1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and line two trays with baking paper.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together in an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add the egg and beat well.
3. Fold in the vanilla, flour, baking powder and salt. Mix into a dough, shape into a disc and then wrap in plastic and rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
4. Roll out and cut into circles using a cookie cutter. Transfer onto a baking tray and bake for 10mins or until golden.
5. While you wait for the cookies to cool completely, slice up liquorice strips into arms, scarves tiny dots for eyes or triangles for bow ties.
6. Make up a basic white icing by adding a tiny bit of boiling water to the icing sugar and stir, then add more water until you reach the desired consistency (fairly thick).
7. Decorate the marshmallows with eyes, noses, mouths etc. You can use an icing pen here or use the icing as glue for cachous or liquorice.
8. To decorate the cookies, spoon on a little white icing and spread over the surface of your cookie, then press the marshmallow down in the middle.
9. Add any other embellishments to complete your snowman!
Recipe and image from Kidspot Kitchen.
]]>
100g butter, softened
50g caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
150g self-raising flour
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
25g butter
1 tablespoon milk
1 tablespoon boiling water
4-5 drops food colouring
1. Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees celsius
2. Combine sugar, vanilla and butter in a bowl
3. Mix together until all the butter and sugar are combined
4. Add the flour to the bowl and mix well together
5. Use your hands to mix further until a dough forms
6. Wrap the dough in cling film and put in the fridge for 10mins
7. Once the dough is ready, roll it out and use cookie cutters to make fun shapes
8. Place on baking paper on a tray and bake for 10mins
9. While the cookies are baking, you can make the icing by combining all the ingredients in bowl and whisking to combine
10. Spoon the mixture into a resealable bag and snip the corner and pipe onto the cookies
11. Top with sprinkles - yum!
Recipe and image from kidgredients.com.au
]]>
2/3 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup peanut butter
2 large eggs
2 1/2 - 3 cups whole wheat flour
1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees celsius and line a baking tray with baking paper or a silicone baking mat
2. In a bowl, beat pumpkin puree, peanut butter and eggs on medium-high until well combined.
3. Gradually add 2 1/2 cups of flour at low speed, beating until just incorporated. Add an additional 1/4 cup of flour at a time (if required) just until the dough is no longer sticky.
4. Working on a lightly floured surface, knead the dough 3-4 times until it comes together. Roll the dough to 1/4 inch thickness and then using a cookie cutter, cut out the desired shapes and place them on the baking tray.
5. Place into the oven and bake until the edges are golden brown (about 20-25 mins - but baking time will vary depending on size and thickness of the cookies).
6. Let them cool completely.
Recipe and image from damndelicious.net
]]>All Choc-oholics rejoice! This delectable recipe is sure to indulge all chocolate cravings, as well as impressing whoever you are making it for. Want to take it to the next level? Use a Dough Cuts heart cookie cake template!
]]>Chocolate Cookie
Chocolate Buttercream
Chocolate Cookie
1. Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and creamy.
2. Add the egg and vanilla and beat together until well combined.
3. Add the flour and cocoa and beat until it just comes together to form a smooth dough.
4. Roll the dough out on a silicone mat or baking paper (so you don't have to transfer later) to approximately 5mm thick and far enough to cut out the large cookie shapes later. Refrigerate the dough for 30mins.
5. Place your cookie cake template on top of the dough and cut out the shape using a plastic cake cutter tool or a blunt butter knife. Take your time and keep the blade upright so that the edge of the cookie is cut straight.
6. Carefully lift off the excess cookie dough away from the cutout shape.
7. Slide the baking mats with the cookies on them onto a baking tray and put the cookie cutouts back into the fridge to chill for a further 15mins. This will help the cookie to keep its shape when baked.
8. Heat oven to 160 and bake for 20-25mins or until golden and firm. Leave the cookies on the trays to cool completely to avoid breaking when warm.
