Recipe Twenty Seven: Lemon & Pistachio Biscotti

I know I have fallen woefully behind on my whole six month challenge.

I don't think I'm going to make it to 130 by the beginning of May but I will try to get as close as possible.

When I made myself a coffee at work on Monday I noticed how devoid the work kitchen was of a perfect biscuit to eat with said coffee and I decided I would rectify the situation.

It had to be Biscotti.

I'm sure you're aware I love lemon & pistachio together and so I put those flavours  in what I think turned out to be a wonderful crispy, not too sweet balance to my slightly bitter & milky cup of coffee.

Lemon & Pistachio Biscotti.

60gms of chopped butter

1 cup of caster sugar

1 teaspoon on vanilla

The finely grated rind of one lemon.

4 eggs

2 1/4 cups of plain flour.

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1/2 a teaspoon of bicarbonate soda.

3/4 of a cup of shelled pistachios, roughly chopped.

Splash of water

1/4 cup of extra caster sugar.

 Preheat oven to 180C & line 2 baking trays

In a bowl beat together: butter, sugar, vanilla & rind until just combined.

Add three of your eggs, one at a time beating to combined between each addition.

Stir in flour, baking powder & bicarb soda.

Stir in the nuts.

Cover & put in the fridge for an hour.

Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth.

Halve dough & make each half into a 30cm long log.

Place each log on a separate tray. Combine the last egg with a splash of water, brush your logs with this mixture and sprinkle each very liberally with your 1/4 cup of caster sugar.

Bake for 20 minutes. Cool on trays.

Reduce your oven to 170C

Using a serrated knife cut your logs on the diagonal into 1cm thick slices.

Place these slices back on the oven trays and bake for another 15 minutes turning half way through this baking period.

Cool the slices on a cooling rack & you're good to go

xx

Resolutions & Recipe Twenty: Choc Chip Cookies

I was taking down our Christmas decorations yesterday  a week ago and I thought to myself what is life going to be like when I pull these out again? 

I read an amazing post "Pardon Me, Your Awesome is Showing" (go read it you will be inspired). 

I remembered the writing at that moment and thought: 

'Actually, how do I want life to be when I pull these out again?' 

I think about my Mum who took the leap of faith and made her creative passion her occupation. 

Who, even with 5 children (and adding another along the way) went back to University then moved the whole family and a cousin states to do her Masters. 

Now she blogs (go there too, also inspiring) and is currently writing her first book.

She took responsibility for making her life how she wanted.

My resolution for 2012 is to do the same.

(Make my own life amazing that is not have 6 children, become an Art Therapist and start writing a book)

Now I think I was writing a recipe.... 

I know it's two cookie posts in a row but I'm not feeling well & Miss MT (with her amazing aquamarine nail polish) said she would come over and bake some for the blog. 

How could I say no? 

I have such an awesome little sister.

150gms of Butter

120gms of Brown Sugar

1/2 cup Caster Sugar

1 Teaspoon of Vanilla

1 egg + 1 yolk

2 1/2 cups of Flour

1/2 a teaspoon of Bicarbonate Soda

250gms of Choc Chips

Preheat your oven to 170C. Line a baking sheet with baking paper.

Melt your butter and set aside to cool for two minutes.

Put your sugars in your bowl and then pour over your melted butter.

Beat together.

Add egg, yolk and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy.

Add your flour in thirds, combining each time before adding more.

Fold in your chocolate chips.

Roll tablespoon sized amounts into balls and place about 3 inches apart on your baking tray.

Bake for 17-20 minutes or until cracked on top and very lightly brown.

Cool of racks and serve!

xx

Recipe Nineteen: Peanut Butter Crinkles

I am a sucker for peanut butter.

I love the stuff and if it's in baked, 'melt-in-your-mouth-yet-has-a-slightly-chewy-center' shortbread then I love it even more so.

125g unsalted butter

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cupbrown sugar, lightly packed

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind

1/3 cup peanut butter

1 1/4 cups plain flour

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

pinch salt

Preheat the oven to 180C

Cream together butter, peanut butter, sugars, vanilla and lemon rind.

 Add flour, bicarb and salt and mix until you get a sturdy dough.

Roll teaspoon sized balls out and place them about 3cm apart on a lined baking tray.

Press them flat with a fork cross ways and length ways to get the crinkle.

Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Leave them to cool on the tray for a few minutes before moving them onto a cooling rack.

xx

Recipe Eight: 'Off With Their Head" Cookies

I first made these cookies for our family cafe and expected, like other batches of cookies they would last us 2 days...they lasted 3 hours. 

