60 g ground hazelnuts
1 2/3 cups plain flour
choc bits to decorate

beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
add ground hazelnuts, beat until combined.
add sifted flour.
mix well.
put mixture into a piping bag fitted with a fluted tube. pipe small stars into small paper patty cases and top each biscuit with a choc bit.
bake in a moderate oven approximately 15 minutes or until biscuits are light brown.
makes about 50.
note: the small paper patty cases used for confectionary are an ideal size for these delicious biscuits.

shortbread cookie dough for cut out cookies

this is the cookie recipe i use to make my cut out cookies. i tend to roll the dough to about 3 millimetres thick to make them easier to handle, before and after baking. they are easily decorated either before or after baking as well.

1 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups plain flour
1/2 cup custard powder

cream butter & add sugar gradually.
combine the flour and custard powder.
add the flour and custard powder to the butter mixture and mix well.
divide dough into several portions.
flatten one portion at a time on lightly floured surface with hands.
roll out smooth with lightly floured rolling pin.
cut into desired shapes & place on baking sheets lined with baking paper.
bake at 170°C for 10-15 minutes until golden brown around edges.

gingerbread dough for cut out cookies

i love this dough because it is so nice to work with and smells so nice.

1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 1/2 self raising flour
3/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
125 grams butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup golden syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (optional)

in a small bowl, whisk together flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves until well blended.

in a large bowl beat butter, brown sugar, and egg on medium speed until well blended.

add golden syrup, vanilla, and lemon zest and continue to mix until well blended.

gradually stir in dry ingredients until blended and smooth.

divide dough in half and wrap each half in plastic and let stand at room temperature for at least 2 hours or up to 8 hours. dough can be stored for up to 4 days, but in this case it should be refrigerated. return to room temp before using.

preheat oven to 180° celcius.

place 1 portion of the dough on a lightly floured surface.

sprinkle flour over dough and rolling pin.

roll dough to 3 millimetres thick.

use additional flour to avoid sticking.

cut out cookies with desired cutter-- the gingerbread man is favorite, of course.

place the cookies on baking sheets lined with baking paper

bake 1 sheet at a time for 7-10 minutes (the lower time will give you softer cookies which are very good!).

remove cookie sheet from oven and allow the cookies to stand until the cookies are firm enough to move to a wire rack.

after cookies are cool you may decorate them any way you like.

pineapple biscuits

these biscuits are crisp and crunchy, with a chewy surprise of dried pineapple. the weetbix added another dimension to the texture (airiness) and flavour (maltiness). all in all, a good, easy biscuit to add to one's repertiore.

miss c and miss k had them in their lunchboxes today as a surprise, and i dare say they were delighted. delight yourself and those around you and make a batch soon.

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 egg
125 grams butter, melted
1 cup self raising flour
6 crushed weetbix
3/4 cup dried chopped pineapple

preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius.
line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
use a whisk to combine the sugars, vanilla, egg and butter in a bowl.
add flour, weetbix and pineapple.
stir thoroughly until well combined.
drop tablespoonfuls of mixture onto the prepared trays.
bake for 20 minutes or until light golden.
leave the biscuits on the trays for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool. they need this time to settle and compose themselves, otherwise they'll crumble and fall apart. they're delicate like that. but once they've cooled a little bit, they're fine.

these are already delicious to eat as they are, but if you want to make them look really fancy, the following icing may be spread over the cooled biscuits, then sprinkled with more of the dried pineapple.

pineapple icing.

1 3/4 cups icing sugar
2 tablespoons pineapple juice
2 teaspoons melted butter
1/2 cup chopped dried pineapple

combine the icing sugar, pineapple juice and melted butter in a bowl and use a whisk to stir it until smooth. spread over the biscuits and sprinkle with pineapple and allow to set.

chocolate peanut biscuits

while i was in london, julia asked me to find a recipe for these biscuits. julia had tried them when we were at high school. debbie gates' mother had made them and julia had never quite gotten over the delicious peanutty, chocolatey crunchiness. she did get the recipe, but has since lost it. my mission, should i chose to accept it, and i have, was to endeavour to recreate or find a recipe for such a biscuit. hmmm....chocolate, peanuts AND crunchy....

unfortunately, these aren't IT, but they are very nice nonetheless - it just gives me an excuse to try out other variations until i achieve THE biscuit.

125 grams butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
pinch salt
1 cup peanuts
1 1/4 cups self raising flour
2 tablespoons cocoa

preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius.
cream the butter, sugar, salt and egg in a medium bowl with a mixer.
add the nuts and cocoa.
mix, then add flour. combine well.
form the dough into walnut sized balls and place them on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. press the balls down lightly with a fork or the bottom of a glass dip in sugar (so the dough doesn't stick to the glass).
bake for 15-20 minutes.