Chocolate Buttercream
1. Place butter into the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until creamy.
2. Add icing sugar, cocoa powder and vanilla extract and beat on low speed until it just comes together - then increase to high speed and beat until well combined, smooth and glossy.
3. If the buttercream is too soft to pipe you can pop it into the fridge to firm up a little or add more icing sugar to the mixture. If the buttercream is too firm you can add a little milk until you reach the desired texture.
1. Place your first cookie onto the serving plate, pipe the buttercream onto the cookie and put this in the fridge to firm up for 10-20mins.
2. Place the second cookie on top of the first very gently and pipe your icing onto this one. Refrigerate again for 10-20mins and then you are ready to place any cookie cake toppers on top.
3. Chill again before serving to make the cookie cake easy to cut.
Recipe and image by Dough Cuts.
]]>1 1/2 cups milk
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups self-raising flour
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/3 cup caster sugar
25g butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract, extra
1 1/2 cups of fresh or frozen blueberries
Method
1. Whisk milk, egg and vanilla together in a jug. Sift in the flour and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl. Stir in sugar. Make a well in the centre, add milk mixture and whisk until just combined. Stir in extra vanilla and blueberries.
2. Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat and brush with butter. Using 1/4 cup of the mixture per pancake, cook 2 pancakes for 3-4 minutes or until bubbles appear on the surface. Turn and cook for a further 3 minutes or until cooked through.
3. Transfer to a plate. Cover loosely with foil to keep warm.
4. Repeat 2 and 3 with the remaining mixture, brushing the pan with butter between batches.
Recipe and image from Taste.com.au
]]>Ingredients
240g Unsalted butter at room temperature
265g (1 1/4 cups) caster sugar
100g (1/2 cup firmly packed) brown sugar
2 eggs
340g (2 1/4 cups) plain flour
90g cocoa powder
2 tbsp corn flour
1 tsp sea salt
1 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
200g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 tsp vanilla extract
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/170°C fan forced and line baking trays with baking paper.
2. Use electric beaters to beat butter, sugars and vanilla extract in a large bowl for 3-4 minutes or until pale and creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one. Beat for a further two minutes or until well combined.
3. Sift flour, cocoa powder, corn flour, salt and bicarb into a large bowl. Add to the butter mixture. Stir until just combined. Fold through the chocolate.
4. Roll the dough into fourteen 95g balls and arrange on the baking trays. Bake1 tray for 12-14 minuted or until lightly golden. Set aside, on tray, to cool slightly before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining tray.
Recipe and image from Taste.com.au
]]>Ingredients
185g Unsalted butter, cut into small chunks, plus extra for greasing
3 large eggs
275g golden caster sugar
85g plain flour
40g cocoa powder
5 fondant filled eggs (Cadbury's creme eggs or similar)
150g mini eggs (mixture of Cadbury's and smarties mini eggs or similar)
To decorate
You will also need a few fluffy chenille Easter chicks to decorate (optional)
Method
1. Put the butter and chocolate in a medium-sized heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally until melted and then leave the melted mixture to cool until it reaches room temp.
2. Heat oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4. Grease a 20cm square tin with butter and line with 2 long strips of folded baking paper or foil - one running top to bottom, the other left to right then line the base with a piece of baking paper. These will help you to lift it out later.
3. Whisk eggs and sugar together on maximum speed, for around 5-8 mins or until they look thick and creamy and have doubled in size.
4. Pour the cooled chocolate mixture over the egg mixture, then gently fold together.
5. Sieve the flour and cocoa into the wet ingredients then continue to fold the mixture gently until everything is fully combined, try not to over-mix.
6. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and carefully level the mixture with the spatula. Put in the middle of the oven and bake for 20 mins.
7. Meanwhile, cut the fondant filled eggs in half and set aside, then place the mini eggs into a mortar and pestle. Crush a few of the mini eggs but leave some whole. After 20mins take the brownie out of the oven and press in the fondant eggs, cut side up. Scatter over half of the mini eggs too, then put back in the oven for a further 5 mins.
