Chewy Chocolate Cookies

I know... I know... it has nothing to do with FIG and such. But I did use organic cocoa powder - does this count? heh...

Found this recipe when choc cookie craving hit me big time other night and I went ahead and scoff 3 cookies straight away - OOOHhhhhhh GORGEOUS!!!! Seriously! It has to be the most delicious, chocolaty and chewy cookies I've ever made!

From pantry
2 cups Sugar
2 whole Eggs
2 teaspoons Vanilla
2 cups All-purpose Flour
¾ cups Cocoa
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
½ teaspoons Salt
Powdered Sugar (for Dusting) (optional)

From fridge
1-¼ cup Butter, Room Temperature (I estimated this to be a full butter block - 250g)

To create
Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F).
Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl. Add eggs and vanilla and blend well.
Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.
Add flour mixture to creamed butter mixture and mix thoroughly.
Drop batter by teaspoonful onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake cookies for 8-9 minutes, do NOT over bake!

An optional step - sprinkle each cookie with powdered sugar. (this I didn't do as I thought it was rich enough anyway.)

Remove from baking sheet and cool on wire rack. They will flatten out a lot after cooling.

Go on and try this recipe!!! I will be making another batch next week... hehe

I got this recipe from: Chewy Chocolate Cookies - Tasty Kitchen

Hide them from others and enjoy!

Carrot & Macadamia Cake

I baked this cake a few times and each time it's so delicious. Just watch it to ensure it doesn't burn!

From pantry

1 cup wholemeal plain flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
1 cup raw sugar
1 cup sultanas 

2 eggs
1/2 cup macadamia oil
 

From Food box

1 1/2 cups finely grated carrot, firmly packed

To create

Sift together into a bowl the wholemeal flour, cinnamon and baking soda.
Add the chopped macadamias, raw sugar, sultanas and grated carrot.
Lightly beat together the eggs with the macadamia oil and then add it to the cake mixture.
Stir all ingredients together and pour into a well greased or lined cake tin.
Bake for 45 minutes at 180'C.
Depending on the moisture content of the carrot, it may take longer than 45 minutes. Simply cover with foil and cook further 10-20 minutes (skewer will come out clean when ready).
Serve by simply dusting with icing sugar or a cream cheese frosting.

YUUUMMMMYYYY!! 

From Lorne Valley Macadamia Farm

Roots Bake

I also served this along with Garden Brunch Bake with steaks/snags for the BBQ lunch with friends, and by the end of lunch, all were gone except for a couple of snags!

From Food Box

2 large potatoes

2 med parsnips

2 med swedes

1 med white sweet potato/kumera

From fridge

200ml single cream (I used leftover buttermilk from butter making other day)

105ml milk

75g grated cheddar cheese (I used a mixture of cheddar and pecorino cheese)

2 garlic cloves (being lazy, I just used the minced garlic in jar - organic Jensen's, of course)

From pantry

butter/olive oil for greasing

1 teaspoon grated nutmeg (I used half teaspoon powdered nutmeg)

sea salt and black pepper

To create

Peel all the vegies, and cut them into thin slices (I got the V-Slicer so it was a job done quicker). Place the sliced vegies into a steamer and steam till soft, approx 5 - 10 minutes and let it cool.

Meanwhile, put cream (buttermilk) and cream in a heavy pan, add garlic and bring to boil over a medium heat. Remove from heat and let stand to room temperature for about 10 minutes (this is to allow the flavour of garlic to infuse into the cream mixture).

Preheat oven to 180 degrees/160 degrees fan-forced. Have the shallow baking dish greased with butter or oil. Arrange the steamed sliced vegies in layers in the dish, sprinkle each layer with nutmeg, salt and pepper.

Pour in the cream mixture in the dish and press down the vegies into the liquid.

Cover the dish with baking paper and bake for 45 minutes.

Then remove the baking paper from dish and sprinkle cheese over the vegies in an even layer.

Return the dish to the oven and bake uncovered for a further 20-30 minutes, or until the vegies are tender and the topping is golden brown.

Yum!

I tweaked this recipe from: the Organic Cookbook by Ysanne Spevack (Lorenz Books: 2006)

Garden Brunch Bake

I baked this yesterday for an informal BBQ lunch with friends and it went very well with both adults and kids!

From Food Box

1 cup leek, diced

6 cups fresh Kale and English Spinach, chopped

2 cups fresh Broccoli, finely chopped (I used hand food processor for this)

1 teaspoon/clove of garlic

1 whole tomato, diced (I used hand food processor for this)

From pantry

2 teaspoons of oil

5 whole eggs

1/2 cup whole wheat flour (I used plain flour here as I've ran out of wholewheat flour)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 dash pepper

From fridge

2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated

To create

Have the oven preheated to 180 degrees or 160 degrees for fan-forced, and get the serving pan/tray lined with baking paper and spray all over with cooking oil.

Heat the oil in large frying pan over medium heat, add leeks and cook until translucent. Then add the chopped green vegies and put in some water if it looks dry. Cook for 3-4 minutes (it can be covered or just keep stirring like I did) until vegies are bright green and limpy enough. Add garlic and stir through then remove from heat.

In a large mixing bowl, beat 5 eggs then whisk in flour, salt and pepper. Stir in tomato and cooked vegies.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese and bake for thirty minutes, or until the centre is set. Remove from oven and serve warm or at room temperature.

Yum! 

I got this recipe from:  Garden Brunch Bake - Tasty Kitchen