In less than a week we will be packing our car, locking our house and heading off to the seaside for the Easter Holidays. It’s been a long-standing tradition in our house to take along a tin of rusks and biscuits to nibble on. Here is what I have filled our cookie-tin with.
I only use real butter and genuine vanilla extract when I bake. Once you have tried it you will never look back to the ordinary block of margarine and artificial vanilla. Remember to always buy the absolute best ingredients you can afford and can get hold of.
I have found these recipes on a few nifty pages on the net. It didn’t take too much persuasion for me to make the following:
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Pistachio Cookies
Pistachio Cookies
Recipe
( Adapted from Taste .com.au)
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of shelled pistachios (150g)
- 3/4 cup of caster sugar (sifted)
- 1/3 rd cup of cake flour
- 3 egg whites
- 1 Tbsp icing sugar
Method:
- Preheat your oven to 180°c and line two baking trays with baking paper or silicone sheets
- Place 3/4 of pistachios in a food processor and process until finely ground
- Add flour and 1/2 cup of caster sugar and pulsate a few times to mix well. Transfer to a mixing bowl
- Whisk egg whites until soft peaks form and gradually add the remaining caster sugar
- Place heaped teaspoons of the mixture on the baking sheets and sprinkle the remaining pistachio nuts on
- Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from the oven. Let it cool down for a few minutes before placing on a wired rack to cool down completely
- Dust with some icing sugar
2. Choc Chip Cookies
O sweet joy! Crunchy, buttery cookies with melty chocolate chips! Choc Chip Cookies extraordinaire! My favorite, any time of the day!
Recipe
I adapted the following recipe from Betty Crocker. The original recipe made 4 dozen. I halved it so I would only get 2 dozen.
Click (here) for the original recipe
Ingredients:
- 95 ml white sugar (1/4 cup+2 Tbsps+1 tsp)
- 95 ml brown sugar (1/4 cup+2 Tbsps+1 tsp
- 125 ml soft salted butter (1/2 cup)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 free range egg
- 280 ml cake flour (1 cup+ 2 Tbsps)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup of roughly chopped nuts
- 1 cup chocolate chips
Method:
- Preheat oven to 180°c and line baking tray with baking paper or a silicone sheet
- Beat sugar, butter,vanilla and egg in a large mixing bowl with an electric beater
- Stir flour and baking powder with a balloon whisk
- Add to the butter mixture and stir well until stiff dough forms
- Add choc chips and nuts and stir in
- Spoon tablespoon size dough onto baking sheet. Place them 2 cm apart from each other
- Bake for 10 minutes or until light brown
- Remove from the oven. Let it cool down for a few minutes before placing on a wired rack to cool down completely
3. Oats ,White Chocolate Chips and Cranberry Cookies
These cookies are filled with the goodness of rolled oats and cranberries. They are chunky, slightly chewy and really tasty with the sweetness of the white chocolate chips that contrast with the tartness of the cranberries. This recipe makes about 24 yummy cookies.
Recipe
Adapted from taste.com.au
Ingredients:
- 150 g of butter
- 1/2 cup caster sugar
- 1 free range egg (room temperature
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup cake flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 1/3 cup white chocolate chips
- 1/3 cup cranberries
Method:
- Preheat oven to 180°c and line baking tray with baking paper or a silicone sheet
- Beat the butter, sugar, egg and vanilla until light and creamy
- Stir flour and baking powder with a balloon whisk together
- Add the oats choc chips and cranberries and mix in
- Spoon tablespoonfuls of dough onto baking sheet. Flatten slightly. Place the cookies 2 cm apart from each other
- Bake for 12 minutes or until light brown
- Remove from the oven. Let it cool down for a few minutes before placing on a wired rack to cool down completely
