short but sweet - vanilla & almond crescent cookies

Last week I turned my apartment into a sauna. I guess you could say it was my way of doing a pre-Christmas detox.

For some idiotic reason I thought it'd be a genius idea to bake cookies and mince pies in my little kitchen on the hottest night in Sydney in 159 years. Am I mad? I'm starting to think so. It was so unbearably hot that I slept with an ice pack and Arthur didn't leave the bathroom tiles unless it was to play with the ice cubes I gave him to cool off. It took a good 2 days to finally feel the cool change... oh how I miss summers best friend - the afternoon southerly!

But amongst the heat I baked: what felt like batches and batches of Christmas mince pies - homemade mincemeat and all, panforte - which I've come to realise, I don't actually like eating but wish I could turn it into a scented candle, WP chocolate cookies - delicious but unexpected, gingerbread snowflakes - on the crispier side, vanilla and almond crescent cookies from Classic German Baking and also almond toffee that is my absolute weakness covered in dark chocolate.

A little late but I guess better then never, I thought I'd share a Christmas cookie recipe with you for any keen bakers out there wanting a last minute christmas gift or like me, have a shortbread christmas breakfast tradition. These little crescent shaped cookies are drowned in icing sugar and melt in your mouth. Perfect on Christmas morning with a cuppa in pyjamas.

I wish everyone a wonderful Christmas and hope their day is full of all the best things... good company, great food and lots of laughs. Stay safe my lovelies x

vanilla and almond crescent cookies

recipe from Classic German Baking by Luisa Weiss (ever so slightly adapted)

175g plain flour
120g butter, at room temperature
250g icing sugar
100g blanched ground almonds or almond meal
2 tablespoon vanillezucker/vanilla sugar * (or super fine caster sugar + 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
1 egg yolk
pinch salt

- Put the flour, butter, 50g of icing mixture, 1 tablespoon of vanillezucker/vanilla sugar (or caster + extract), ground almonds, egg yolk and salt in a bowl of a stand mixture with the flat paddle attachment and beat until all ingredients are combined. If making by hand, place above ingredients into a medium bowl and combine using a had mixer on low and then bringing the dough together with a wooden spoon at the end or mix entirely with a wooden spoon.

- Split the dough into three equal portions and roll reach piece into 2.5cm thick cylinders. Wrap in cling film and place in the fridge for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.

- Preheat oven to 165C/325F and line 2 baking trays with baking paper when you are ready to bake.

- Remove logs from the refrigerator and slice each log into 12mm slices. Roll out each slice until it's about 5cm long and the ends are tapered but not pointy. Place on prepared trays and repeat with remaining dough. Space the cookies about 2.5cm between them on all sides.

- Bake for about 10 - 15 minutes or until ever so slightly browned on top.

- While the cookies are baking, mix together the remaining icing sugar and vanillezucker/vanilla sugar (if using) in a shallow bowl. When the cookies come out of the oven, let them cool for only a minute or two and very carefully dredge them completely in the sugar. Cool the dredged cookies on a wire rack and if still sticky, dredge a second time in the sugar to get an extra powdery coating.

- The cooled cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.

*vanillezucker/vanilla sugar
2 cups granulated white sugar
1 vanilla bean, cut into quarters

Place all ingredients into a food processor and blitz until the vanilla bean is finely ground and well distributed, the sugar should be powdery/very fine. Store in an airtight container indefinitely.

Lemon Maple Granola from A Modern Way to Eat by Anna Jones.

It was one of those morning yesterday where I didn't want to get out of bed. I could have quite happily stayed under the covers all day with a pile of cookbooks to keep me company and thats it.

The only plus side was that I had homemade granola waiting for me, all I needed to add was thick greek yoghurt and fresh strawberries. It was amazing.

A few weeks ago I made the Lemon Maple Granola from Anna Jones's cookbook 'A Modern way to Eat' and then made it again since then it was so good. My old pickle jar which works great in its second life as a granola jar will soon be empty, I don't even think I can last until Friday which is a scary thought. I might be making a batch of granola after night classes on Thursday... I will have definitely gone granola mad if that happens. I need my fix in the mornings!!

