On to these cookies. The batter is really easy to put together. And the macadamia nuts in the cookies are amazing. I used a batch that I’d bought on our last trip to the Sunshine Coast. If you’re ever there, you must visit the Nut Factory. There’s not much to look at, but they offer a range of macadamia nut snacks, ranging from the natural and the plain roasted to a beautiful dark chocolate covered Macadamia Nut for the chocolate lover in you and a Crunchy Hickory Macadamia for when you’re in the mood for something savory (This was one of my favorites and it goes really well with a cold beer.) The best part of the visit is you can sample some of the treats on offer. But I digress. So let’s get back to these cookies. I was specifically looking for a cookie recipe to showcase the gorgeous Macadamia Nuts and this recipe does just that.
Double Chocolate Macadamia Cookies
Adapted from: Crazy for Crust
Makes 20 cookies
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
1 large egg
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup chopped macadamia nuts
Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In a medium bowl whisk the cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and flour till they are all combined.
Cream the butter and sugar together.
Mix in the egg and vanilla till well incorporated.
Add the flour cocoa mix and mix until just incorporated.
Add the chocolate chips and the chopped macadamia nuts and fold into the cookie dough.
Scoop batter into equal sized portions onto the prepared baking tray and space them a couple of inches apart.
Bake for 9-12 minutes or until the cookies have just lost the glossy sheen.
Cool completely and then store in an air tight container.
Enjoy!!!
You can watch the video recipe here –
Shrewsbury Biscuits
It has been ages since I enjoyed one of these biscuits. If you haven’t heard of these, I don’t really blame you. I haven’t seen these at all in Australia. In India, if you are from Pune or the surrounding areas, Kayani’s Bakery was where you’d get your fix of these. And if you were really lucky, a random store in Mumbai would stock them.
This recipe has been shared with –
Full Plate Thursday @ Miz Helen’s Country Cottage
Almond Rocks
Week 4 of 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats: Chocolate Covered Pretzels
I’m not too happy with the evenness of the chocolate coating on some of them, but I think they still turned out alright. The next time I make these, I’ll either double dip them in the chocolate or I’ll cool the chocolate down a little to thicken it up a bit. I’m also very eager to try candy melts the next time around. I used mini pretzels and I think they’re just way cuter since they’re smaller. But these turned out really well. While I was dipping these in chocolate, my husband decided to help out by supposedly “tasting” some even before the chocolate had an opportunity to set up. In my experience that’s good news. He has really good taste. He isn’t fussy about food and will silently endure all the torture I put him through while I’m experimenting with new ideas. But when he really enjoys a dish, I can tell, and it makes it all worthwhile. Let me tell you this much, its hard to stop at one, or two, or even three with these bite sized treats.
Chocolate Covered Pretzels
1 packet of mini pretzels
A bar of white chocolate
Sprinkles of your choice (I used some chocolate strands and some hundreds & thousands)
Break the chocolate bar into smaller pieces and place in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for about 30 seconds. Stir and continue heating in bursts of 30 seconds till it melts and stir in between each zap, to ensure the chocolate doesn’t burn.
Prep a little assemble line of sorts on your table / counter / work platform. I placed them in this order – pretzels, melted chocolate, plate lined with baking parchment, sprinkles.
Dip the pretzels in the chocolate, and using a fork, pick it up and place it on the lined plate. Sprinkle the ‘sprinkles’ over it as desired.
Leave it to set. I usually pop it in the fridge for about 20 minutes.
There you go. That how quick, simple and easy this is. Repeat the process till you’re done. You can also use milk or dark chocolate if you prefer.
Don’t forget to check what the others have put together this week. We will be posting one new recipe every week for 8 more weeks so don’t forget to stop by every Wednesday for a new idea. If you’d like to join in and cook / bake with us, you can sign up at Brenda, our hosts blog, Meal Planning Magic.
Week 3 of 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats: Coconut Ladoos aka Coconut Snowballs
At the start of this years edition of 12 WOCT I said I would bring you recipes that were quick and easy to put together at home. Todays treat definitely fits the bill. It is quick and easy to prepare and so very delicious (ofcourse, I’m biased towards coconut). Nevertheless, these dainty treats will sure look so festive on a Christmas platter. Typically in India, they make these ladoos for Indian festivals like Diwali, but you’ll also see them make an appearance on some Christmas platters. In the past I have made other coconut treats like this Coconut Toffee for which I use a candy thermometer. This deliciously coconutty treat doesn’t need one and that suits me just fine since I’m starting out all over again without the luxury of my fully equipped kitchen back in Mumbai. So without any further delay, here’s this weeks treat – the humble Coconut Ladoo.
Coconut Ladoos
Yields: 12-15 pieces
125g desiccated coconut
1/2 tin of condensed milk
4 pods of cardamom
Peel the cardamom pods and powder the seeds.
Mix 100g of the coconut, the condensed milk and the powdered cardamom seeds in a non stick pan.
Place it on medium heat for about 5 minutes (or till the mix can be rolled into little balls), stirring frequently.
