grandmother's chocolate cake

wholewheat orange & cranberry waffles

raisin & cardamom buns

chocolate malt sandwich cookies

Chocolate & malt. Wonderful combination! I used to always order a chocolate malt when i bought a milkshake....nowadays watching the calories that never happens! I estimated using an online calculator that each sandwiched cookie was around 165 calories...woah. Enough said! I ate two.


But when you live with two boys (yes, i count my husband as a boy =P) who love treats, i had to try this combination on them. They went down a treat, although maybe a little too sweet for hubby, i sent the remainder into our boy's school for the teacher's lounge as morning tea, they didn't last long apparently!

This recipe said it would make 20 sandwich cookies (40 cookies), but i managed to get 84 cookies, 42 sandwich cookies! So you can see why i needed to share the love around!


Chocolate Malt Sandwich Cookies

Thankyou Martha Stewart

FOR THE COOKIES
•2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
•1/2 cup cocoa powder
•1/4 cup plain malted milk powder
•1 teaspoon baking soda
•1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
•1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
•1 3/4 cups sugar
•1 large egg
•2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
•1/4 cup sour cream
•3 tablespoons hot water

FOR THE FILLING
•10 oz semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
•4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
•1 cup plain malted milk powder
•3 oz cream cheese, room temperature
•1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons 10% cream
•1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1.Preheat oven to 350F. Make cookies: Sift together flour, cocoa powder, malted milk powder, baking soda, and salt. With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Mix in egg, sour cream, and hot water. Reduce speed to low; mix in flour mixture.

2.Space heaped teaspoonful balls of dough 3 inches apart on parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Bake until flat and just firm, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool on parchment on wire racks.

3.Making filling: Melt chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simming water, stirring. Let cool. With an electric mixer, beat malted milk powder and cream cheese on medium speed until smooth. Gradually mix in half-and-half, chocolate mixture, and vanilla. Refrigerate, covered, until thick, about 30 minutes. Take out of the fridge and mix on high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes.

4.Assemble cookies: Spread a heaping teaspoon of filling on the bottom of one cookie. Sandwich with another cookie. Repeat. Cookies can be refrigerated between layers of parchment in airtight containers up to 3 days.

spinach & ricotta stuffed pasta shells

Who doesn't like pasta? We love it! I shouldn't eat it.....but the boys can! They love their spaghetti bolognaise with parmesan, they love lasagne, canneloni and macaroni cheese. But i thought for a change, when i saw these shells at the supermarket i had a great idea!

So i made a nice spinach and ricotta filling, that has garlic and onion, i've used this before with chicken in my canneloni and as a layer of filling in my lasagne.......and stuffed the shells.

I made a nice beef bolognaise and spread some of it on the bottom of a baking dish, laid out my stuffed shells, covered them in more sauce and topped them with grated cheese.

Spinach & Ricotta Stuffed Pasta Shells

For the filling:-

3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 onion, medium size, finely chopped
100g mozarella, grated
100g cheddar,grated
500g ricotta
1 x 300g packet frozen spinach, drained & finely chopped

Saute the garlic and onion in a little oil, add the spinach and cook down slightly. Season to taste with a little salt and pepper, put the mixture aside to cool.

Once cooled, mix in the cheeses and your filling is ready!

For the sauce:-

3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 onion, medium size, finely chopped
1 red pepper, finely chopped
500g beef mince
2 cups beef stock
1 tin diced tomatoes, any kind that you prefer
1 tin tomato puree
salt & pepper

maple oat & walnut scones

When it comes to scones, i've made plain, sultana, date and even cheese BUT these beauties caught my eye and i had to try this recipe from Eating Out Loud! It seems there are people and places that make scones in a wedge shape instead of little rounds! LOVE the idea, makes for such a nice presentation!

Mix and form into a round, cut into 8......

Baked, golden with crusty edges and moist insides.......

Maple Oat & Walnut Scones

Original recipe from Eating Out Loud

For the Scones
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup instant oats
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup butter
1 beaten egg
2 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Maple Glaze
1 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar (icing sugar)
2 tbsp cream
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp maple extract

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Rub in the butter until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the chopped walnuts.

