biscuits

SALTED CARAMEL & HAZELNUT FILLED SOFT COOKIES – Recipe

Posted on by misterbowtie

SALTED CARAMEL & HAZELNUT FILLING Ingredients:

  • 150g (2/3 Cup) Caster Sugar
  • 50ml (4 Tablespoons) Water
  • 60g (1/4 Cup) Thickened Cream
  • 35g (2 + 1/2 Tablespoons) Unsalted Butter
  • 1/2 + 1/8 Tsp Salt or to taste
  • 180g (1/2 + 2/3 Cups) Hazelnuts, Coarsely Chopped

METHOD:

  1. Preheat oven to 150C (300F), roast the hazelnuts on a pan for 10-15 minutes.
  2. Rub the skins off with a damp tea towel, repeat this process until the hazelnuts are skinned and golden in color.
  3. The tougher to skin ones I find will come right off after you let it cool off, then just rub between your fingers.
  4. Chop them coarsely into sort of 1/4’s irregular pieces. They do not need to be neat, it gives more texture that way but avoid having too many full nuts as it would be hard to fill cookies.
  5. Over medium-high heat, cook the sugar and water in a medium heavy bottomed saucepan without stirring.
  6. Once the sugar dissolves and mixture turns a dark amber color, add the cream. * Be careful as the mixture will bubble and spit a little.
  7. Swirl and stir it until it subsides, about 30 seconds – remove from heat.
  8. Stir in the butter & salt, then the chopped hazelnuts till combined.
  9. Allow to cool completely and check if it is almost firm but barely pliable. This is the correct level of cooking for the caramel.
  10. Spoon mixture whilst lukewarm onto one inner side of cookie, then sandwich another over the top. About the thickness of the cookie or less is good.
  11. The more you add the richer it is and messier it may get – and you want the flavour to be balanced.

 

SOFT, VANILLA COOKIES Ingredients:

  • 113g (1/2 Cup) Unsalted Butter, Room Temp
  • 100g (1/2 Cup) White/Granulated Sugar
  • 1 Large Egg, Room Temp
  • 1 + 1/4 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • 156g (1 + 1/4 Cups) Plain/All-Purpose Flour
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Baking Powder
  • 1/8 Teaspoon Salt

METHOD:

  1. Preheat oven to 180C (350F).
  2. Grease & line 2 large baking trays with baking paper.
  3. Whisk together the dry ingredients until combined.
  4. Cream butter and sugar till fluffy and pale.
  5. Beat in the vanilla & egg.
  6. Scrape down base and sides and beat in flour mix just till combined.
  7. Take 1 teaspoon or so of dough and roll into a ball.
  8. Leave 2″ between every cookie and bake for 12 minutes until set and lightly golden around edges. These are very soft, if you prefer a bit more crisp then bake for few more minutes till more colored.
  9. Cool completely before filling with nut-caramel.
  10. To apply filling, simply warm the caramel if it is set just until it is soft and pliable.
  11. Spoon as much as you like and place it onto one side of the cookie, use greased finger to smooth it out till it is just within the edge.
  12. Lightly press the other biscuit of the pair on top. They caramel can ooze a little if it is still too warm so have a bit of room for that.

MAPLE BLUEBERRY CHEESECAKE COOKIES – Recipe

Posted on by misterbowtie

THUMBPRINT COOKIES Ingredients:

  • 225g (1 Cup) Unsalted Butter, Room Temp
  • 63g (1/2 Cup) Pure Icing/Confectioners Sugar
  • 2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
  • Pinch of Salt
  • 250g (2 Cups) Plain/All-Purpose Flour

 

METHOD:

