Thursday 8 December 2011

Special Choc Chip Cookies

I've been busy baking yesterday and today, getting ready for Christmas. I made and froze about 3 dozen Fruit Mince Pies and I always use Robertson's Fruit Mince....I scrape one jar into a bowl, add a grated apple and a tablespoon of sherry and that was enough for the 36 small pies I made. The icing sugar sprinkled on top is another traditional our family has always followed and I used Auntie Jessie's rolling pin, cookie cutters and my nana's spoon to help me along. Did you know it's customary to make a wish when you have your first bite of mince pie for the season?


Today I thought I'd make a batch of very special cookies, soft and chewy and delicious..so delicious that Joe said if he eats them all this week I'd have plenty of time to make some more! This recipe is very versatile and I love the 2 cups of rolled oats in them too.


you'll need...

250gms butter, softened
1 packed cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup ordinary sugar(raw for us)

Cream these together until fluffy and then beat in 2 eggs and a teaspoon of vanilla essence...here I used almond extract that Deb brought back from England for me...1 teaspoon was enough for a lovely subtle almond flavour.

Mix in thoroughly the following in this order

1 1/2 cups plain/all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups of rolled oats.

Now comes the fun part...this batter will take 1 and 3/4 cups of treats such as choc chips, dried fruits, chopped nuts, chopped chocolate bars, coconut etc so mix them in...the dough will be quite stiff.

I used 50ms dried cranberries, 3 chopped apricots, currants and a chopped Cherry Ripe bar which made up the 3/4 cup and one full cup of dark choc chips.

Place dessert-spoonfuls of dough on a greased tray or baking paper and bake at 160C for about 15 minutes. Let cool slightly and then place them on a wire rack. Today I baked 35 and froze enough dough for another 8 I guess. We ate 3...no prizes sadly for guessing who ate two LOL and it wasn't me!



We both heard from Joe's wonderful specialist today...I am deficient in Vit D too so have to start taking 4 tablets a day...Joe has read it is becoming an epidemic here Down Under as we shy away from the sun for fear of developing skin cancer. Canada adds Vit D to it's milk and butter as they have so much less sunlight...seems we can't win at times!
Joe's news was far more serious as the CT scans reveal that he has much degeneration in most of his cervical joints and bones :( No wonder he has been in such pain.
One day at a time for now...and that's all we ever have really isn't it?

Hooroo
Love from Sue
xxx





1 comment:

  1. Sorry to hear about Joes joints. A worthwhile reminder to anyone who doesn't have an annual checkup to get blood tests done (I think my last annual check up is more than a couple of years ago...)
    xx

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