Decadent peanut butter and dark choc chip cookies

It is a cold day in Townsville (yes 17 degrees is very cold when you don't have heating) so any excuse to run the oven or the clothes dryer.

I read several recipes for cookies and came up with this which worked wonderfully well
These are a more adult cookie but if you substituted milk chocolate for the dark the kids would probably love them too

Preheat oven to 170 degrees fan forced

Grind 220g raw sugar for 4 seconds at speed 9
Add 60g peanut butter (I used bought but you can always make your own)
120g unsalted butter cut into chunks

Blend 1 minute speed 3

Add  1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1 egg

Blend 7 seconds speed 4

Weigh 310g SR four into a separate bowl

Add 130g dark chocolate chips (use Cadbury not Nestle for information about the Nestle boycott click here)

Mix on reverse speed 3 for 45 seconds adding the flour through the hole in the lid

Place teaspoons on CT silicon sheet on baking tray - they double in size so leave some space but not too much

Flatten with a fork, your knuckles or I used a CT muffin pan for a neat, flat top

Cook for 10 minutes and allow to cool on racks

This recipe makes approx 40 cookies and they are worth 3 Weight Watchers ProPoints each. But if you have two it's only 5 ProPoints!

Winning!!

Lest we forget

Anzac Day 2014

Dawn service for some members of the household and a facebook profile full of images like this one

I had time to go to a rehearsal, read a book, walk the dog by the river and listen to the 4 Blades Podcast who inspired me to make ANZAC biscuits too!

I followed the first recipe because it sounded very similar to the one I usually make which is from NMAA Cooks (the book anyone without a Thermomix should definitely own, and anyone with a Thermomix should be converting recipes from)

My three tweaks:

I used raw sugar rather than white
I set my oven to 150 degrees as we have a very hot fan forced oven
I used the Chefs Toolbox silicon sheets and rather than pressing down with the MC I used a CT muffin pan

The results:

Delicious!

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old; Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning. We will remember them. Lest we forget.

Thermomix gingerbread

I have made about four different batches of gingerbread in the last month, Christmas cut outs for teachers and ninja bread men for Sifu at Kung Fu.

Good gingerbread needs to be easy to work with, not get tough if the kids use it as playdough, not be too crumbly when packaged and be delicious at the end.

This is the winner hands down

Put in the Thermomix bowl:

125g butter
75 g dark brown sugar
175g golden syrup

Heat for 4 minutes at 50 degrees, speed 1

Add dry ingredients to bowl

450g plain flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground cloves
1 teaspoon bicarb soda

Top with 1 egg beaten lightly with a fork in a cup
1 teaspoon vanilla paste

Mix 10 seconds on speed 6, push down sides, .mix a further 10 seconds, push down sides mix 5 seconds

Knead 30 seconds on interval setting

Turn out onto floured board. Knead lightly, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes,
Roll out on floured board or silicon mat and cut into shape

I have a great selection of cutters - look after your cutters they are so precious. If you wash them while your biscuits bake you can pop them in the cooling oven to make sure they dry out properly.

Bake 10-12 minutes until they are just starting to change colour. Take out and cool on racks.

You can decorate with edible ball bearings before they go in the oven or royal icing (1 egg white and 1 cup icing sugar) after they come out

Give to teachers, friends, neighbours and the postman

Merry Christmas everyone!