Leave it to cool for about 5-10 minutes or till it is cool enough to be handled.. The mix needs to be warm while shaping.
Take a spoonful of the mix into your hands and shape into balls and roll it through the remaining desiccated coconut.
Repeat with the rest of the mix.
Enjoy!!!
Don’t forget to check what the others have put together this week. We will be posting one new recipe every week for 9 more weeks so don’t forget to stop by every Wednesday for a new idea. If you’d like to join in and cook / bake with us, you can sign up at Brenda, our hosts blog, Meal Planning Magic.
This recipe is linked to –
Tuesday Talent Show
Diwali Delicacies @ Spicy Treats and Priya’s Versatile Recipes
How to make Marzipan from scratch!!!
heat for exactly 7 minutes.
– If the marzipan turns too dry add a couple of drops of rose water and knead till it reaches desired consistency.
– If the marzipan is slightly moister than you’d like, knead with some icing sugar till it reaches the desired consistency.
– If the dough is too moist, put in back on the fire for a minute or so and stir. This step is usually not needed. I had to do this just once when using a different stovetop and the lowest flame was way to low than what you’d find on a regular stove top.
Week 9 of 12WOCC: 2nd issue of Double Treats … Coconut Toffee & Milk Cream
As promised in last weeks post, this week as well, I’m sharing 2 lovely treats. One is a little time consuming, the other far quicker. Both of these can be found on the traditional Goan Christmas sweets platter. These are none other than Milk Cream and Coconut Toffee. I simply love them both very much. I remember when I was a kid, my Nana (may she rest in peace), would be solely responsible for whipping up the coconut toffee and to this day I remember, she would tinker about the kitchen for about 15-20 minutes at the most and voila, the coconut toffee was ready. We then simply had to wait for it to cool. I’ve always been a big coconut toffee lover (Bounty being one of my favourite candy bars) but since my Nana passed away, we never made this any more. I wonder why. This year that is about to change.
Coconut Toffee
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
2 cups desiccated coconut (unsweetened)
A pinch of ground cardamom seeds
A couple of drops of food colour of your choice
Clarified butter for greasing the plate
Place the sugar and water in a heavy bottomed saucepan and place on a medium flame. Cook till it reaches 235ºF on a candy thermometer.
Grease a steel / aluminium plate or cookie sheet using ghee / clarified butter.
When the sugar solution reaches the desired temperate, add the coconut, cardamom powder and food colour. Mix well and take it off the fire.
Pour the mix onto the greased pan and flatten out evenly.
Let it cool for a while and then cut into squares.
Enjoy your coconut toffee!!!
Moving onto the milk cream. It is a time consuming recipe and you will be tempted to turn up the gas. Please don’t. You get a lighter coloured end result if it is cooked on a slow flame. Do not leave it unattended.
Milk Cream
Pour the mixture onto a steel plate and stir to cool a little.
Watch the video recipe here –
Don’t forget to stop by next week for the 3rd issue of Double Treats.
I can’t wait to see what the others have brought to the table this week. Go ahead and check it out –
Date Rolls
Date Rolls
(Make 35-40 depending on the size)
200g all purpose flour
100g butter
60g fine sugar
200g dates, cut into strips
200g walnuts, sliced (optional)
1 egg
Yolk of an egg for glazing
Beat the butter till fluffy.
Add the sugar and beat till fluffy again.
Add 1 well beaten egg and beat till incorporated with the sugar and butter.
Fold in the flour and mix till well blended. Knead lightly till it forms a dough. If the dough is too soft, refrigerate for around 10-15 minutes before rolling it out.
Roll it out to a rectangular piece to a 1/4″ thickness. Cut into 1 1/2 – 2″ squares.
Put 2 strips of date and walnut (if you’re using walnuts) on each roll and roll it up. Apply a little water to seal the edges.
Place on a well greased baking tray leaving about an inch of space between any 2 pieces.
Using a pastry brush, brush the top of each roll with egg yolk for a glazed look.
Bake for 10-15 minutes at 160ºC.
Cool completely before storing in an airtight container.
This recipe has been linked to Sweets for a Saturday @ Sweets as Sugar Cookies, hosted by the lovely Lisa.
You should spend some time browsing her blog. She makes some lovely treats.
Also, don’t forget to check the others have submitted this week.
Final Week of 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies: Jujups
Considering how close we are to Christmas and how swamped I am with things that need to be done around my house and in my kitchen, I haven’t baked anything for this weeks round up. Now that doesn’t mean I didn’t bake anything. There’s a load of stuff happening in the kitchen … more on that later. However, it also doesn’t mean that I’m going to skip this weeks submission. This week I’d like to showcase what we in India call ‘Jujups’. This is a lovely sugary treat that can be made in a number of flavors and colors. Its quite a hit with kids. I haven’t yet made jujups this year, so I’m going to add a picture from last year. I will add a better picture when I make it this time around.
Don’t forget to check out what the others have put up this week!
Week 12 Twelve Weeks of Christmas: