A Very Old Choc Chip Cookie Recipe

 

Today I made Choc Chip Cookies.

My partner had made some a while back which were amazing. We were not sure which recipe he used but he knew it was simple.

My partner had this recipe in a very old book from 'Lake Charm Centenary Cookbook 1879 -1979' all typed up with an old fashioned type writer font and held together with staples.

 

It was the simplest recipe we could find so I gave it a go.

 

They are called in the book 'Choc Bit Biscuits by Mimi Pasco'.

 It's all in ounces and pounds so you'll have to convert it unless your lucky enough to have a scale that has ounces as well, like I have.

 

I made mine a little different because I am lazy!!

 

 

 

 

First I used 5 ounces of butter chopped. The recipe said to use 4. I had 5 ounce and didn't want to leave one ounce in the fridge so though I may as well use it and it also says to melt it. I just chopped it up and put in in the Kenwood mixer.

 

 

  

Next add the sugar- 6 ounces. The recipe says use caster sugar, I used soft brown sugar.

 

Next add one egg and mix.

 

  Add 8 ounces of SR flour. I used 6 ounces of SR flour and 3 of plain flour. I would stick to just SR flour. They might have been even more chewy and thick if I had of stuck to the recipe.

Then lastly add a whole packet of choc chips.

Mine was the standard 250g milk chocolate chips and I always use good quality chocolate.

The recipe just says to cook at a moderate temp. It said nothing about how long to cook or how big to make them.

 

I used extra large teaspoons full of mix and sqwashed them just a bit with my knuckles. As it turns out I didn't need too as they go flat as you can see below. Leave plenty of room on the tray for them to spread out.

Also I made 21 large cookies. May have been 22 if I could have stopped eating the raw mix!!

 

 I cooked mine at 180 degrees Celsius for about 12 minutes.

 

 This was just long enough for them to just brown and some to look cooked on the edges but as if they needed longer in the centre.

 

 But they turned out pretty good.

 

I think they will improve over night. They taste pretty yummy now and they are still hot!!

 

 This is after they had cooled for about 45 minutes.

 

 

 

I just had to show underneith the cookies so you could see how many choc bit were in each one! Yum!

 

 

 I want another!



Pinata cookies!

 

 

I have been so excited about my attempt at making Pinata Cookies!

 I think these look amazing with all those colours.

 I found the recipe while browsing Pinrest. Mine are no where near as neat as the original recipe but I think they still look so pretty!

 

 

 

Making the dough was quick and easy. You then added food colouring which is also easy.

 I didn't have the gel dyes the recipe recommends. I just used the ones I had, Queen Food Colours. These are the same ones my Mum always used while I was growing up. They have been around a while and I think the result was still pretty good. 

When you've coloured your dough you need to layer the colours in a container so the dough is wide enough to cater to the size of the cutter you are using. Check the recipe for more accurate instructions and then place the dough in the fridge for 4 hours to set.

 

When it comes out you need to slice it so you can see all the colours as I have done above.

 I had left over dough that wouldn't fit so I made the extra cookies above.

 I am very glad I did as I burnt this batch!!

You can't let them get too brown as the colours look faded.

 

I quickly learnt I had to watch them closely as they cook.

 

This was my main batch. Thank goodness I watched these closely as they cooked!

 

Before the cookies cool you need to cut out the shapes and make a hole in the centre of every third cookie shape where the M&M's go.

 

I would use a bigger cutter than mine because it doesn't allow for much room to put the M&M's in. Using mini M&M's would have worked better in mine as the smaller chocolates have more room to fit more in and will spill out easier. The larger M&M's get stuck.

 

You let the cookies cool, then following the recipe, glue them together with a simple icing mix: milk and icing sugar. Place the M&M's inside and sandwich the final cookie in place.

 

Let the icing set and your done!

 

Follow the recipe, not my instructions and read it carefully.

 

I found assembling them a little tricky because my shapes where too small and my M&M's too big!

When I make them again I will try make my cookie dough thinner as this is a lot of cookie for one person and they are very sweet.

Once you have finished there is a lot of left over cookie from cutting the shapes out. I crumbled my left over cookie and mixed it with the left over icing and placed M&M's inside it to make truffles. These where also very sweet but yummy!

I hope to make them again one day - maybe when my baby has a birthday!

 

 



 



White Chocolate Mud Cup Cakes

Last week I had a terrible craving for White Chocolate and Raspberry Muffins.

 Two days in a row I craved this. Must have something to do with my pregnancy.

 Well that the excuse I'm sticking with!!

Well I gave in and desided to have a go at making some.

Unfortunately I didn't have raspberries or anything like it. So I scoured the net to find something similar and this is what I came up with.