8. Once baked, top with the remaining mini eggs, leave to cool completely then place in the fridge for about 1hr to firm up. Lift it out of the tin using the strips of baking powder and cut into squares to serve. Decorate with little Easter chicks if you like.
Recipe from BBC Good Food
]]>1 large egg (room temperature)
1/3 cup almond butter
1/2 cup softened coconut oil
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup superfine almond flour
1/3 cup shredded coconut
3 1/4 cups rolled oats
3/4 finely diced red apple
2 tbsp puffed quinoa (optional)
2 tbsp chopped dried apples (optional)
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180C
2. Line a large baking tray with baking paper
3. Whisk the egg, almond butter and coconut oil in a large bowl until smooth and creamy.
4. Add the honey, vanilla, cinnamon, salt and baking powder. Beat until thoroughly combined.
5. Stir in the flour followed by the coconut and oats.
6. Mix well until everything is combined.
7. Fold in the apple and any other add ins you would like.
8. Using a 1/4 cup or large tablespoon, scoop out the dough and place on the baking tray.
9. Pat the top down to flatten slightly.
10. Bake in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until edges are slightly browned.
11. Allow to cool on baking tray before storing. Cookies can be stored for up to 3 months in the freezer in a sealed bag.
Other ingredients to use when making these cookies - freeze dried strawberries, choc chips, ripe mashed bananas or apricot and pistachio. You can view all of these on Life Made Sweeter here.
Recipe sourced from Life Made Sweeter.
]]>
1 cup ground cinnamon
1/2 cup apple sauce
1/2 cup white school glue
Small bowl of water
Method
1. Combine the cinnamon and apple sauce in a mixing bowl and stir until combined.
2. Pour in the glue and stir until combined. It may be easier to knead the dough with your hands towards the end to incorporate any last bits of cinnamon.
3. Wrap the dough in glad wrap and let it sit for an hour to allow the glue to cure.
4. Preheat the oven to 90C.
5. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
6. Cut the dough in half and only work with one half at a time.
7. Roll out the dough to approximately 6mm thick. If cracks develop or the dough isn't smooth, rub in a little bit of water to help smooth it out.
8. Using your choice of cookie cutters, cut out as many ornament shapes as you can.
9. Use a drinking straw to cut out holes at the top. This will be used to thread your ribbon through for hanging the ornament.
10. Place pre-cut dough on the baking tray. You can place them close together as the ornaments won't spread during baking.
11. Bake for 2 hours. Flip over halfway through cooking to help cook thoroughly and prevent curling.
12. You will know when they are ready when they are slightly darker and hard to touch.
13. Transfer them to a cooling rack or leave on the tray to allow them to cool down and dry completely.
14. Decorate your ornaments using your imagination.
15. Tie ribbon or twang to hang.
Recipe from the Kitchn
]]>
1 cup flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 cup salt
1 tbls vegetable oil
1 cup water
food colouring
Method
1. Mix all ingredients minus the food colouring in a large bowl. Combine well.
2. Separate ingredients into multiple bowls.
3. Add your choice of Colour Mill food colouring to each bowl.
4. in a saucepan over medium to high heat cook the mixture until the dough starts to form and becomes dry.
5. Once it starts to form a ball together and looks fully cooked, remove from heat and allow to cool.
6. Once cool, knead the dough for 5 minutes or until it becomes soft.
]]>
We have collaborated with Miss Sallie's Cuisine to bring you her top tips for how to decorate using fondant.
Watch the video here.
]]>We have collaborated with Miss Sallie's Cuisine to bring you her top tips for how to stop dough from spreading when you bake your cookies.
Watch the video here.
]]>
115g plain flour
10g cocoa powder
1tsp baking powder
40g creme fraiche
1 egg
80g Lindt Dessert Premium Dark Chocolate
120ml milk
butter
Chocolate Creme Filling (optional)
250ml milk
100g raw caster sugar
2 egg yolks
25g cornflour
vanilla bean paste
130g Lindt Excellence A Touch of Sea Salt
20g butter
Method
1. Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl
2. Add the creme fraiche and the egg
3. Create a smooth ganache by combining the milk and chocolate together
4. Place a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Brush with a little butter and place about a tablespoon of batter on the pan to cook
5. When the batter starts to form bubbles on the top, flip it over and cook through
6. Transfer to a plate to cool
7. You can also get a little creative with the pancakes and try using one of our Easter cookie cutters to create fun pancake shapes.
Chocolate Creme Filling
1. Bring the milk and half the sugar to the boil
2. While waiting for the milk and sugar to boil, combine the egg yolks, corn flour, vanilla and remaining sugar
3. Add the egg yolk mixture into hot milk
4. Whisk and return to the heat, cooking until it forms a thick custard
5. Add the chocolate and butter
6. Mix until silky and smooth
7. Cover directly with cling wrap and cool fully
8. Fill the pancakes with the creme, stack them and serve with a little chocolate sauce
]]>For the base:
12 Oreo cookies (crushed)
6 tbls melted butter
For the ganache:
12 Oz Semi Sweet Chocolate
12 Oz Heavy Cream
Method
Base
1. Blend the Oreo cookies in a food processor until crumbs are formed.
2. Add melted butter and mix until combined.
3. Prepare 20cm Food Ring on Baking Tray. (can also be made using 12x mini cheesecake pans)
4. Pour the mixture into the food ring.
5. Press the crumbs into the bottom of the pan to make an even base and set aside.
Ganache
1. In a small saucepan, heat the cream just until hot.
2. Place the chocolate into a medium mixing bowl.
3. Pour the heated cream over the chocolate and whisk until smoothed.
4. Pour the chocolate cream evenly over the cookie base.
5. Cover with plastic and place in the fridge until they are set.
Decorate
1. While you are waiting for your dessert to set, melt some chocolate of your choice, dark, milk or white and create some chocolates to place on top. Pick your chocolate mould here.
Serves 12
Recipe by Errens Kitchen
]]>
100g butter
100g parmasan cheese
1 tbls rosemary leaves
3/4 cup plain flour
salt
pepper
Method
1. Combine butter, parmasan, rosemary, flour and a pinch of salt and pepper in a food processor.
2. Process until mixture forms a dough.
3. Turn dough out on to a lightly floured surface.
4. Knead and press the dough into a 15cm disc.
5. Wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
6. Preheat oven to 180C.
7. Line baking trays with baking paper.
8. Roll out dough between 2 sheets of baking paper until 0.5mm thick.
9. Cut the dough using cookie cutters of your choice. We have used Australian Animals.
10. Bake biscuits for 6-8 minutes or until light golden in colour.
11. Stand for 5 minutes on trays and then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
This recipe has been sourced from taste.com.
We really look this recipe because although it is simple it is also very versatile. You can mix this recipe up and add flavours of your choosing including Thyme, sun-dried tomato, oregano etc.
]]>
Ingredients:
250g butter
3 eggs
250g sugar
1 pinch of salt
1 lemon - grated zest
500g plain flour
1 egg yolk
1 tbls milk for brushing
Method:
1. Beat butter and sugar together until creamy.
2. Add salt and egg gradually while still beating.
3. Add lemon zest
4. Add sifted flour
5. Knead all together to form a dough.
6. Wrap dough in cling wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.
7. Preheat oven to 200C.
8. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface.
9. Cut the dough with a cookie cutter of your choice.
10. Place cookies on a baking sheet and put back in the fridge to set again.
11. Beat remaining egg yolk and milk.
12. Brush cookies with egg mix.
13. Sprinkle course granulated sugar on top (optional).
14. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown.
