Christmas Sugar Cookies

I did it! I'm sooooooooo excited. I've been wanting to learn how to make my own homemade decorated sugar cookies. I've been putting it off because they really intimidated me. The whole royal icing issue, then I found these awesome decorating icing tubes from Wilton and Queen in my kitchen drawer (thanks mumsy). And, wow everything just seemed possible! These delicious baked goodies were so fun to make they make us feel warm and cozy and help us get into the Christmas spirit!

 To make 120 cookies. You'll need: 360g unsalted butter.

 2 cups caster sugar.

 Cream Butter + Sugar.

 Add 4 eggs.

 5 cups plain flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt.

Mix well.

Chill dough overnight.

 Preheat oven to 200C. Roll out dough on floured surface.

Bake for 6 minutes. Let cookies to cool completely.

And Start decorating.

Super-Easy Red-Nosed Reindeer: You'll need M&Ms for eyes, Starbursts mixed berries lolly for nose and mini Pretzels for antlers.

These cookies are so cute, I think I'm in love with them! ;P

I hope you all have a safe and happy holiday and best wishes for a wonderful new year. 

Thank you for all your love and support! xoxo

Berry Berry Nice Summer Smoothie

So are you trying to keep cool this summer? Well, a smoothie is a great way to help you cool down as the temperature in Sydney continues to rise. I have been finding myself searching for a refreshingly fruity drink.

Almond milk, bananas, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries are my favourite ingredients for this smoothie.

Recipe makes for two. Place raspberries, blueberries, chopped strawberries and bananas in a blender.

Add 2 cups of milk (I like almond milk, you can opt for Nudie's cloudy apple juice, normal milk or soy milk) and throw in a few pieces of ice cubes. Apple juice version here

Optional Super food: Add 2 heaped tablespoons of Acai and a generous drizzle of Agave Syrup (Alternatively, sweetened smoothie with Honey).

Pour your beautiful creation into a tumbler. Place the lid on and off you go to school, gym, work or even to the beach/shops. I got my tumbler from Starbucks. There are loads of stylish cool options at Typo, check them out! ;)

Blend Slurrrp! Happy Summer all ;D

PS: Do you have a favourite smoothie recipe you would like to share? Let me know, I would definitely like to try it! ;)

PPS: Frenchie, sis miss J and I will be opening up a stall selling refreshing Summer drinks and Macarons on Saturday 8th Dec 2012 @ the North Shore market (address here), so do come along and say hi! ;D Look forward to seeing you there. xoxo

The Puurfect Hazelnut Brownies

Frenchie and moi have a major weakness for brownies, so I’ll have to warn you that I’ll come across as overly excited about this subject. 

I'm gonna simply say that these are...

The Best Brownies In The World!!! :) :) :)

They are crunchy on the outside, gooey, soft and almost batter like on the inside, just the way we like it!

These brownies would be ideal for any upcoming bake sales and would certainly be ideal to make for your family or friends.

Or yourself.

Just sayin'

I hope you try em! ;)

 Some of the best chocolates you can find in Syd - more details on my next post (stay tuned!)

Best served with a generous scoop of vanilla bean ice cream (didn't have any in the freezer!! Oh well, guess I'll have to make em again ;P)

 

Makes 

10 brownies

 
Ingredients 

250g butter

200g chocolate

50g hazelnuts (chopped)

4 eggs

80g cocoa powder

70g flour

1 tsp baking powder

350g caster sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Line tin with baking paper.

2. Melt chocolate and butter on stove and mix in hazelnuts.

3. Beat melted chocolate batter with eggs, cocoa powder, flour, baking powder and caster sugar.

4. Bake for 25 minutes (upper & lower). Remove from oven and leave to cool. 

5. Cut brownies into rectangular pieces and serve warm with cold milk or ice cream. YUMMO!

Do you have a favourite brownie recipe that you'll like to share? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Easy Crusty Bread

 

Made these awhile ago but forgot to post...bad bad blogger! I know! This is possibly the easiest bread recipe out there. All you need is a cast iron cookware (or mini ones like mine from Le Creuset) and 4 ingredients only. No joke!

 

Bonne Maman mini preserves - special thnx to frenchie's lil bro

Makes 

10 bread rolls

 
Ingredients

3 cups plain flour 

1/2 tsp dried yeast

1 3/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups water

Instructions

1. Mix flour, yeast, salt and water in a mixing bowl.

2. Cover bowl with cling wrap and set aside for minimum 12 hours or leave overnight.

3. Preheat oven to 230°C and place cast iron pots in the oven for 30 minutes. 

4. Place dough on a heavily floured surface and shape into a ball or 10 mini balls depending on size of cookware.

5. Remove pots from oven and drop in the dough.

6. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove lid and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes.

Once it has cooled down a little, cut it open and smother with your favourite jam and butter! :) Best to enjoy them while they are fresh out from the oven to be certain the bread is soft inside and crusty on the outside.