Tag: chocolate

CHOCOLATE & HAZELNUT COOKIES

I haven’t baked for a little while now, and today seemed like a good day for it. I find that unless I am ‘in the mood’ my baking can be a disaster! you know what I mean? Cakes that don’t rise properly, or rise on one side only!, or I forget to put the timer on for the 2nd batch of cookies and the smell of them burning alerts me to this fact 🙂

After a quick lunch, I turned the oven on, and got started on a batch of cookies, and a new recipe combining chocolate and nuts!

This new recipe is good with either hazelnut’s or almonds – just use whatever you have in the pantry. (I used hazelnuts today)

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Homemade cookies are so much nicer than store bought if you have a spare 30 minutes to bake them!

Ingredients

  • 230g softened butter
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup condensed milk
  • 2 1/4 cup flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 cup chocolate bits
  • 1/2 cup chopped roasted hazelnuts or almonds

Preheat the oven to 180°c. Line two baking trays with baking paper.

Beat the butter and sugar until ‘creamed’ – (with brown sugar & butter this is more a light tan cream!).

Add the condensed milk and beat well. Stir in the rest of the ingredients and mix well.

Roll tablespoons of mixture into approximately 24 balls – arrange on the trays and flatten slightly with a fork.

Bake for 12-15 minutes

These cookies are not too sweet (according to the chief taster!) which makes them a good addition to your cookie recipes. Variety is the spice of life they say!

Happy baking xx

 

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Churro’s & Chocolate Sauce…

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Sure to be a winner with the kids – crunch churro’s & chocolate sauc

Churro’s were first introduced to our household by a popular pizza chain in New Zealand. My teenage son just loved them and a pizza order was not complete without a side of Churro’s with the chocolate dipping sauce.

I hunted high and low for a recipe that would be similar so that we could make these at home. (Isn’t that we do as Mum’s? – my kids used to have McMum’s when they were little. I always thought my burgers were healthier than those bought from that other famous fast food chain!)

I came across this Churro’s recipe which I think is pretty good and after a few attempts, not only will they taste the same but they will look similar to those you get with your pizza order!

Churro Ingredients

  • 1 cup plain flour, sifted
  • ¼ tsp baking powder, sifted
  • â…” cup caster sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • vegetable oil, for deep frying
  • 1 tsp cinnamon

Chocolate Sauce

  • 200g dark chocolate, finely chopped and 1 cup single cream
  1. Place flour, baking powder and 1 teaspoon of caster sugar into a bowl.
  2. Bring water to the boil and add olive oil. Pour liquid over dry ingredients and mix together with a wooden spoon until a smooth dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
  3. Spoon mixture into a piping bag with a large star nozzle attached.
  4. Heat vegetable oil in a deep saucepan until it reaches 170°C on a sugar thermometer.
  5. Using a sharp knife cut off 6cm lengths of dough from the piping bag and fry in batches for 3-4 minutes, turning halfway until they are golden brown. Drain on a paper towel.
  6. Combine remaining caster sugar and cinnamon in a large bowl and roll the churros in the cinnamon sugar.
  7. Meanwhile, combine chocolate and cream in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth.
  8. Serve churros with chocolate sauce.

Trust me, you will be a popular mum with this recipe in your tool box for a Saturday night treat for the kids. Give it a whirl – they will love you even more!

Happy cooking & kids xx

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Chocolate Brownie

My girlfriend called and said “come over for dinner tonight – we have fresh fish!” She and her partner are keen fisherman and had been out fishing off the coast of Kaiaua.

Kaiaua is a little seaside town about an hour 15 minutes from the North Shore of Auckland. About 102kms…it is known as the Seabird Coast, summer home to a Arctic wading bird of all things! It has a mineral hot springs – Miranda Hot Pools – just down the road – and is known for having a superb fish and chip store!

So anyway back to the dinner invitation which was accepted – with a “I’ll make a salad”…which then led to whipping up my favourite chocolate brownie recipe. Well my girlfriend had weathered the seas for dinner so I felt it only fair to bring desert too!