I hated breakfast as a kid. How things have changed. My parents would drill it into me that I needed to eat a huge breakfast to get me through the day and they were right, I just never liked it. On week days, before school I would have to eat a bowl of fruit, a bowl of cereal and a piece of toast with a glass of orange juice to wash it all down. Weekend breakfasts weren't fun either, I hated eggs growing up so unless I got pancakes, breakfast was always a let down. I'd have rather eaten a bowl of spaghetti in the mornings instead.

Since I've grown up I love weekend breakfast and all eggs whether they are runny, hard, soft, scrambled, boiled, poached or fried but I never have time to make eggs of any sorts on the weekdays as I am running out the door like a mad woman. So for a while weekday breakfasts were a chore, I used to scoff down some dry cereal and that was that. Until I discovered home-made granola. It's a revelation. I'm fussy when it comes to cereals, they are either overly sweet, have too much 'fake' vanilla flavour or are heavy on the cinnamon and always have random bits of fruit in them. Making my own means I don't spend 5 minutes fishing out the mysterious yellow squares of dried fruit in my bowl that are listed as 'tropical' fruit on the box.

Anna Jones's Lemon Maple Granola is seriously delicious. The lemon gives is very subtle in the mix is a lovely freshness that gives you kick in the mornings and goes great with the sweet maple and earthiness of all the seeds and grains. It's quite a nubbly granola mix with all the seeds, baked dried fruit and nuts so goes great having some fresh fruit to serve with it and of course a healthy dollop or two of greek yogurt. It ticks all the boxes in the morning that a breakfast should do.

I now wake up and look forward to my granola in the mornings, just wish I could take it make to bed with me along with a book rather than leaving the house.

Thinking of making this one next which Amelia from Bon Appetempt makes with her son, Teddy. Am going on a dried cherry hunt this weekend, just need to hold out until then and refrain the crazy lady inside of me from making midnight granola.

Lemon Maple Granola

recipe adapted from A Modern Way to Eat by Anna Jones
makes 1 large jar

8 tablespoons maple syrup
2 large handfuls (150g) rolled oats
2 large handfuls (150g) quinoa flakes
1 handful (40g) pumpkin seeds
1 handful (40g) sunflower seeds
1 large handful (80g) almonds, chopped
1 handful (30g) unsweetened desiccated coconut
grated zest of 1 lemon
a handful (50g) of dried currants
a handful (50g) of dried cranberries

- Preheat oven to 180C or 400F and lightly grease two large baking trays with some butter or vegetable oil.

- In a large bowl add your oats, quinoa flakes, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds, coconut, lemon zest and roughly mix until everything is spread evenly throughout. Pour over the maple syrup and give it a really good mix so all the little flakes and seeds are coated, don't rush this bit.

- Divide the mixture onto your two large trays and bake for a total of 30 minutes, but stir every 5-10 minutes to get an even colouring. You may need to bake it for a little longer or a little less, depending on how strong your oven is but in the last 10 minutes of baking try and throw in your dried currants and cranberries. This will turn them into sticky, almost caramelised, chewy nuggets throughout the granola.

- Once it is a lovely golden colour, allow to cool completely in trays then transfer cooled mix into an airtight jar or container. The granola will last up to 4 weeks, although mine never seems to last that long as the jar seems to be forever empty.

- Serve with some thick greek yoghurt and chopped fresh fruit.

Mexican Wedding Cakes and bringing in 2016.

A belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone!

Over Christmas and New Years I ate and drank my body weight in food, bubbles and lychee martini's, times about a billion. My clothes feel like they're busting at the zippers and I have an extra layer to keep me warm for these stupid humid days Sydney has had this week. But it's a new year so that means a fresh start. I have a whole list of new years resolutions which I have written down on a scrap piece of paper and stored it in my laptop case in hopes no one will find it and see the long list I have written for myself. I'm am excited for what this year holds but there is a niggle of doubt I keep feeling now and then that I can't shake. What if I get to the end of the year and feel the same as last year which was to be honest... meh.

Last year was a year of meh... I turned 27 and I didn't want to. I flat out wanted to skip it and stay 26 for another year then jump to 28 next year, good plan don't you think? 27 is an ugly number (sorry to everyone else who is also 27), I think I dislike this specific age also because I'm not where I thought I would be at 27. I know I know! Expectations aren't everything but I think it's a hard thing to come to terms with when you think you'll be somewhere and then you arrive at 27 and you are no where near it. But I know 27 isn't that bad in reality, if anything getting to 27 and realising there is more I wanted to do by now has given me a kick up the butt to get a move on. I've made a 'before 30' list.... scary!!

One thing that came of 2015 is that I started enjoying baking and being back in the kitchen again. It could have been because I stole my mums stand mixer don't plan on giving it back or it could also be because I no longer work in a commercial kitchen. Do I miss working in a commercial kitchen? honestly... some days yes but mostly I'm glad thats not me anymore. Will I ever go back? maybe, maybe not but definitely not yet. Do I still love food and cooking? yes and if so, even more than before. Am I ready to find what else is out there? for sure! But what I want this year is not to worry about what I do to pay the bill and try to focus on what I do with my time. I want to live outside more, get my hands a little dirty, not worry about the small things, spend less on things I don't need, be grateful with what I have and enjoy my time with those around me, this world to so big and life is too short.

Ah what a rant!

I originally started writing this post to share these Mexican Wedding Cake biscuits I made for work colleagues as a Christmas gift but seem to have got very side tracked in it being a new years rant and all that sha-bang. I also made these biscuits again the other day because when I first made them I only got to eat one (ok maybe 2) to make sure they were as delicious as Jessica from Sweet Amandine said they were. I adapted the recipe slightly but I think I did her proud. They are little balls of nutty shortbread coated in a thick dusting, actually more of a coating of icing sugar that practically explode when you bite into them. They are nutty and not too sweet. There isn't that much sugar in the biscuit itself but it's when you coat them in icing sugar while they are still warm is where the magic of these cookies happens. It starts to melt into a layer which coats the whole cookie, then you dust them a 2nd time for that pretty white snow-like look. The trick is to not touch them until they are completely cool, I put them int he fridge for 5 min.

The first time I made them with toasted pecans but then when I made them the other day I burnt the pecans in the oven so made them with almonds instead. Both were delicious but I think I'm a pecan girl. I'm wondering if toasted macadamias would also work well, I'll have to give them a go and keep you posted. These make wonderful little gifts and go amazingly well with a cup of tea at about 3pm or really any time of the day, breakfast included.

Life's too short to not make and eat these little morsels of goodness, even if it does mean that the button on my jeans take a little longer to do up.

Here's to 2016 and it being less meh than 2015!!

Mexican Wedding Cakes

makes about 40
(recipe adapted from Sweet Amandine)

225g butter, softened
70g icing sugar (plus approx. 250g extra for the sugar coating)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
250g plain flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
130g toasted and ground pecans (or almonds)

- Beat the butter, 70g icing sugar and vanilla until pale and fluffy, scraping the sides down to make sure everything is mixed well together. Then beat in the flour and toasted, ground pecans (or almonds) until well combined.

- Divide the dough in half and form each half into a ball. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minuets or overnight. (If you chill the dough overnight you will need to let it sit at room temp for about 20-30 minuets before you can scoop it, but don't let it get too warm. It should be cold but scoop-able.)

- Preheat your oven to 180C (160C fan forced) or 350F and line a baking tray with baking paper. Then place your 250g of extra icing sugar into a bowl or pie dish.

- Now it's time to get rollin'! Remove one half of the dough from the fridge and using a level tablespoonful of dough for each cookie, roll it into balls using the palms of your hands and arrange them about half an inch apart on your lined baking tray.

- Bake for about 15-17 minutes, until the cookies are a flush darker on top and are golden brown on the bottoms. Cool the cookies for about 5 minuets on the baking sheet then toss them in the icing sugar then place them on a cooking rack. Do this to all the warm cookies then toss them in the icing mixture a second time to give them an extra coating. Repeat with the remaining dough.

- Wait until the icing sugar coated cookies are completely cool before storing (I placed the warm dusted cookies in the fridge for about 5 minutes to set the sugar coating). They will keep for up to a week in an airtight container - if they can last that long!