It is starting to become a weekend tradition that Maggie (my daughter) and I cook something together from one of her cookbooks (e.g. Reverse Chocolate Chip Cookies).

She’s got a few in her collection now, including ‘cooking’ sections from craft books and magazines.  Her favourite thing on a Friday afternoon is to leaf through them and choose a recipe to make on the weekend.   Needless to say she’s a ‘chip off the old block’ as this is exactly what I love to do too – sitting down with a pile of cookbooks and recipes pondering the many culinary possibilities that await.  It’s somehow both comforting and scary to see the gene pool so obviously in action.

Anyway, a couple of weekends ago it was a toss up between Chocolate Brownies and a refrigerator cake.   Chocolate Brownies won out, so it was aprons on, spatulas at the ready and into the kitchen.

This was actually the first time I’ve ever made brownies, or should I say assisted with cooking brownies, which is surprising given how long I’ve been playing around in the kitchen. The only chocolate to hand was good old Cadbury Dairy Milk, which certainly did the recipe justice.

Brownies are supposed to be ‘gooey’ on the inside while firm on the outside, and these were definitely that.  They were a huge hit (definitely not for those on a diet), didn’t last long and have made it into the ‘make again’ pile.  Hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

Chocolate Brownies

Ingredients

90g plain chocolate

150g butter

1 cup plain flour

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 3/4 cups brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

Method

Preheat oven to 180C (350F).  Grease and line the base of a 20 x 30cm baking tin.

Break the chocolate into pieces and add the butter cut into cubes.  Melt the chocolate and butter either on low in the microwave, using a double boiler or in a glass bowl over a saucepan of simmering water.  Stir well to combine and remove from heat.  Allow to cool slightly.

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder into a separate bowl.  In another bowl, beat the eggs then add the sugar and vanilla.  Stir until just combined.  Fold the melted chocolate mixture into the eggs, followed by the flour mixture.  Stir until all the flour is combined.

Spoon into prepared pan and smooth the top.  Bake for 25 minutes.   Allow to cool in the tin before cutting into squares.

The Klutzy Cook Notes

A great addition to the brownies would be some nuts.  About 100g of chopped nuts can be added when stirring through the flour.  Try pecans, walnuts or peanuts.

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Last Christmas my daughter received some great cooking cards as a gift, and ever since she trots them out on a regular basis and we pick a recipe to make together.  Although she’s a bit of a savoury girl, the sweet cards always seem to come out first, probably because the pictures make the food look so good.

One of our favourites so far has been the ‘chocolate cookies’ card.  There are a few variations that can be made and our most recent (and most popular) was what we dubbed ‘Reverse Chocolate Chip Cookies’.  The reason they’re reversed is the chocolate chips are white instead of the usual milk chocolate, and the biscuit itself is chocolate rather than just a plain biscuit base.

Reverse Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes about 20 cookies

Ingredients

125g (4oz) unsalted butter, softened

90g (3oz) soft light brown sugar

90g (3oz) caster sugar

1 egg

125g (4oz) chocolate spread

2-3 drops vanilla extract

200g (7oz) plain flour

30g (1oz) cocoa powder

Pinch salt

½ tsp of baking powder

150g (5oz) white chocolate chips

Method

Preheat oven to 180C (350F).  Grease baking trays – 2 to 3 will be required depending on their size.

Add butter and both sugars to a large bowl and beat until mixture is creamy and fluffy.  Add the egg, chocolate spread and extract to the mixture and beat until well combined.

Sieve the flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder into a separate bowl and mix gently together to ensure ingredients are uniformly mixed.  Add the sieved flour mixture to the chocolate mixture and gently mix them together with a wooden spoon.  Stir in the chocolate chips.

Place heaped dessert spoonfuls of the cookie dough onto baking trays.  Ensure to leave enough space between each mound to allow for spreading.

Bake for 14 minutes.  Remove trays from oven and allow cookies to ‘set’ for a couple of minutes then transfer to a wire cooling rack.

The Klutzy Cook Notes

• When the cookies come out of the oven they will be soft.  They will harden as they cool.
• If you don’t have enough trays, simply cook them a batch at a time.

Every Christmas the kids and I love to make up a batch of Christmas Balls.  This year we did Choc Cherry and Apricot flavours.  They are a great homemade gift for teachers, friends, family and all those other people in your life you want to give a small gift to at this time of year.

Making a combination of flavours also gives a mix of colours which look great when they are packaged up.  For packaging you can use any gift box (noodle boxes, little cardboard boxes or chocolate boxes are good) or clear bags.  Simply tie a bit of festive ribbon around them and it’s ready to go.  Here’s how we packaged them (featuring my helper Maggie).

The balls can be made ahead of time and refrigerated or frozen so they are ready when you need them.

Choc Cherry Balls

Ingredients

425g Cherry Ripe bars
250g packet plain chocolate biscuits
395g can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup desiccated coconut
Extra desiccated coconut

Method

Chop the chocolate bars.

Chopped Cherry Ripe

Process the biscuits to a fine crumb.

Chocolate Crumbs

Combine chocolate, biscuits, condensed milk and coconut in a bowl and mix well (don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty).

Choc Cherry Ball Mix

Roll a teaspoon of mix into a ball and roll in coconut.

Rolling Choc Cherry Balls

Apricot Balls

Ingredients

400g dried apricots, chopped
250g packet plain sweet biscuits
395g can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup desiccated coconut
Extra desiccated coconut

Method

Process the biscuits to a fine crumb.

Combine apricots, biscuits, condensed milk and coconut in a bowl and mix well (don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty).

Apricot Balls ready to mix

Roll a teaspoon of mix into a ball and roll in coconut.

Apricot Balls ready to roll

The Klutzy Cook Notes

• Cherry Ripe chocolate bars combine cherries, coconut and dark chocolate.  Any similar chocolate bar could be used, or even experiment with different flavours.
• The chocolate bars and apricots are most easily chopped using a food processor.
• I used Arnotts Chocolate Ripple and Marie biscuits.
• The balls can be refrigerated for a couple of weeks or frozen for 6 weeks.  So make plenty ahead of time and use as required.

What other flavours could we make for Christmas Balls?  Please let me know below.

There is no doubt about it, a cup of tea or coffee always is more enjoyable with a small sweet treat to go with it. This Chocolate Mint Slice is a perfect example and the beauty is it’s an easy baking recipe that can be mixed all in one bowl.

What is also nice about this slice is that it has a slight crunch (thanks to the Weet Bix) and a hint of peppermint. Delicious!

Chocolate Mint Slice

Chocolate Mint Slice

Adapted from Recipes, Jul/Aug 2007

Ingredients

125g butter, diced
¼ teaspoon peppermint essence
½ cup sugar
½ cup desiccated coconut
¾ cup self-raising flour
3 Weet-Bix crushed
1 egg, beaten
¼ cup cocoa

Method

Preheat oven to 180C/360F. Grease a slice pan (26x16cm) or line it with baking paper. The latter makes it easier to lift the slice from the pan when it’s cooked.

Place the butter in a large microwave-safe bowl and melt (MEDIUM for approximately 2 minutes). Cool slightly then stir in all the remaining ingredients. Mix well and press into the prepared pan.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until firm. Cool, remove from pan and cut into slices. Dust with icing sugar before serving.

The Klutzy Cook Notes

Weet Bix

Weet Bix are an Australian breakfast cereal made from wholegrain wheat and shaped like a biscuit bar. If something similar is not available, add an extra ½ cup of flour.