Ingredients

2 cups of chopped dates in a bowl with 1 teaspoon of baking soda and 3/4 cup of boiling water stirred. Add 200g finely chopped/diced butter. Stir in the butter until melted and live to stand for about 20 minutes. (you want your dates mushy so just test them out – they may need longer to soak).

While the dates are soaking in the butter and water….take 4 eggs and whip them up in a small bowl with 2 teaspoons of vanilla essence/paste (vanilla paste is my preference but essence or extract is fine). Stir in 2 cups of caster sugar, then 1 cup of cocoa powder, 1 cup flour and 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder. Stir in 250g chocolate – anyway you like it! ie., chocolate chips, or dark chocolate cut into small chunks.

After mashing the dates with a fork fold them into the rest of the mixture.

Pour into your prepared slice tin – approx 30cm by 24cm in size. Pop into a oven to 160°c and bake for abut 50 minutes. The brownie will start to come away from the sides of the tin….cool before cutting into squares.

I took the chocolate brownie over to dinner still warm from the oven, in the baking pan! We dusted it with icing sugar, and enjoyed a slice or two with a cup of tea after a wonder fun meal of fresh snapper and a green salad!

I have to tell you we were feeling quite virtuous after eating such a healthy meal…and reassured ourselves that because the brownie was made with dates – adding fibre,vitamins and antioxidants and other essential nutrients we had covered all the bases!

Give it a go – the kids won’t even notice the dates and it keeps nicely in a sealed container for a couple of weeks – if you have self-control that is! 🙂

Happy baking xx

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Triple Choc Cherry Cookies

Another cookie favourite at home is this fun recipe with 3 different types of chocolate and  red glace cherries in them – personally I love the cherries but if you don’t love them like me feel free to use cranberries.

Makes 24                                    Preparation: 10 Minutes                    Cooking: 20 minutes

  • 125g butter at room temperature
  • 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 1 eggimage
  • 1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
  • 2 cups mixed white, milk & dark chocolate, chopped
  • 100g packet red glace cherries
  1. Preheat the oven to 180°c/160°c fan bake. Line a large baking tray with baking paper.
  2. Beat the butter and sugar until pale & creamy. Add the egg and beat until combined.
  3. Sift in the flour, stir to combine. Fold in the chocolate & cherries.
  4. Place heaped tablespoons of the mixture onto the prepared tray, leaving little room for spreading.
  5. Bake cookies for 20 minutes or until golden. Cool slightly, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. * the cookies will firm as they  cool.

Whilst this batch does look a little less than perfect, you will have to take the hubby’s word for it that they  tasted great 🙂
Happy baking xx

 

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Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies!

imageTo my hubby’s relief I have finally got back into the kitchen and baked some cookies 🙂

There are loads of recipes for this everyday favourite biscuit but this is the one I use all the time…the secret is using really good chocolate.

I try and have on hand a bag of Belgian Chocolate – it is a little expensive however it does make such a difference to the taste of the cookies. I use the cheaper baking chocolate when baking for a school event so keep both handy in the pantry. The other tip is to use v vanilla paste if you can. Again the taste profile makes it worth it 🙂

For this recipe you will need the following:

  • 125g unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 1/4 cups tightly packed brown sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence or paste (I use paste but essence is fine to use)
  • 1 lightly beaten egg
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • pinch of salt
  • 250g good-quality chocolate
  1. Preheat your oven to 180c. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
  2. Butter & sugar into your mixer and beat until light and creamy. Make sure the ingredients are well mixed.
  3. Add vanilla & egg and beat again.
  4. Sift the four, baking powder & salt into the butter mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in the chocolate.
  5. Roll tablespoons of cookie dough and put about 3cm apart on the lined baking tray. Flatten with a fork. Bake for 15-20 mins until a pale golden brown.

For a change try using a mixture of different chocolate, like dark, milk & white or as I did today white chocolate and cranberries which are a favourite!

Happy baking xx

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