Chocolate Chip Cookies

Photography by Mark O'Meara

I have recently been baking up a storm and this week my attentions were directed at making cookies! Yesterday I made a batch of Dark Chocolate & Walnut cookies and a batch of White Chocolate & Macadamia cookies. This recipe makes 30 small cookies or 20 regular sized cookies.

Ingredients:
125g butter, softened
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg, at room temperature
2 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons milk

Optional:
2 teaspoons Chai powder - I use Arcadia Vanilla Chai
1/2 cup chopped nuts of your choice
1/2 cup chocolate chips of your choice

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.

2. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter, sugar, chai powder and vanilla in a small bowl until pale and creamy. Add egg and mix until well combined. Sift the flour and baking powder over butter mixture. Add milk and stir until just combined.

3. Add your chocolate and nuts. Using hands, knead the dough to evenly distribute.

4. Using 1 heaped tablespoon of mixture at a time, roll mixture into balls. Place on baking trays lined with baking paper. Using a fork, flatten biscuits slightly (allow room for spreading).

5. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until light golden. Allow biscuits to cool on trays for 5 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Serve to happy people with big glasses of milk or hot chocolate!

The great thing about this recipe is you can swap the choc chips & nuts for just about anything, creating as many flavour combinations as your imagination will allow!

x Sunny x

Turtle Brownies

Today is Sunday and I had no plans. I woke up, kissed my lover goodbye & settled in for a day of cleaning, cooking & watching bad Sci-Fi television. Then I remembered seeing this recipe that The Pioneer Woman put up on her blog last week & I knew I had to try it!

Turtle Brownies (as the Americans call them) are brownies with a middle layer of caramel goodness. I amended Ree's recipe to suit my tastes and what was available at the time. Here's my version:

Ingredients
■1 box Chocolate Cake Mix (I Used White Wings Chocolate Cake)
■1 cup Finely Chopped Walnuts
■⅓ cup Evaporated Milk
■½ cup Butter, Melted
■½ cup Nestle Caramel Top'n'Fill (adjust to your own taste)
■⅓ cup Chopped Dark Chocolate or Chocolate Chips
■¼ cups Powdered Sugar

1. Preheat your oven to 160C degrees.

2. In a large bowl, mix together cake mix, chopped walnuts, 1/3 cup evaporated milk, and melted butter. Stir together until totally combined. Mixture will be very thick & similar to cookie dough.

3. Press half the mixture into a well-greased 9 x 9 inch square baking pan. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and set aside.

4. Mix caramel until it is smooth. Layer over brownie base. Sprinkle chocolate/chips as evenly as you can over the caramel.

5. Turn out remaining brownie dough on a piece of baking paper. Use your hands to press it into a large square a little smaller than the pan. Flip the paper over the mix to easily lay the brownie top on top of the caramel and chocolate. You could also create the square top on your work surface and move it across with a spatula.

6. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from pan and allow to cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate for several hours. When ready to serve, generously sift powdered sugar over the surface of the brownies. Cut into twelve helpings and carefully remove from the pan.

Enjoy! But remember, make the servings small as it is devilishly rich!

x Sunny x

Sunny's Easy Caramel Pie

This is a quick and easy dessert that is sure to please! Perfect for dinner parties as 3 ingredients is all it takes to have dessert ready, leaving you plenty of time to concentrate on your other courses.

Ingredients:
1 sweet tart shell (available in the freezer section, near the pastry)
400 g can Nestle Top n Fill Caramel
1 cup thickened cream



Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180C.

2. Cook pastry shell in the oven until it is golden brown. Allow to cool completely.

3. Pour caramel into a bowl and stir until smooth. Scoop into pastry shell & and smooth into an even layer. Refridgerate.

4. Whip cream until it creates firm peaks. Spoon whipped cream generously over caramel. Serve.

To decorate you could use cocoa powder dusted over the top, toffee chips sprinked on top or crumble a flake bar on top.

x Sunny x

Bourke Street Bakery

Check out my post on The Life of Sunny about the Bourke Street Bakery!

x Sunny x