 

 

White Chocolate Mud Cup Cakes

 

When you go into the link there is a second link to a White Chocolate Mud Cake. Click on this and the recipe is there for you.

 

I found this recipe quite easy to follow. I've never made mud cake before so I'm really happy with the end result. 

 

 

This is the finished product. I added chocolate bits to the top for an extra indulgence plus they made them look pretty.

 

 

 

They were so yummy!

 Try to resist eating them the same day because when they are left over night they become more moist and the flavour becomes stronger.

 

My partner loved them.

 He is really picky with what he eats so I was really happy to see them going with him to work every day!

 

He has requested I make some more!

I think next time I'll try Milk Chocolate Mud Cup Cakes!! Yum!

 



Making my bread with my Kenwood mixer hook attachment

 

 

It's been so long since I've posted. Today is the start of me trying to catch up. So I'm going to work backwards!

 

If you read yesterdays blog you would know I've had issues with my hands during my pregnancy making it difficult to do everything!! The one thing I really loved was my homemade bread and this was also one of the first things I could no longer make because all the kneading just really hurt.

 

I have discovered my fabulous Kenwood mixer has this amazing attachment which means I don't have to kneed my bread!!! I was so excited. I'm not into using a bread machine. I like to make it the old fashioned way. Anyway I gave it a go and was very skeptic of how it would turn out but this has to be the lightest yummiest bread I have ever made!! My partner even took it to work in his sandwiches so I take that as a major complement as he is very picky about the quality of what he eats.

 

 

This is the link to the recipe I use.

I have made this many many times and I just love how quick and easy it is to make. I do change the recipe regularly to suit my tastes but every time I leave out the egg and add a full cup of milk instead. I also play around with the quantities of butter, salt and sugar and I also play with wholemeal and white flour. I almost forgot I add bread improver to help it to be light.

 

In some of my past post you'll see I have made fruit bread using the same recipe. Some times it work and other times it's not so good but I've never had a complete failure! It's a bit part of learning.

 

The closer loaf was made 15 mins earlier so it's had more time to rise. I was so happy when it came up beautifully.

 

My first loaf finished and only minutes out of the oven. I love butter and Vegemite on fresh bread! Yum! It was so light!

 

And my second loaf finished!!

 



Hopefully when baby comes I'll still find time to make my favorite bread!!

Lots of cooking and crafts!

It has been so long since I added a post. I have been so busy over the last few months and have done so much I want to document. I'll have to have a big catch up session.

 

I've had an issue with my hands during my pregnancy making them swell up with fluid and go numb and tingly and the more activity I do the worse they get. I've had a great pregnancy otherwise. Not too many issues with morning sickness and baby is all healthy. I've been really lucky and I am so happy!

 

I'm still pregnant but now with more time now I've finished up work and I only have two more weeks to go. Hopefully before Xmas!! Please.

 

I thought I'd start by adding a few pictures of what I've been up too.

 

My baby shower kept me busy with so many handmade items from the invitations to the decorations and to the food.

 

 

 

Above is my chocolate indulgent baby shower table, full of homemade chocolate biscuits, lollies, slice, cupcakes and decoration ideas.

 I'll go into these in more detail in my future post.

 

 

 

Paper Pom Poms for my baby shower.

One of many crafty items I have to show off from our big day!

 

 

The following is what I've been doing since I've left work.

 

 

Pinata Cookies

 

White Chocolate Mud Muffins

 

 

And more Homemade Bread!

 

 

 

 Hopefully I'll have time to go into much more detail before my baby arrives.

 



How I recovered a pencil case

Life has been so busy lately doing up the house, getting it ready for our new baby. I haven't had any where near as much time as I thought I would to indulge in my love of craft.

This weekend I got up early and by the end of the day, even though I was already worn out from cleaning the house from the mess from all the building work, I made time to fix my old pencil case which I use every day at work.

I love my barbie pencil case!

The sides were giving way and all my stationary would fall out! Not good when working with toddlers!

The zips were still working well and I had considered just recycling the zips but I realised I would need some thing to stop markers leaking through the cotton material so the whole plastic pencil case material got recycled! Go me!

This is how I did it.
 I am no expert. I just give things a go and near enough is good enough for me. So if you want to use my instructions remember you'll need to use your sewing knowledge too. I'll do my best to be clear!

How I recovered a pencil case

I cut my pencil case down to a more portable size, and cut away all the tattered plastic so it could fold out to a large rectangle with the zip done up in the middle.

 I cut the side pocket off and will reattach this later.

 I cut my fabric around the large rectangle piece leaving excess material for seam allowance.

Then I folded over approx 1/4 inch of the short edge of fabric, pressed the material with my fingers to crease a fold ( use a iron if your material wont fold) and sewed it in place so the fold is underneath. This creates a neat edge along the zip. This is much easier if the zip is done up!

