xmas 2022 - chocolate crinkle cookies

xmas 2022 - chocolate crinkle cookies

23 Dec 2022

Last year I wanted to make a batch of lemon crinkle cookies for the cookie box but ran out of time. In the end I'm glad, because when I made the lemon crinkle cookies a few weeks ago, I was underwhelmed with their flavour. Even though there was 1 tbs of lemon rind in the mix, they barely tasted of lemon, so it's back to the drawing board. 

Undefeated I turned to option number 2 - chocolate crinkle cookies. I'd already bookmarked a Jill Dupleix recipe and made a teeny addition to the recipe by adding some espresso powder. I also made the cookies a little smaller but otherwise they were made as written. As the cookies are made with oil, they're dairy-free and take no time to put together. Please note, the chilling time is not optional so it's best to start this recipe a few hours before baking or the day before.

Here's the recipe for you which makes 24 cookies. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Jill Dupleix – Chocolate crinkle cookies - makes 24
Ingredients
180g caster sugar 
50g unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp espresso powder
1 tsp vanilla extract 
100ml vegetable oil
2 large eggs
180g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp sea salt

For rolling
50g caster sugar
100g icing sugar

Method
In a mixing bowl, beat the sugar, cocoa powder, espresso powder, vanilla extract and oil with an electric mixer until thick and glossy.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well.

Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt, and combine until it forms into a soft, thick dough. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours, or overnight, to firm up.

Heat the oven to 180°C conventional and line two baking trays with baking paper. Place the caster sugar and the icing sugar on two separate plates.

Using a dessertspoon take about 24 grams of the mixture and roll into a ball between your palms. Roll in the caster sugar until lightly coated, then in the icing sugar until heavily coated. Place on the trays 5cm apart and repeat with remaining dough.

Bake for 12-14 minutes or until the tops are set and nicely cracked. Leave to cool on the tray for 5 minutes, then cool completely on a wire rack before storing in an airtight container.

Now I've nibbled on a few of these cookies and I can assure you that they're very, very good and best of all, deeply chocolatey.

That's the final post for me for the year and what a year it has been. I'm going to take a few weeks break from the blog and will see you again mid-January 2023.

Bye for now,

Jillian

Read more

gluten free brownie bites

gluten free brownie bites

30 Nov 2020

What's a brownie bite I hear you ask? Also known as a brookie, it's somewhere between a cookie and a brownie. I used a Liz Prueitt recipe I found on instagram and adapted it a little to use what I had in the cupboard. I didn't have any walnuts so I used toasted hazelnuts instead. I swapped olive oil for the butter to make these dairy free and I also dropped the sugar a little because in general US baked goods are much sweeter than ours. Whilst they were a hit at work, I still found the cookies a little too sweet. The batter was so soft I refrigerated it before scooping out the cookies just before baking. It seemed to work out okay and 10 minutes baking time seemed just right to produce a crinkly top but still soft interior.

Here's the recipe for you which makes 18-24 small cookies. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C. 

 

Gluten free brownie bites, adapted from a Liz Prueitt recipe.

Ingredients  

2 large eggs, at room temperature 

125 g caster sugar

½ tsp vanilla extract 

¼ tsp salt 

30g olive oil 

225 g melted 70% chocolate, cooled 

45g buckwheat flour, sifted 

100g coarsely chopped toasted hazelnuts or pecans, walnuts or macadamias. Sea salt flakes 

 

Method 

Line 2 baking trays with baking paper or silicone sheets and set to one side.

 

In the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attached, whisk the eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt for 5 minutes or until light and frothy. Drizzle in the oil a little at a time until incorporated. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, gently fold through the cooled chocolate, followed by the buckwheat flour and the chopped nuts. When mixed you should have a soft dough. Cover then place the bowl in the fridge for 30 minutes to allow the mixture to firm before shaping. 

 

Preheat oven to 190°C, conventional. Using a small scoop or a tablespoon, spoon out small mounds of the mixture leaving room to spread. It’s quite a sticky mixture so I dipped the scoop in a little warm water before shaping each cookie. You should be able to fit 12 cookies onto each tray.

 

Sprinkle the tops of each cookie with a few flakes of sea salt then place in the oven and bake for 5 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven and bang the pan a few times to flatten out the cookies. Rotate the tray and return to the oven for another 5-6 minutes until the cookies are mostly set but the tops are still soft. 

 

Allow the cookies to cool for 10 minutes before removing from the tray and placing on a cooling rack. When cold, store in an airtight container.

 

My workmates love all things chocolate so it was no surprise that the brownie bites were a hit at work. 

 

I hope you all enjoyed your weekends. See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

 

Bye for now,

 

Jillian

Read more

passover week 2019 - blood orange marmalade cakes

passover week 2019 - blood orange marmalade cakes

15 Apr 2019

Welcome to Passover week 2019. Some of these recipes have been lurking in my Passover folder since last year whilst others I've recently located. The recipe for these blood orange marmalade cakes is a bit of a hybrid. I found a recipe for a gluten free mandarin orange blossom cake in a magazine, then realised it could be eaten at Passover and made dairy free as well with minimal tweaking.



Flicking through my copy of the Cook and Baker cookbook, I saw a picture of some mandarin marmalade cakes topped with flaked almonds and home made marmalade and completely stole the idea to come up with these little cakes.



I have a bottle of homemade blood orange marmalade hiding in the cupboard, so pulled it out to make these cakes. I figure you could use any Passover friendly homemade jam or marmalade to make these cakes. I'd pick something with a bit of tang and you could always change the citrus peel to match the flavour of the jam you use.



The original recipe used melted butter but I swapped it for olive oil to make the recipe dairy free.



Here's the recipe for you. For all my recipes I use a 250 ml cup, a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C. 

Blood orange marmalade cakes - makes 9 small cakes
Ingredients
2 eggs separated
Pinch salt
⅓ cup caster sugar
1 cup almond meal
30mls olive oil
2 tsp grated orange zest 
⅓ cup marmalade
¼ cup flaked almonds

Preheat oven to 170°C. Place 9 cupcake liners into a muffin tin or grease and line the base of each tin with a small piece of baking paper. I also floured the tins with some superfine matzo meal.

Place egg whites with a pinch of salt in a bowl and beat to soft peaks. Gradually add the caster sugar beating until dissolved. Continue to beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold in the egg yolks. Fold the almond meal, olive oil and orange zest through. Spoon into pans. 

Sprinkle a few flaked almonds over the tops of the cakes. Dollop a spoonful of marmalade over each cake then sprinkle remaining flaked almonds over the marmalade. Bake 25 – 30 minutes until the cakes are cooked when tested with a skewer. Cool completely in tin. Before serving you can sprinkle over some homemade icing sugar or leave plain.



I took these into work and they were a surprise hit particularly with my gluten free colleague.

See you all again tomorrow with some more Passover treats.

Bye for now,

Jillian

Read more