Nutella Sandwich Cookies

I saw these cookies on A Beautiful Mess & thought it sounded fantastic so I gave it a whirl. They were a great combination of slightly salty and gorgeously sweet & chocolately! Here's the recipe:

makes 15-20 (more if you make the biscuits smaller)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup raw sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
plenty of Nutella

Method:

1. Cream together the butter and sugars, stir in egg and vanilla.

2. Mix in flour, baking powder and salt until just combined. The batter should be crumbly and you will probably need to use your (clean) hands to combine it a bit more to form a dough ball. Cover in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 20 minutes (I found mine were fine & didn't need the fridge time!)

3. Now form teaspoon amounts into small round balls. You want your cookies to all sort of match each other in size because you will be placing one of top of another to form sandwich cookies.

4. Bake at 160C (350 F) for about 15 minutes, allow to cool completely on a cooling rack before adding filling.

5. Once cool, spoon a teaspoon of Nutella on one cookie and place another on top.

I took a box to work & sent Dale home with a container full as well to remove the temptation to eat all of them at once! These are best served with a big glass of milk!

Sunny xx

Magnetic Spice Jars

Today over on my main blog The Life of Sunny I made these fantastic magnetic spice jars. A great way to store your spices & clear up some pantry space! Visit the story here.

Sunny xx

Microwave Scrambled Eggs

When I was a teenager, I was very fortunate to go to church with a very accomplished chef and musician. Of all the things he taught me about music, the main lesson I learnt from Jeff was how to cook scrambled eggs in the microwave. I know – a wealth of information in front of me and what do I remember? Scrambled eggs!

This is the easiest method I have ever come across & the washing up is minimal. This is also a great way to teach your teens how to cook their own breakfast on a Sunday morning!

Serves 2

Ingredients:
4 large free range eggs
¼ cup light cream
1 tablespoon butter

Method:

1. Crack eggs into a microwave safe bowl, I use a plastic one so that it doesn’t get too hot to hold. Add cream and whisk (or beat thoroughly with a fork) until completely combined & foamy. Add the butter and stir through.

2. Place the bowl into a microwave (making sure you take out your fork!!) and cook for 2 minutes. Check eggs – they should be half cooked & half runny. Mix eggs, breaking up any large parts.

3. Place eggs back in microwave and cook for a further 1 minute. Check. If they are cooked to your liking, serve. If not, cook in 30 second lots until done to your liking.

These are Dale’s favourite eggs & he loves them with a side of bacon, a hash brown & a drizzle of truffle oil on top! Another thing we love to do with these eggs is to make egg & bacon sandwiches with them. Here’s how:

1. Cook your eggs.

2. In a sandwich press, lay out your bacon and shut the lid – cooking for about 2 – 3 minutes (depending on how you like your bacon & how hot your sandwich press gets).

3. Butter two pieces of bread and layer some bacon & scrambled eggs on each – be sure not to over fill. Cook in sandwich press until bread is golden brown. Serve with a coffee!

We often make these when we have a long drive ahead of us. We wrap them in grease proof paper, pour our coffees into our individual thermoses & hit the road!

Enjoy, Sunny xx

10 Things About Sunny

Me & my little sister Brianna (if only I could get a picture without her pulling a face!)

Hi there! Those of you who read my lifestyle blog, The Life of Sunny, probably know quite a lot about me. However, those of you who read my cooking experiments adventures may not have much insight into what happens outside the kitchen. So in true first date style, here is a quick 10 things about me!

1. My celebrity crush has always been (and always will be) Arnold Schwarzenegger. Ever since I watched Terminator 2 as a 10 year old, I have been madly in love with him! I own just about every movie he has ever made & when I am sick they are my favourite DVD’s to pull out.

2. My favourite colour is red, and sometimes purple.

3. I love to read – there is always a stack of books on my bedside table awaiting my attention. To feed my book habit I’m often found trawling the shelves of my local second hand book store & getting massive packages of books bought in the UK delivered to work.

4. I desperately want a pug dog. But living in an apartment is not conductive to raising a puppy!

5. I have spent the last 3 years on a desperate search for the right pair of brown or tan flat boots with no success (yet!). But this year might be my lucky year.

6. I have 3 brothers and 3 sisters ranging in age from 14 – 28. They are all amazingly funny & interesting, with such completely different personalities to each other. Their quirks are a constant source of hilarity – from my 14 year old sister Emma who is intensely passionate about gay rights & can quote Harry Potter in any situation, to my 19 year old brother James who wraps me up in a blanket and puts a glass of water by me when I fall asleep on the lounge after watching movies together when I visit home. I have never met people I value more!

7. My favourite tea is Crème Brulee from T2, my favourite coffee is Vanilla Latte by Nescafe & my favourite hot chocolate is $1 from 7/11!