]]>
1/2 Cup Butter Softened
3/4 Cup Sugar
1 Egg, Room Temperature
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1 1/2 Cups Flour
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Salt
Frosting
3 3/4 Cups Confectioners' Sugar
1/4 Cup Copha
4-6 Tbls Water
Yellow, Orange, Green and Black Colour Mill food colouring
Method
1. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and blended. Add egg and vanilla and beat well.
2. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually beat into a creamed mixture.
3. Separate dough into 2 portions. Shape each into a disk, wrap with glad wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm enough to roll.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
5. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
6. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion of dough to approx. 60mm thick.
7. Cut with your choice of Halloween shaped cookie cutters.
8. Place cookies approx 5cm apart on the tray.
9. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.
10. Remove from oven and place on wire racks to cool completely.
Frosting
1. While cookies are cooling, beat confectioners' sugar, copha and enough water to reach spreading consistency.
2. Tint frosting with chosen Colour Mill food colouring and decorate cookies as desired.
3. Allow to stand until set.
Recipe from tasteofhome.com
]]>Preparation: 1 hour
Cook: 30 minutes
Extra Time: 2 hours
Gingerbread
3 1/2 cups self raising flour
1 cup plain flour
2 tablespoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon whole cloves
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
185g chopped butter
1/2 cup golden syrup
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup pure icing sugar
Royal Icing
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
3 cups pure icing sugar
Vanillin Sugar, for dusting
Lollies or small toys for inside of house
30cm round or square cake board
Gingerbread House Cookie Cutters
Cake pins
Method
Gingerbread
1. Preheat oven 180 degrees C.
2. Combine flours, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, sugar and butter in a food processor. Process until mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
3. Whisk golden syrup and eggs together in a jug. With the motor running, add egg mixture and process until dough just comes together.
4. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Knead gently until smooth. Cut dough in half and wrap in plastic wrap.
5. Meanwhile, prepare gingerbread house cookie cutters and line baking trays with baking paper.
6. Roll dough, 1 portion at a time, between 2 sheets of baking paper until 5mm thick. Remove top layer of baking paper. Using the Gingerbread House Cookie Cutters, cut the shapes from the dough.
7. Re-knead and re-roll dough as needed to cut shapes from dough.
8. Place gingerbread in single layers on trays. Bake 2 trays at a time for approx. 15 minutes or until firm.
9. Cool on trays.
Royal Icing
1. Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add icing sugar, beating constantly until thick.
2. Using a knife, spread icing to join wall edges together. Start with a front and side wall, placing pins into adjoining wall edges to support joins until icing dries.
3. You should have an empty house without a roof. Fill inside of house with lollies or small toys if house feels strong and dry enough.
4. Use icing to attach roof to walls, using pins into adjoining walls to support until icing dries completely. Remove pins only when house is solid and dried.
5. Spoon 1/2 cup of remaining icing into a piping bag. Pipe windows and doors on house and frost on roof edges. Allow to dry.
6. Dust roof with Vanillin sugar.
TIPS
This cute gingerbread house will last up to 1 week. Best made a couple of days before Christmas and when children are around so they can crack it open to find all the goodies inside. Also a great gift idea.
]]>Cooking Time: 25 minutes
Serves: 4
Ingredients
7-8 slices fruit brioche
60g butter, room temperature
900g tub double thick vanilla custard
125ml milk
1 tbs caster sugar
1 medium green apple, thinly sliced
Icing sugar, to dust
160ml caramel sauce
Thickened cream, to serve
Method
Icing
Method
Cooking time: 10-20 mins
Serves: Makes approx 30
Ingredients
Method
Sift the dry ingredients together and set aside. Place butter and sugar into a large bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Switch to low speed before adding vanilla, egg and milk until combined. Gradually add the dry mixture until combined and dough starts to pull away from the bowl (firming up). Divide the dough in half, wrap in baking paper and chill for an hour in the fridge.