In a small bowl, stir together the cream, egg, and maple syrup. Add this to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. It is important that you do not over mix the mixture. Once the liquid is absorbed and the dough is coming together (only a little dry flour in bottom of bowl), then stop.

Pat the dough in to a 7″ circle that is 1 1/2″ thick and cut into 8 wedges. Carefully place scones onto a greased or lined cookie sheet.

Bake at 375F (190C) for 20 minutes.

While the scones bake, mix together the maple glaze ingredients in a small bowl.

After baking, allow scones to cool on baking sheet.

The scones should be completely cooled before attempting to glaze. Pour some glaze on top of each scone, using the back of the tablespoon to spread it evenly over the top and down the sides.

These scones are truly delicious and although best eaten on the dy they are made, they won't last that long!!! =)

beef & potato samosas

oatmeal raisin & walnut cookies

rugelach

Seeing these treats and hearing about them made me very curious. What exactly are they? So many variations in the recipe appear everywhere.....so i picked one that looked and sounded good!

These guys have strawberry jam, mini dark chocolate chips, chopped walnuts, raisins and a little cinnamon in their filling. The best part is they have pastry that is made with cream cheese, now that i have never been let down by and love the taste!

So easy to make, roll a circle of dough, spread the filling on top, cut into wedges and roll! Cute aren't they? =)

Rugelach

For the pastry:-

8oz cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups all purpose flour

Beat the cream cheese and butter together then add other ingredients until the dough comes together smooth. Divide into four portions, roll into balls and refrigerate for an hour to let the dough rest. Meanwhile, you can make your filling!

For the filling:-

2/3 cup your favourite jam (i used strawberry)

2 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup your favourite nuts, chopped (i used walnuts)

1/4 cup raisins

4 oz mini chocolate chips

Mix all the filling ingredients together thoroughly and put aside.

Preheat your oven to 350F

Once your dough has had time to rest.....let it sit out of the fridge for 15-20 miutes so it is easier to roll out.

Working one at a time, on a lightly floured surface, roll each ball of dough into a 9 inch circle, spread 1/4 of the filling across top, all the way to the edge!

Cut each circle into 12 wedges, then roll each wedge up, starting from the widest end first and place the rolled cookie on a lined baking tray. 

Continue this process with the remaining three balls of dough. Then glaze them before baking!

For the glaze:-

Mix 1 egg with 1 tbsp milk and brush over rolled cookies. Then sprinkle with a little sugar.

Chill your cookies for 15 minutes before baking to help them hold their shape!

Bake your cookies for 15-20 minutes @ 350F, turn halfway for even colouring.

Give these guys a little while to cool before eating as the jam will be HOT and burn your mouth =(

We tried to eat some too early hehe, they are really good though, a really interesting little cookie! I even made some with nutella and chopped hazelnuts, i imagine the combinations for these are endless!

Enjoy!

wholewehat apple & walnut waffles

For Christmas i was lucky to recieve a brand new Cuisinart Waffle maker, you know the one that makes round, quartered, COOL looking waffles! I've been using a cheap old one that makes squares and takes FOREVER to cook, and they turn out quite dense because of it! So On with the waffle making, oh how i LOVE them! First up, apple & walnut, using wholewheat flour to make it just that little bit healthier for a breakfast treat!

I mean look at how lovely and golden these turn out, and the SMELL.....oooh.....

Apple & Walnut Waffles
Makes 8-10 waffles

1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup flour
3/4 cup wholewheat flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups low fat milk
2 large eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups grated apple
1 cup finely chopped walnuts

Mix together the brown sugar, flours, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.

In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, oil & vanilla.

Whisk the wet mixture into the dry to combine until smooth.

Mix in the apples and walnuts, then let the batter rest for 5 minutes.

Preheat your waffle maker and prepare according to the instructions.

Use a generous 1/3 cup of mixture for each waffle.

Eat and enjoy!

I increased the amoutn of apple and walnuts in this recipe and added more wholewheat and less white flour, they are a nice thick fluffy waffle, FULL of chunky fillings! I think next time a hint of cinnamon would be a wonderful addition to this recipe!