8. My family owns a Cattle farm called Speter Island Cattle Farm in Townsville, Queensland

9. Every year I buy plants and by the end of February they are all dead. My balcony gets full sun in summer all day long & even 2 days without watering kills any plants…. I actually met my partner at Bunning’s (a hardware store) whilst buying more plants to sacrifice to my sun god. So I guess there is a silver lining!

10. My favourite pizza is plain cheese.

Well I hope this gives you an insight into the woman behind the apron!

Sunny xx

Baked Eggs with Spicy Sweet Beans

I first saw this recipe on Better Homes & Gardens (a lifestyle show in Australia) on a week night after work & it looked super yummy so I wrote down the recipe & put it in my ‘to-do’ folder. The idea of eating anything with curry powder in it for breakfast seemed weird to me, but I thought I’d trust the smart people at Better Homes & Gardens to know what they were doing.

In the end the curry powder was really understated, adding to the flavours but not giving it a ‘curry’ flavour which I was super happy about. These also weren’t what I would call spicy which, not being a massive fan of heat, I was thankful for. However, if you were into that kind of thing – you could always add a pinch of chilli flakes to the recipe.

Now, some of you just scrolled down to see the large list of ingredients & thought ‘screw that!!’ but don’t freak out, you’ll find most of these are already in your cupboard! Plus if you make the beans the night before you can cut down the cooking time from 40 minutes to 10 minutes in the morning. This is a fantastic idea for a brunch with friends, to feed your hungry family or when you have house guests who expect breakfast in the morning!

Serves 6 - Don’t be fooled by the portions looking small, these little babies are VERY filling! Plus you’ll be serving it with loads of soft, fresh bread.

Ingredients:

1 small onion, finely diced
1 leek (the whites only), finely diced
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
1 can cannellini beans
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp whole grain mustard
5-6 sprigs of fresh thyme (if using dried, only ½ tsp)
1tbsp tomato paste
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 ½ tbsp raw sugar (you can use caster sugar if you don’t have raw)
1 ½ tbsp apple cider vinegar
6 eggs
6 tbsp cream
6 tbsp oil
2 extra sprigs of fresh thyme
Fresh bread for dipping

Method:

1. Heat a medium sized saucepan to high heat, adding a dash of olive oil. Cook onions, leeks and garlic for 3 minutes. Drain the can of cannellini beans.

2. Add the curry powder and mustard to the onion mix. Pull the leaves off the thyme springs and add to the onions. Discard stems. Thoroughly mix spices through the onion mix and season with salt. Cook for 30 seconds, then add the cannellini beans.

3. Place tomato paste and crushed tomatoes to the beans. Stir then add the sugar and cider vinegar. Add 125mls water & bring to a simmer. Turn to a low simmer for 20-25 minutes.

*If making the beans the night before, decant into a bowl, cover & refrigerate overnight*

4. Spoon 2 tbsp of beans into each ramekin. Make a hole/well in the middle of the beans and crack an egg into the hole. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Spoon 1 tbsp cream and 1 tbsp oil over each egg. Top each ramekin with the leaves of a sprig of thyme. Cook in a pre-heated 200° Celsius oven (400°F) for 4-5 minutes or until eggs are set. Serve immediately with dipping bread.

Sunny xx

Stuffed Mushrooms

This picture shows you the difference between the tiny button mushrooms and the cup mushrooms.

Let me start this by confessing that for most of my life I hated mushrooms. Not because they tasted bad but because my parents tried to make me eat them & that automatically guaranteed them a place in the “Thing’s Sunny Won’t Eat” hall of fame. However, once I reached adulthood I decided it was probably time to address my eating fears – so I started with mushrooms.

5 years on, I can confidently say I have tackled that obstacle with flying colours. So much so, that I LOVE this stuffed mushroom recipe and so does my family. Below is my adapted version of The Pioneer Woman’s stuffed mushrooms.

If you make these with tiny little button mushrooms they make fantastic finger food for a party. For a great starter, make them with cup mushrooms and serve with a simple dressed green salad.

A close up of one of my tiny ones!

Ingredients:

A large bag of mushrooms – I used both button and cup mushrooms

250g cream cheese

1 egg

1 cup parmesan cheese (grated)

1 large onion

4 spicy chorizo style sausages (or) 4 regular sausages and a tsp paprika, half tsp minced garlic

1 tsp minced garlic

1 – 2 cups white wine (whatever you’re drinking at the time)

1 tsp Mexican chilli powder

Salt & pepper to taste

Method:

1. Clean mushrooms of any dirt with a dry tea towel. Pull out the stems and if needed, cut the hole a little bigger to fit more filling in. Take the scraps of mushrooms and finely dice. Put aside.

2. Heat a dash of oil in a large frying pan. Using a sharp knife, make an incision along the raw sausage. Peel off the outer skin to leave only the inside mince. You can also do this by cutting the top off and squeezing the mince out. Discard skins.

3. Fry the sausage meat in the hot pan until cooked through. Use a spatula or wooden spoon to break up mince whilst cooking. If using regular sausages, add the extra spices to the mince whilst cooking.