Beautiful food sells and although beautiful the original recipe never seemed to taste as good as it looked.

 Here is my slightly tweaked version.

You'll need:

1.5 cups of Plain Flour

3/4 of a cup of Almond Meal

1/2 a cup of pure Icing Sugar

1 Egg

1 Tablespoon of Milk

125gm of Butter (Chilled)

100gms dark Chocolate Chips

1/4 cup of Strawberry Jam

2 Tablespoons of Water

Preheat your oven to 180C

You're going to want to put all of those dry ingredients into your food processor along with the chopped, chilled butter and whiz until it looks like breadcrumbs.

Then pop in your milk and egg and whiz again until it starts to come together like this:

Now knead the dough until it forms a smooth disk, wrap and rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Roll out your dough and cut out as many large hearts as you can fit.

Now cut smaller hearts from the center of half of your larger hearts and bake for 8-10 minutes until JUST before they begin to turn brown...it happens quickly so keep and eye out.

Once your shapes are baked and cooled separate the hearts with the middle cut out on a
piece of baking paper.
 Melt your chocolate and pour into a zip-loc bag.

Snip the corner of the bag and drizzle the chocolate over the hearts with the cut outs.

Once the chocolate has set melt your jam and water together.

If you wish you can then sieve out the seeds but I leave them!

 Spread a little on the solid hearts and then place one of the chocolate covered hearts on the top.

Once all of your hearts are stuck together spoon in one tablespoon of the melted jam mix into the centre of each cookie.

Leave to set and then you're done!

xx

Recipe Three: Lemon and Pistachio Wreaths

To say lemon is one of my absolute favourite flavours ever in the entire history of the universe may be understating it a bit. 

Generally if its main flavour is lemon, I'll eat it.

If it doesnt have lemon in it...I usually add it...

Even in tiny amounts lemon gives food a really nice brightness that you just cant achieve otherwise...in my opinion anyhow.

So what makes this biscuit even better than being regular lemon is that under the tart glaze is a beautifully subtle lemon flavoured shortbread. This shortbread is made with almost 1 part wheat flour to 1 part corn flour which gives the biscuit amazingly light texture.
Add to this a sprinkle of lemons best complimentary flavour, Pistachio and your have one heavenly cookie.

Lemon and Pistachio Wreaths

1 teaspoon of Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon of Salt

1 cup of Plain Flour

3/4 of a cup of Corn Flour

1/2 a cup of caster/superfine Sugar

2 large Egg Yolks
115gms of Butter

The zest of 1 Lemon

2 Tablespoons of Lemon Juice

1 teaspoon of Vanilla

1 3/4 cups of icing/confectioners sugar

Milk

STEP ONE:

Put butter and sugar in a bowl and beat on medium/high until pale and fluffy.

STEP TWO:

Mix in yolks, lemon zest and vanilla.

STEP THREE:

In a separate bowl sift together flours, baking powder and salt.

STEP FOUR:

Gradually add your flour mix (I did 1/3 at a time) until all combined. It will look like sand...

STEP FIVE:

Add milk, a very small dash at a time to bring the mix together, once it starts to come together form it into a disk, wrap in clingfilm and place in the refrigerator for half an hour.

Part Two:

STEP ONE

Pre-heat oven to 180C

Roll our dough between two sheets of baking paper to 1/4-1/8" thickness.

Put that in the fridge until hard.
Once hard, working quickly, peel the top sheet off and cut and transfer raw cookies onto the sheet you just peeled off. (I found it easier to cut the holes in the middle once they were transferred)

STEP TWO:

Bake for 10-12minutes or until very, very place brown on the edge.

Transfer to a rack (or in my case chopping board) and cool completely.

STEP THREE:

These cookies are best glazed the day they will be eaten so that they keep their crunch.

If you're not serving them today pop them in an air tight container until tomorrow.

STEP FOUR:

Get your 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and add them to your icing/confectioners sugar.

Mix until you get a treacle like consistency with no lumps.

STEP FIVE:

Peel the purplish, flaky skin off of your pistachios.

I pour boling water over them and let them sit for a few minutes, this way they mostly slip right out.

Chop nice and finely.

STEP SIX:

Either dip or spread the tops of your wreaths with your lemon glaze.
Next sprinkle with pistachios and leave to set.

AND YOU'RE ALL DONE!
Put them on a pretty plate or package them up and they're ready to go..

xx