A Little Delicious Gift...

A Big Thank You to my lovely [new] friend, Anne and her darling little girl Jasmine [Isabelle's new friend - they are only 2 weeks apart!] for a delicious surprise gift, of Anne's home-baked choc chip biscuits, left on our front step tied up with ribbon and a white paper bag! Needless to say they were absolutely scrumptious with my afternoon coffee today! In honour of Anne's biscuits here's one I also make but try not to that often because I eat them! Thank You Anne. S xxx

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Sarah's Walnut & Choc Chip Biscuit [Cookies]Preparation Time15 minutes

Cooking Time  20 minutes

Makes for approx. 20 biscuits

Ingredients

125g butter, softened

100g (1/2 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar

1 egg, at room temperature

225g (1 1/2 cups) plain flour

200g good-quality dark cooking chocolate, coarsely chopped

150g (1 1/2 cups) walnut halves, coarsely chopped

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 2 baking trays with non-stick baking paper.

Use an electric beater to beat butter and sugar in a medium bowl until well combined. Add the egg and beat until combined. Sift the flour over the butter mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until well combined. Add the chocolate and walnuts, and stir to combine.

Use your hands to roll tablespoonful of the cookie mixture into balls. Place the balls, 3cm apart, on prepared trays. Use a fork to flatten slightly. Bake in preheated oven, swapping the trays halfway through cooking, for 20 minutes or until light golden. Remove from oven and set aside to cool on the trays for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Note: Nuts & Milk Chocolate - substitute another nut type if you don't fancy walnuts - macadamias, or peanuts are very nice in this recipe. The same goes with milk chocolate - change it to white or dark chocolate and mix it up cafe style!

Image via La Tartine Gourmande

Check out this fab website La Tertine Gourmande for gluten /wheat free cookies! My sister will love it! x

Anzacs - The Soldier's Biscuit... A National Biscuit.

ANZACS would have to be one of my favourite bickkies - outside of a Dodge [Australian country style cuppa cuppa cuppa biscuit i.e. ingredients 3 cups, 2 cups, 1 cup and so on - will share that with you another time!]. So why not treat yourself with a cuppa (cup of tea) & a delicious ANZAC biscuit for this weekend - perfect for when unexpected guests drop by, they smell wonderful when baking, and make reading the weekend paper that much sweeter! They're super easy to make and light on the hip pocket too! See the recipe below and Enjoy! x

The ANZAC Biscuit*
The ANZACs were WWI soldiers from the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The crunchy ANZAC biscuit was made by women on the home front and sent across the sea to their soldiers. Originally named "Soliders’ Biscuits" and containing just flour, sugar, milk powder and water, these simple biscuits were made to endure the journey at sea. Now the biscuits are more of a treat with the addition of butter, golden syrup and desiccated coconut.
ANZAC Day is a national holiday in Australia and New Zealand celebrated annually on April 25.
*In Australia and New Zealand cookies are called "biscuits".

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
180 (12.5 Tbsp) grams of butter, melted
1 cup of all-purpose flour
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of unsweetened desiccated coconut
1 cup of rolled oats
1 Tbsp of golden syrup
1 tsp of baking soda
1/4 tsp of salt

Preparation:
Heat the oven to 350F (180C). Line a baking tray with baking paper. Set aside.
In a small saucepan, melt the butter over a medium heat. Add the golden syrup and baking soda to the butter and stir well. Remove from heat and set aside.
Mix together the flour, oats, sugar, desiccated coconut and salt in a mixing bowl.
Add the melted butter to the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon to combine ingredients.
Roll about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough into small balls and flatten between the palms of your hands. Place dough on baking tray about 4 cm (1.5") apart to allow room for spreading.
Bake the biscuits for about 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the biscuits from the oven and let them sit on the baking tray for 5 minutes.
Remove the biscuits from the tray and cool on a wire rack.

Yield: 10-15 biscuits
Note: Store biscuits in an airtight container.

Image & recipe from Australian Food - About.com