Then I had to work out what I was going to do with the second compartment at the side. I also covered this in the same manner with the same material allowing plenty of over hanging material just in case I stuffed it up!

The material now needs to be attached to the sides of the pencil case so it wont bubble. I ran several lines of a fancy stitch which you can see on the photo below. Repeat this on the front back and pocket.

Then I needed to make the ruffles. 2.5 inch of your favorite materials cut into strips 1.5 times the length of your pencil case.

Then fold and sew length ways with wrong sides facing to make a long tube which you turn using a large safety pin.

Run a line of stitching with a large straight stitch and gather. Pulling one length of cotton and carefully moving the material down the thread will achieve this. Careful not to snap your thread. Run a double length of stitching if you haven't done this before. Easier to do this before you start to gather the material.

Then measure out you ruffles on top of the pencil case and sew where you want them.

Don't forget where you place you second compartment you wont see any work under this so measure out what you can and can't see and attach your ruffles accordingly.

Attach you second compartment by attaching the zipper first with right sides together and sew then a stitch down the shorter sides. The bottom will be sewn up later.

Cut back all the raw edges and make sure front and back are even for when you sew them together.

Stitch carefully through the bulk around all three sides ( I bent two needles doing so!).  Make sure your zippers are in the middle so you don't sew them so the can't be undone or done up!

Turn right sides out. The corners were a little tricky to turn out because my pencil case was a plastic material but using a blunt object, end of a rounded spoon is good to carefully tease them out, eventually got it done.

Check your zippers are all good and working. I had an issue with one of my zippers metal ends and had to remove it leaving the zip a little tatty which you can see on the last photo below. I hand sewed a few stitches over it so I wont loose my zip. It works well now. It's only for me so I don't mind the ends being tatty.

One finished personalised pencil case!

Front.

Back

Knitted Baby Hat

One morning I suddenly relised I've made so many baby hats for my friends babies but I haven't made any thing for mine!!

A great excuse to knit a new hat!

 I knew I wanted some thing I could knit up quickly so I searched the net and this is what I found.

Lele Baby Hat.

It said on the pattern it could be knitted up in only a few hours but it took me maybe double that. Could also be the size of the yarn and the needles i used. That can make a big difference. It was still quick to knit up. My needles were size US 8 circular or 5mm.

My yarn is from Lincraft, Big wool. I don't know the sex of my baby yet so I chose a colour for both sex's. There were so many other beautiful colours I wish I coud have used in the big wool range but they suggested boy or girl a bit too much for me.

I love the end result!

I can't wait to try it on my baby!!

Homemade modern cloth nappies

Well it's been a while but I have a wonderful excuse!! But first a few hints.

 I've been very tired, hence my lack of entries, I've been much hungrier than usual and I've had unusual aches and pains and if you haven't worked it out yet the fact I've had a bit of nauseousness should give it away.

I'm Pregnant!!

My partner and I are so excited. We still can't believe it. I will be 15 weeks tomorrow and am still getting used to my new body!

I had to wait till all my family and friends knew before I could post anything here.

However I have been busy and have a new project completed and about a million I want to have a go at!! So hopefully I'll have a few more projects to show off soon.

This is my latest..

Homemade modern cloth nappies.

I had a picture in my head of what I wanted and needed some easy to follow instructions for my first go. This is the result of the project I found. .

It was pretty easy. The hardest part was working out how to fit the snaps.Turns out I was trying to fit them backwards! I'm thinking of making my next few with Velcro instead of snaps. I''ve no way of knowing how they will fit my new born baby and Velcro would give me more flexibility with the fit. However snaps are more durable as Velcro tends to loos it's grip after time.

Each nappy has a towel material liner that can be pulled out to help it dry quicker and make wash better. The red one is made from flannel bought from the shops and the blue one is made from one of my partners old flannel shirts. And yes I did ask him if I could cut it up first!

My partner was delighted at the idea of our baby wearing a nappy made from one of his flannel shirts. Perfect for the next generation of bogon babies!! Now only another 18 or so nappies to go!! Oh and I can't post this one with out a link! Here it is. Great instructions. I found them really easy to follow.

Choc Caramel Cups.

Today was a miserable rainy day with no end in sight - but perfect weather and a perfect excuse to eat comfort food! The days getting better already!!

 I had butternut snap biscuits handy so I used Google to come up a recipe to use them.

This is what I came up with!

 Choc caramel cups

from Recipe Adaptors.

The recipe was so clear and easy to follow.

YUM!

I made my caramel cups with a thinner layer of biscuit base which resulted in more caramel cups! This is a very sweet recipe so a small portion is plenty. And of course I had to make each layer thinner too so all the ingredients would also go further.

I was really pleased with the result - only how do I stop my self eating them! Yum!