Sprinkle icing sugar on the surface where cookies will be rolled out. Roll out till ¼ inch thick and cut into desired shapes. Place on baking tray lined with baking paper. Put the trays of cookies in the fridge for 30 minutes before baking to prevent them from spreading too much in the oven.
Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes at 160ºC until edges are golden. Let them sit on baking tray for 2 minutes to cool before removing. When cookies are completely cool, sandwich them together with your favourite Beerenberg jam and enjoy!
]]>Many of the treats in this new cookbook were made using cookie cutters that we supplied.
We have all the cookie cutters you need to make these recipes here.
Here's a list for your easy reference!
Pg 112 - Wholemeal Poppy Seed Lavosh - Leaf 6.5cm & 7.5cm
Pg 119 - Snowy Christmas Fruit Cake - Snowman 8.5cm & 10cm
Pg 121 - Cranberry & Fig Bundt Cakes with Gingerbread Antlers - Deer Antlers 11cm
Pg 124 - Rum & Raisin Brownie Christmas Trees - Christmas Fir Tree 9cm
Pg 127 - Hazelnut & Brandy Forest Cake With Cream Cheese Icing - Deer 5cm & 7cm
Pg 152 - Gingerbread Men Ice-Cream Sandwiches - Gingerbread Man 12cm
Pg 198 - Raspberry & Shortbread Slice - Set of 6 Star Cookie Cutters
Pg 202 - Malt Cookies & Ginger Snaps - Set of 6 Round Fluted & Straight Edge Cookie Cutters
Pg 208 - Coconut Jam Hearts - Round 7cm & Heart 4cm
Pg 217 - Salted Chocolate Gingerbread Men - Gingerbread Man 9cm
Pg 220 - Gingerbread Christmas Cookie Garlands - Christmas Fir Tree 7cm, Star 5 Pointed 7cm (or from Set of 6 Star Cutters) & Gingerbread Man 7.5cm
Pg 220 - Gingerbread Man Wreaths - Gingerbread Man 7.5cm
Pg 221 - Gingerbread Advent Calendar Stars - Set of 6 5-Pointed Stars
Pg 221 - Gingerbread Buttons - Button with Embossed Details or 3cm round, 5cm Round and 6mm Round Piping Nozzle
Pg 222 - Gingerbread Heart Garlands - Heart 3.5cm & 3mm Round Icing Nozzle
Pg 222 - Lemon & Vanilla Snowflakes - Snowflake 7cm, Snowflake Ice Crystal 9.5cm, Snowflake Ice Crystal 7.5cm
Pg 223 - Vanilla Star Wreaths - Star 8cm (from Set of 6 Star Cutters)
Pg 224 - Gingerbread Reindeer & Spiced Vanilla Reindeer - Deer 5cm & 7cm
Pg 224 - Chocolate Cookie Christmas Tree - Star Set of 10 Cookie Cutters with 6 points for a symmetrical tree
Here's the link to the full range of cutters used.
The cookbook is available from all good book retailers and online at the Donna Hay Store here.
This latest cookbook from Donna Hay is, of course, beautiful and filled with recipes that I cannot wait to try at home.
- Lisa xo
]]>
This year we made some little fondant cupcake toppers using our Halloween Mini Cookie Cutter Set. We coloured some white fondant with our Americolor icing gels.
To colour the portion of fondant simply take the required amount of white fondant and add icing colour a drop or two at a time until your fondant is the colour you require. Use a rolling pin to roll out the fondant and cut out desired shapes using our Halloween cookie cutters. Our favourite is the little skull.
Allow the fondant shapes to air dry until dry and hard. The more colour that has been added to the fondant the longer this will take. Our pumpkins took 2 days to dry completely. These fondant shapes can be prepared well in advance and stored in an airtight container.