  1. Beat butter and sugar on high till pale and creamy.
  2. Scrape down the bowl, beat in vanilla and salt.
  3. Mix in flour on medium-low speed just till combined.
  4. Bring dough together into a ball, cover and chill for 30-60 minutes until it is firm.
  5. Roll tablespoons of dough into a ball.
  6. Place on baking paper-lined large baking tray and press down each ball with a your thumb to make an indent at the centre. Use index finger and thumb to start shaping the sides neatly whilst also pressing the indent down to make a neat cookie with an indent about 1cm in height. This should fix any cracks too.
  7. The idea is to make it deep but not too wide.
  8. Fill with cheesecake filling just a little under the brim to leave room for the macerated berries.
  9. Bake for 20 minutes at 160C (325F) or until golden and puffy on middle rack of oven.
  10. Cool for 5 minutes before transferring onto cooling rack.
  11. Cookies can be stored airtight at room temperature for couple of days. Otherwise store in fridge and bring to room temperature before serving.

 

MACERATED BLUEBERRIES Ingredients:

  • 125g (1 Punnet) Fresh Blueberries
  • 113g (1/2 Cup) Caster Sugar
  • 1 Teaspoon Lemon Zest
  • 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
  • 3 Tablespoons Maple Syrup

METHOD:

  1. Combine all ingredients except maple syrup in a bowl or airtight container.
  2. Let stand for 15 minutes before giving it another stir to mix evenly.
  3. The sugar should mostly be dissolved and drawn out the berries liquid after an hour or so.
  4. Stir in the maple syrup.
  5. Macerate for at least a day or overnight. Two days should be fine for a thick-skinned berry like this, but keep an eye on the condition. Do not go for too many days as the berry can also break down too much.
  6. You can store in the fridge after the first day.
  7. Strain out the berries to bake into cheesecake filling or serve on top of baked cookies.
  8. Keep chilled in airtight container until serving. Good at room temperature or cold.

 

CHEESECAKE FILLING Ingredients

  • 115g (4 Oz) Cream Cheese, Room Temp
  • 84g (Heaped 1/3 Cup) Caster Sugar
  • 1 Large Egg Yolk
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • Pinch of Salt

METHOD:

  1. Beat cream cheese till smooth and lump free, scraping down base and sides of bowl halfway.
  2. Beat together with rest of the ingredients till smooth & creamy.

HONEY, POPPY SEED BISCOTTI – Recipe

Posted on by misterbowtie

  • 340g (1 Cup) Honey
  • 80g (1/3 Cup) Unsalted Butter
  • 1 Tablespoon Pure Vanilla Extract
  • 4 Large (160g) Egg Whites
  • 450g (3 + 2/3 Cups) Plain/All Purpose Flour
  • 10g Baking Powder
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Cardamom
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Cinnamon
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
  • 50g (1/3 Cup) Poppy Seed
  • 160g (1 Cup, Packed) Raisins/Sultanas

METHOD:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180C (350F). Grease a large baking pan with non-stick vegetable oil spray, then line with baking paper.
  2. Combine honey, very soft butter and vanilla in processor whilst gradually pouring in the whites. Or beat together the ingredients till combined with a mixer with paddle attachment, then gradually pour in the egg whites till combined.
  3. In a large bowl whisk together the dry ingredients. Add raisins and add the butter mixture to combine.
  4. Place dough onto the pan spread into a log shape, then define the log shape on lined baking tray with damp hands. They should be really only about same width as your hands – the wider the log is the longer your slices of biscotti will be in the end.
  5. Bake for 40-50 minutes until nicely golden & just cooked through. Test with a knife to see if it is still sticky in the centre as it can be hard to gage.
  6. Remove from oven, cool completely, chill till solid – 20-30 minutes.
  7. Slice into half cm slices with a chef knife in a rocking motion, back and forth as you gradually push down.
  8. Lay them down on a baking tray without touching each other – they will not spread much anymore but will still stick when baked touching.
  9. Bake until golden on both sides and just crisp when snapped in half. It should have a very subtle give right in the middle when pressed as it will firm up as it cools.