4. Place sausage in a bowl and set aside. Add onions & garlic to the pan & cook for 2 minutes. Add wine & Mexican chilli powder. Cook until all the wine has been absorbed. Add chopped mushrooms and cook until both mushrooms and onions are soft. Add salt & pepper to taste.

5. In a large bowl, mix together cream cheese and egg until combines & smooth. Stir in parmesan cheese. Add onion mixture & sausage to cream cheese. Mix well & place in fridge to firm up for 20 minutes.

6. Spoon mixture into mushrooms – feel free to pile it high! – and place on an oiled tray. Place in a 180°c (or 350°F) oven for about 20 minutes (more if you’ve stuffed bigger mushrooms) or until golden on top. Allow to cool for a few minutes before serving.

Here is the cross section of the bigger mushroom - you'll notice my ridiculous mushroom to filling combo - this one was Dale's favourite of course!

As well as stuffing the mushrooms, the left over filling is fantastic in a toasted sandwich. Another idea is to cut a slit in a chicken breast, stuff with some of the filling, crumb and pan fry. Serve with a salad & pat yourself on the back for being so darn clever.

Enjoy! Sunny xx

Baia the Italian, Cockle Bay Wharf

Hey y'all, come on over to The Life of Sunny for my review of Baia The Italian at Cockle Bay Wharf!

Sunny xx

Passionfruit Melting Moments

I found this recipe on Taste and loved them so much I made them as gifts for Christmas - placed them in some cute brown boxes & tied with a big red ribbon. My partner especially loved them & ate as many as he could find. I don't remember how many it made - but it was enough for 4 boxes with loads left over.

Ingredients:
250g butter, softened
1 tablespoon vanilla essence (you could also use vanilla paste)
1/2 cup pure icing sugar, sifted
2 cups plain flour
1/3 cup corn flour

Passion fruit Filling:
60g butter, softened
1 large passion fruit
1 cup pure icing sugar, sifted

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Line 2 baking trays with non-stick baking paper.

2. Using an electric mixer (bench top or handheld - it doesn't matter) cream butter, vanilla and icing sugar until light and fluffy. Sift flours over butter mixture. Beat on low speed until a soft dough forms.

3. Roll into teaspoon sized balls. Place on trays - these don't rise very much so you can pack them relatively close. Using a fork dipped in flour, lightly flatten each biscuit until 1cm thick. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until firm. let cool on tray for 10 minutes.

4. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Be gentle, they are quite fragile whilst warm.

5. Make passion fruit filling: Using an electric mixer, beat butter until light and fluffy. Stir in passion fruit pulp and icing sugar.

6. Spread flat side of 1 biscuit with half teaspoon of filling. Top with another biscuit. Repeat with remaining biscuits and filling. Dust with icing sugar & serve.

Happy baking!

Sunny xx

Nigella's Mustard Pork Chops

Photo Source

I saw this recipe on a recent episode of Nigella & thought to myself "I love pork chops, I love mustard sauces & I'm pretty damn crazy about gnocchi - I'LL DO IT!"... because talking to yourself late at night whilst watching the food channel is completely normal & acceptable... right?

One thing that definitely sold it to me was how ridiculously quick & easy it looked - and after making it I realised it was both those things AND super flavourful. Basically an all around win!

I made this after work one day for me & my beau and we both loved it. It makes enough for 2 so if there is just the one of you, make the same amount & take the left-overs to work for lunch the next day (or just halve it!). This is my adapted recipe but you can Click here for Nigella's original recipe.

Ingredients:
2 pork chops (in Australia we have 'pork loin chops' which are cheap & work great here)
200 - 300 ml Apple cider (if you cant find any cider, use sparkling apple juice)
1-2 tablespoons wholegrain mustard - adjust to your tastes
500g Gnocchi
1 tablespoon olive oil
a dash of cream (about 80ml)
Optional - a dash of booze (wine, port or whatever is going)

1. Set a pot of water to boil. In a large fry pan, add oil and cook pork chops for 5 minutes each side - cooking time may vary depending on the thickness of your chops. Basically, cook 2 chops to your liking. Place chops on a plate & put aside. Cover with foil to keep warm.

2. Throw your gnocchi in the boiling water. The gnocchi will float when ready. Drain.

3. Pour cider into the pan you cooked your chops in and swirl around to grab all that delicious porky flavour left by the chops. Add mustard and let it cook down for a minute. If you are adding any booze (I used port) pour in a dash now. Once sauce is at the consistency you want, add the cream & stir through.

4. Plate up the chops & spoon some of the mustard sauce on top. Take the drained gnocchi and throw it into the remaining sauce left in the pork pan. Give it a minute & the gnocchi will soak up all that mustardy wonderfulness & become super delicious. Plate up alongside the chops & devour.

Enjoy this great midweek meal any time, but it is especially good in winter when you can cuddle into the couch at the same time!

Sunny xx