Use the shapes to decorate cupcakes as you wish! We used buttercream coloured with Americolor Electric Green Gel Paste Colour and sprinkles from The Sprinkle Co.
Chocolate cupcakes made these cupcakes even more delicious!
]]>
Ingredients:
125g unsalted butter, softened
½ cup (110g) caster sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ½ cups (225g) plain flour, sifted
¼ cup (25g) cocoa, sifted
Topping:
250g dark chocolate
Sea Salt flakes OR Sprinkles of your choosing
Method:
Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 6-8 minutes or until pale and creamy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat for a further 2-3 minutes or until well combined. Add the flour and cocoa and beat until the mixture just comes together to form a smooth dough. Roll the dough out between two sheets of baking paper to 4 or 5mm thick and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until firm.
Preheat the oven to 160°C. Cut out the mini house pieces using the 3D mini gingerbread house cookie cutter. The one cutter cuts out all the shapes to make one house. Re-roll the dough as necessary. Place on large cookie sheets or trays lined with non stick baking paper and bake for 7 - 10 minutes until just cooked. Allow to cool slightly before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.
Melt chocolate and use this to join the houses together. You can also spread or pipe melted chocolate onto the rooves of the mini houses and sprinkle the tops with sea salt flakes (my fave!) or sprinkles of your choosing. Allow chocolate to set and enjoy.
]]>
EEEK! My kitchen is overrun with spiders! Cute little chocolate delicious spiders that is! These would be so cute served at Cafes with a hot drink on Halloween or snuck into lunchboxes for a Halloween surprise.
If you want to create your own mini chocolate spiders you can use the chocolate cookie recipe we used. I just added melted chocolate and sprinkles to the bodies of the spiders.
Our mini spider cookie cutter is available here.
Happy baking!
Lisa
]]>
I used my go to chocolate cookie recipe which I have added below. I always chill this dough well as it is quite soft but when chilled it's easy to work with and you can use it to cut out even very small or fiddly shapes without trouble. For toppings I used dark chocolate, M&M's, lolly snakes and sprinkles.
Once cooked and cooled I topped the cauldrons with melted dark chocolate. Before the chocolate set I popped on some M&Ms. Then I dipped the ends of some lolly snakes in chocolate and used the chocolate to attach the snakes to the back of the cookies. The cookie sitting on the snake will ensure that when the chocolate sets it is attaching the snake to the cookie. Add some sprinkles if you wish. Sit the cookies onto non-stick baking paper and allow the chocolate to set completely. You can move your snake heads so they look like they are coming out of the top of the cauldron. If your snake just won't sit how you want it to, stretch it a little where it folds over the cookie and it should sit down much easier. The snake attached to the back does make the cookie sit up from the plate but I think this looks pretty neat.
Chocolate Cookies Recipe
Ingredients:
125g unsalted butter, softened
½ cup (110g) caster sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ½ cups (225g) plain flour, sifted
¼ cup (25g) cocoa, sifted
Topping:
250g dark chocolate
Toppings of your choosing
Method:
Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 6-8 minutes or until pale and creamy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat for a further 2-3 minutes or until well combined. Add the flour and cocoa and beat until the mixture just comes together to form a smooth dough. Roll the dough out between two sheets of baking paper to 4 or 5mm thick and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until firm.
Preheat the oven to 160°C. Cut out shapes using a cauldron cookie cutter, re-rolling the dough as necessary. Place on large lightly greased baking trays lined with non stick baking paper and bake for 10 minutes until just cooked. Allow to cool slightly before transferring to wire racks to cool completely. Melt chocolate and spread or pipe on to biscuits and then add your decorations before the chocolate sets. I top with chocolate and then decorate one cookie at a time so that it doesn't set too quickly for me. Allow chocolate to set and enjoy.