OXENFREE SANDWICH with CHAI COOKIE DOUGH – Recipe

Posted on by misterbowtie

CHAI COOKIE DOUGH Ingredients:

  • 60g (1/4 Cup) Caster Sugar
  • 40g Loose Leaf Chai
  • 225g (1 Cup) Unsalted Butter, Room Temp
  • 160g (2/3 Cup) Chai Infused Unsalted Butter, Room Temp
  • 65g (5 TBSP) Unsalted Butter, Room Temp
  • 2 + 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
  • 312g (2 + 1/2 Cups) Cups Plain/All-Purpose or Almond/Hazelnut Meal
  • 2 Tablespoons Milk

METHOD:

  1. For chai infused butter, take the 225g butter, gently melt on low heat in a pot.
  2. Add the loose leaf chai and steep on barely simmering heat for 5 minutes.
  3. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then immediately strain into a cling wrap lined container or bowl, pressing out as much butter as you can from the leaves.
  4. Leave to chill or set at room temperature.
  5. Once set, weigh the butter and add more butter to have total amount of 225g butter.
  6. Combine butter and sugar in a bowl and beat till very pale and fluffy, creamy and smooth.
  7. Beat in the vanilla, salt, flour or meal, then the milk.
  8. Switch to high speed and beat for about 2 minutes till the mix is fluffy.
  9. Line a 30 x 22cm (11 x 8.5″) tray with baking paper and spread the cookie dough mixture as smoothly and evenly all over the tray.
  10. Freeze or chill the dough until solid before assembling.

 

 

MARBLED SUGAR COOKIE Ingredients:

  • 113g (1/2 Cup) Unsalted Butter, Room Temp
  • 113g (1/2 Cup) Caster Sugar
  • 1 Large Egg
  • 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
  • 250g (2 Cups) Plain/All-Purpose Flour
  • Blue Gel Food Colouring

METHOD:

  • Beat together butter and sugar till pale and fluffy.
  • Beat in egg, vanilla and salt with baking powder just till combined.
  • Scrape down the sides and base.
  • Gradually beat in flour on low speed until a dough is made with no streaks.
  • Set aside 2/3 of the dough, and stir blue colouring into the remaining 1/3 till uniform in colour.
  • Portion and roll into golf ball sized balls, leaving a tennis ball sized portion of the white dough for profile cookies. Lay on working surface lined with cling wrap, alternate colours of regular dough and blue tinted dough forming a rectangle or triangle shape to your like (doesn’t matter much) then knead it lightly to swirl the colour, do not over mix it.
  • Flatten into a disc shape and cling wrap, chill for 30-60 minutes. Do the same with the remaining white dough.
  • Preheat oven to 180C (350F), line a large tray.
  • On a lightly floured surface, place the dough & lightly flour the top.
  •  Roll out dough to 3mm thick or so, turning often to prevent sticking and ensure even rolling.
  • Use a straight edged chopping board or something similar to guide the knife and slice 5cm wide (2″) bars.
  • Cut into irregular triangle time slit shapes, but remember to pair each triangle for the top and bottom of each sandwich cookie. You can use the first one to lay on top and trace over as a guide, or as many varied sizes or shapes as you like with a similar method.
  • Transfer triangles onto a large baking tray lined with baking paper. They don’t need to be too far apart, they do not spread much. Keep chilled till needed.
  • Remove chilled white dough and in the same manner roll out till the same thickness.
  • Lay character cut-outs over the dough to cut out oxenfree character outlines. Use a sharp knife and trace them out – the colder and firmer your dough the easier this is. Soft dough will tear easily.
  • *** I have included down below my illustrations for you to use for the profile outlines, you can adjust the size and print them out for your own use.
  • Trick is to cut away as many chunks around the character so you can get into the smaller sections. Use the sides of the knife to smooth the side of each profile.
  • Brush triangle with water and lay the character cut-outs on one of each triangle pairing gently.
  • You can make polar bear cookies by keeping them white and use cookie cutter to cut them.
  • Freeze for 20 minutes.
  • Remaining dough can be re-rolled then chilled for more cookie cutting.
  • In a preheated oven at 180C (350F), the mini bear cookies I had took 12-14 minutes, whilst profile cookies take 15-17. Try not to brown them or they’ll lose the aesthetics.
  • Cool completely before assembling.
  • To assemble, take the bottom pair of the cookies and place on top of the chilled cookie dough and simply trace with a sharp knife. Gently ease with knife the dough off the paper and flip it upright. Place the profile cookie on top to match each pair, then let it sit till room temperature so the butter sticks the cookie together.
  • For bears, just use same cookie cutter for filling. If you have a cookie stamp for the bear, it can be used after baking for better definition as this cookie is very soft but doesn’t break so easily.
  • Keep cookies airtight and chilled for storage, serve cold for best texture or cookie dough goes soft very quickly.
  • HAVE FUN! 😀 OLLY OLLY OXENFREE!

