Shortbread

These are my Mum's favourite biscuits. Crumbly, buttery shortbread.

However, would it surprise you if I said that Mum doesn't like butter? Nope, can't stand the taste, the smell, the texture. But give her a plate of these? And she just about inhales them.
I could never figure out why, because these biscuits are baked with almost the entire stick of butter (220g)!

These biscuits are fabulous with a cup of coffee. The rice flour gives it a nice crumbly interior, while the exterior holds its shape rather well. They are good travellers too. I would know, because these biscuits survived a plane trip in my suitcase. Yes, my suitcase, stored in ziploc bags no less. And they arrived at their destination looking just as unblemished as they were when I packed them.

Make these today, won't you?

Recipe from Donna Hay's Modern Classics Book 2

Ingredients:

• 220g chilled butter, chopped
• 2/3 cup caster sugar
• 2 cups plain flour
• 1/2 cup rice flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160ºC. Line trays with non-stick baking paper. Process all ingredients in a food processor until a dough forms.
2. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead gently.
3. Roll tablespoons of dough into balls. Place on baking trays and flatten slightly with a fork.
4. Bake for 22-25 minutes or until just golden brown.

Notes:

I used my KitchenAid mixer for this because my food processor is too small. First I creamed the butter and sugar, then added vanilla and egg, before adding the flours half a cup at a time.

Happy baking!

White Chocolate Chunk and Cranberry Cookies

Somehow my cookies always end up stacked. It's the easiest composition, since I only take pictures while Miss Pantry is having a nap.

I have a sweet tooth. As if you didn't already know.

Every few days, I get the urge to eat something sweet. Oh who am I kidding? I get the urge for something sweet daily. So I turn to my stash of chocolate when the cravings strike. And before I know it, I'd have eaten half a slab and I'll spend the rest of the day feeling like a fat slob.

Only sometimes will I let the annoying thing called will-power get in the way. I think my butt subconsciously knows that too much chocolate is not good for it.

Well, here you go. Partially unstacked and with a ribbon. Wow.

Times like this, I curse that I am not blessed with super high metabolism or the skinny gene. Or that I don't look like Miranda Kerr - I have a secret crush on her. She's gorgeous and advocates a healthy lifestyle. And she drinks chlorophyll. It's supposed to help with something, cell regeneration or whatnot. I forget. Maybe I should drink chlorophyll, might help with memory.

So anyhow, in an effort to eat less chocolate/packaged cookies/store-bought-highly-processed junk, I figured I'll make my own sweet snacks. If I made them, then I get to eat them without feeling guilty, because I'll know exactly how much sugar or fat has gone into them. Right?

I know what you are thinking right now. You're thinking "this cookie has chocolate and processed sugar in it"! Yes, yes, you are right. And it does make this cookie decadently sweet. But you see, that is the key. Because it is sweet, one (or two) cookies will be enough to satiate my sugar cravings.

Ingenious isn't it?

Recipe adapted from Taste.com.au
Yields 32 cookies

Ingredients:

• 125g butter, softened
• ¼ cup caster sugar
• ¼ cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• ⅓ cup rice flour
• ½ cup almond meal
• ¾ cup plain flour
• ½ cup dried cranberries
• 150g white chocolate, roughly chopped

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180ºC (160ºC fan forced).
2. Beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add egg. Beat until combined.
3. Stir in flours, almond meal, chocolate and cranberries.
4. Roll level tablespoons of mixture into balls and place 5 cm apart on trays. Flatten slightly. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until light golden. Cool for 5 minutes on trays before transferring to racks.

Happy baking!

Amaretti Amore

Gosh, it has been ONE YEAR since my last post. Is anyone still following this blog? I don't blame you if you're not.

To lure you back, here's a sweet incentive. These are extremely easy to eat! Crunchy on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside. With a subtle hit of almondy goodness. Ah, I'm in love.

Recipe from The Australian Women's Weekly cookbooks: Wicked sweet indulgences

Yields 20 biscuits

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (125g) almond meal
• 1 cup (220g) caster sugar
• 2 egg whites
• ¼ teaspoon almond essence
• 20 blanched alomonds (20g)

Method:

1. Line 2 oven trays.
2. Beat almond meal, sugar, egg whites and essence in a small bowl with electric mixer for 3 minutes; stand 5 minutes.
3. Spoon mixture into piping bag fitted with a 1cm plain tube. Pipe directly onto prepared tray in a circular motion from centre out, to make biscuits about 4cm in diameter.
4. Top each biscuit with an almond. Cover trays of unbaked biscuits loosely with foil; stand at room temperature overnight.
5. Preheat oven to 180ºC. Bake biscuits for 12 minutes or until browned lightly. Stand amaretti for 5 minutes then transfer to wire rack to cool.

Tip: Amaretti can be baked the day they are made, however, they will spread a little more. For best results, stand the unbaked biscuits overnight.

Happy baking!