 

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GINGERBREAD & SOFT CARAMEL COOKIES – CHRISTMAS SPECIAL Recipe

Posted on by misterbowtie

SALTED SOFT CARAMEL LAYER Ingredients:

  • 60g (1/4 Cup) Unsalted Butter
  • 115g (1/2 Cup) Caster Sugar
  • 100g (1/2 Cup) Dark Brown Sugar, Firmly Packed
  • 150ml (1/2 Cup) Glucose/Corn Syrup
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
  • 150ml (1/2 Cup) Sweetened Condensed Milk

METHOD:

  1. Fold foil into a deep tray that fits measurement of half the tray of cookies.
  2. Butter or grease baking paper, line the foil square with the greased baking paper. Place on a tray for stability so the caramel doesn’t spill.
  3. Mix all ingredients in a large microwave safe bowl as the mixture will bubble up plenty and will need ample room to prevent spillage.
  4. Cover 3/4 of the way the top of the bowl with cling wrap.
  5. Microwave on high for 6-7 minutes, stirring every 90 seconds. About 4-5 times.
  6. You’re looking for the first time it bubbles up, then you’ll need one more round after that.
  7. Pour into a small buttered dish and allow to cool completely.
  8. Allow to chill and set in fridge until solid.
  9. Store Chilled if not using right away.

GINGERBREAD IMPRINT COOKIES Ingredients:

  • 675g (4 + 1/2 Cups) Plain/All-Purpose Flour
  •  1 Tablespoon Ground Ginger
  • 1 Tablespoon Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder
  • 1 + 1/2 Teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
  • 1 Teaspoon Ground Cloves
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
  • 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 180g (3/4 Cup) Unsalted Butter, Room Temp.
  • 165g (3/4 Cup) Dark Brown Sugar, Firmly Packed
  • 1 Large Egg, Lightly Beaten
  • 340g (1 Cup) Unsulphured Molasses

METHOD:

  1. In a medium bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients.
  2. With a paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy, 3-4 minutes.
  3. Scrape down the sides & beat in the beaten egg until well combined.
  4. Spray or lightly grease the container to measure the molasses and gradually add it to the mixer whilst slowly mixing.
  5. Once smoothly combined, scrape down the sides again, add in the dry mix in two parts.
  6. The mix will be a bit crumbly once the flour is almost incorporated. Tip out of the bowl and gently knead it until it becomes smooth. It will come together so just be patient and gentle with it.
  7. Divide the dough in two & press into a lined large baking tray each. To smooth out place another baking paper on top once as evenly pressed in as possible, and roll the rolling pin over gently until smooth.
  8. Use a ruler to measure and divide the tray of cookie into two halves & press the cookie imprints firmly on top for just one side. These will be the top half of the sandwich cookies. Repeat with other tray/s until dough is used up. You may need to lightly coat the cookie print with some flour to prevent sticking.
  9. Measure and cut the cookies into individual cookie pieces, this will make it easier to cut after it is baked.
  10. **You could also just leave them plain, or do plain imprint cookies decorated with white chocolate or royal icing piping 🙂
  11. Cover & freeze the dough for 30 minutes.
  12. Preheat the oven to 180C (350F). Bake cookies for 15-20 minutes or so rotating tray halfway, just until they begin to colour.
  13. Whilst still hot, press the imprints again if need to get a deeper impression as the cookies do puff a little. Then use a sharp knife to cut the cookies into individual squares following the cuts made earlier.
  14. Cool on a wire rack completely before removing the printed (top half) cookie squares.
  15. Unwrap the chilled soft caramel slab & lay on the plain cookie squares still as a big rectangle.
  16. Line the printed top half cookie squares over the caramel, reassembling them back into the other half rectangle shape of the tray. You will end up with a giant cookie sandwich in which you can use a greased knife to cut them into the individual square portions according to the cuts.
  17. Keep airtight and chilled when not serving and bring to room temperature before serving for softer cookies.
  18. Best frozen before any transportation & wrapped only with baking paper or similar material that do not stick to the caramel.

SODA SCONES RECIPE

Posted on by misterbowtie

Ingredients:

  • 450g (3 Cups) Plain Flour
  • 6 Teaspoons Baking Powder
  • 240ml (1 cup) thickened cream/heavy cream  – Variation:
  • 240ml (1 cup) lemonade
  • 1 Egg Beaten
  • Splash of Milk

 

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 200C (400F).
  2. Combine all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.
  3. Stir to combine and add all wet ingredients.
  4. Using dough hook or beater attachment, or with your hands knead until it comes together.
  5. Begin to add handfuls of flour, mixing to incorporate until the dough comes away from sides.
  6. Add some more flour in small portion and knead just until all dough comes away from the bowl and becomes smooth in texture. Should be still slightly moist to the touch but won’t stick to your fingers.
  7. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough evenly to the thickness of 2-3 cm (1 inches) thick. The thicker the more time to cook but also taller your scone will be.
  8. Using a 6cm diameter round cutter, lightly coated with flour, cut out as many scones as you can and arrange neatly on a large baking paper lined pan. They should be just touching each other side by side.
  9. Gently press and push to bring the dough back into a smooth piece of dough of similar thickness. Cut and repeat until there’s only a thin scrap left that won’t make more scones. This should yield roughly 12 or so scones.
  10. Lightly beat an egg and add a tablespoon or so of milk and egg wash the scones.
  11. Bake them for 25-30 minutes or until they are golden brown.
  12. I like to make them at the beginning of a week, freeze them and then just microwave as needed to warm and soften.
  13. It’s super delicious halved and toasted up in the oven with garlic and herb butter that I made in my previous video recipe, again something easy to make for the rest of the week to use at leisure.

**NOTE: Process of baking scones close to each other is called batch baking. You can also separate them and bake it that way. It is believed the batch proving process retains more moisture but takes longer to bake (from my distant pastry school memory I think, at least).

 

WHITE CHOCOLATE CHAI & COCONUT COOKIES – Recipe

Posted on by misterbowtie

CHAI INFUSED BUTTER

  • 20g Loose Leaf Chai (I used Masala Chai)
  • 180g Unsalted Butter

 

Method:

  1. Add room temperature butter to a pot and on lowest heat setting melt it to liquid state.
  2. Add loose leaf tea and barely simmer (see small and slow bubbling on the edges, ever so slightly.) for 5 minutes.
  3. Cool off heat for 5 minutes.
  4. Strain and chill the butter until solid again in a cling wrap-lined container for easier removal.
  5. NOTE: Be gentle with the infusion or you will evaporate too much butter and not have enough for the recipe.

 

WHITE CHOCOLATE COCONUT GANACHE

  • 240g White chocolate
  • 80ml Coconut Cream

 

Method:

  1.  In a small bowl, combine coconut cream and white chocolate of choice. If you use a bar you’ll need to chop it coarsely.
  2. Microwave in stages by nuking on 10-15 second intervals, stirring in between until smoothly combined. You can also use a double boiler.
  3. Place cling wrap directly over surface of ganache and chill in fridge until needed.

 

CHAI COOKIES

  • 150g (3 sticks) Chai Infused unsalted butter, at room temp
  • 110 g (1 cup) sugar
  • 1 egg yolks, at room temp
  • 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 260 g ( 3.75 cups) all purpose flour
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • Milk, as needed

 

Method:

  1. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, turns paler in colour.
  2. Add the egg yolk, vanilla and scrape down the sides before beating to combine.
  3. Add salt and flour and beat on slow till it comes together.
  4. If it doesn’t really come together into a smooth dough when the flour is incorporated, add milk in teaspoons and beat for 20 seconds before checking.
  5. The dough should be a smooth bread-dough like look, and form into a smooth disc when flattened in between your fingers. I used two teaspoons or so of milk.
  6. In a silicone 2 x 2cm cookie mold add 1 teaspoon worth of dough and firmly push it in to fill all the base. Try to even it out before adding 1/2 teaspoon worth of white chocolate ganache on top.
  7. Carefully pinch 1 teaspoon worth of dough and flatten into a disc shape and wrap it over the ganache, then start to press and seal in the ganache whilst filling in the rest of the mold to form the rest of the cookie.
  8. Chill for 30 minutes in freezer whilst preheating oven to 200C (400F).
  9. Bake for 20-25 minutes straight out of freezer until nicely golden around the edges of the cookies. Turn around once half way through.
  10. Cool for 10 minutes or until lukewarm before turning out onto a tray or rack. You may need to lightly and carefully push the base to release the cookies.

 

COCONUT CARAMEL CRUMB

  • 120g Honey
  • 120g Caster Sugar
  • 50g Desiccated Coconut, Unsweetened

 

Method:

  1. Drop the temperature to 180C (F).
  2. On a baking tray line baking paper and pack down a flat layer of dessicated coconut, unsweetened.
  3. Toast them until golden and remove. Transfer to a plate or bowl and you can reuse the baking paper and pan.
  4. Stir together sugar and honey until combined, place onto the baking pan and bake until it begins to bubble and turns a golden caramel colour.
  5. Once its nice and brown, sprinkle the toasted coconut over the top liberally to cover all the caramel.
  6. Remove from oven and cool completely before processing.
  7. Blitz the cool caramel into fine crumbs as to your liking.
  8. To do the final assemblage simply add the smallest amount of ganache (gently nuke in microwave to make it more glaze consistency but don’t make it hot) over top of cookie and sprinkle generously with the crumbs.
  9. Enjoy! These cookies can be kept airtight and taste great up to a week. Be aware caramel will soften with humidity though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

CRUMBLE-TOP CHEESY BITES = Original Recipe

Posted on by misterbowtie

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CHEESY BITES = Ingredients:

  • 125g cold cubed butter
  • 1 generous pinch cayenne pepper
  • 1 generous pinch mustard powder
  • 75 g cheddar cheese
  • 175 g plain flour
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 egg
  • 50 g blue cheese, such as Stilton

METHOD:

  1. Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius.
  2. Whisk together flour, mustard powder, cayenne pepper and salt.
  3. Rub together or process the cold butter with the dry ingredients mix until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
  4. Grate the blue cheese and cheddar into a bowl and mix gently to combine.
  5. Beat an egg in a small bowl and pour half into the cheese mix and press together to form a dough.
  6. Line two trays and shape about 40 small balls, slightly flattened into flat cylinder shapes and set aside.

POPPYSEED  BUTTERY CRUMBLE = Ingredients:

  • 75 g cold butter (crumble)
  • 100g Plain flour
  • 2/3 Teaspoon Baking Powder
  • 2 handful crumbled shortbread biscuits
  • 2 Tablespoons Poppyseed

METHOD:

  1. Place all the ingredients into a processor and blend until it just begins to resemble mince meat. Otherwise, rub the butter into the flour until it looks like coarse breadcrumbs, and then crumble the shortbread biscuits into the mixture, and stir through the remaining ingredients.
  2. Using the left over beaten egg, egg wash the cheesy biscuits, then lightly pack the crumble mixture on top of each biscuit.
  3. Bake for 15 minutes, allow to cool slightly before transferring onto wire rack to cool completely.
  4. Consume within 2 weeks.