Our cauldron cookie cutter is available here: https://cookiecuttershop.com.au/products/cauldron-cookie-cutter-c2501
]]>Chocolate Cookies Recipe
Ingredients:
125g unsalted butter, softened
½ cup (110g) caster sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ½ cups (225g) plain flour, sifted
¼ cup (25g) cocoa, sifted
Topping:
250g dark chocolate
Sprinkles of your choosing
Method:
Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 6-8 minutes or until pale and creamy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat for a further 2-3 minutes or until well combined. Add the flour and cocoa and beat until the mixture just comes together to form a smooth dough. Roll the dough out between two sheets of baking paper to 4 or 5mm thick and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until firm.
Preheat the oven to 160°C. Cut out shapes using cookie cutters of your choosing, re-rolling the dough as necessary. Place on large lightly greased baking trays lined with non stick baking paper and bake for 8 - 12 minutes until just cooked. Allow to cool slightly before transferring to wire racks to cool completely. Melt chocolate and spread or pipe on to biscuits and then sprinkle on the sprinkles. Allow chocolate to set and enjoy.
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I chose our deer in forest mould for my first attempt and that decision was not hard at all. I adore this beautiful mould design and didn't need any excuse to add this to my baking collection.
I used the Classic Springerle Cookie recipe from Springerle Joy as my starting point and followed their method exactly. I have halved the recipe (just about) and converted to metric below. With the recipe halved I made 60 cookies that were 6.5cm wide.
Ingredients
5 large eggs
460G Icing Sugar
Flavoring options (choose one edible flavoring oil from the following)
500G Plain Flour
Baking paper to line cookie sheets.
Method
Beat the eggs well until the mixture turns very light and airy. This took about 7 minutes in my stand mixer with wire whisk attachment. With mixer on low, add the icing sugar by ½ cups until all sugar is incorporated and mixture is fluffy. Add the flavoring oil while mixer is on low speed.
Switch to the beater or flat paddle attachment. Gradually beat in ¾ of the flour on low speed. Knead in the last quarter of the flour by hand or use the bread hook attachment. Do not over mix. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes to two hours covered on the dough surface with plastic wrap. This is an important step - the dough will seem very wet before resting and the flour does absorb a lot of the moisture during resting.
Note: In low humidity conditions, do not knead in all the flour. Reserve about half a cup. Let the dough rest 30 minutes to two hours. During that time, the flour in the dough will continue to absorb the liquid. You may find that you don’t need to add the reserved flour.
Divide the Springerle dough, which still will be sticky, into four parts. Cover the bowl with a damp towel to keep the dough parts moist. Take out one piece and knead in just enough flour so that it is slightly sticky. Roll out on a well floured surface so that it is 8mm thick. Lightly dust the rolled dough with flour so that the dough feels like silk. Dust your Springerle mould with flour using a pastry brush. Now press the very finely dusted mould evenly into the dough until the mold cavity is filled, and remove. Cut out the moulded dough with a suitable cookie cutter, pastry wheel or a knife and place on a baking sheet that has been lined with baking paper.
After a drying period of 8-12 hours at room temperature (this preserves the detail in the cookies produced by the mould during baking), bake the Springerle one baking sheet at a time at approximately 150ºC on the very bottom rack of the oven. Very small cookies can be done in 6-8 minutes at 150°C while larger cookies may take 12-20 minutes and are best baked at 140°C. Cookies are done when the bottoms are a light golden brown. When baking these cookies for the first time, bake just a few on the first baking sheet and check often to see how long your cookies take to finish.
Thank you Springerle Joy for such detailed instructions in your recipe making it easy for me to create these beautiful biscuits.
Happy baking
- Lisa x
]]>Chocolate swap
If you’re one of the billions of people who love chocolate in their cookies then the idea of taking it out may seem ludicrous, and we understand how you feel. But there are a few alternatives that can make your cookies healthier, while still satisfying your sweet tooth.
If you enjoy a touch of sweetness then try swapping out chocolate chips for some kind of fruit. There are plenty of different options to choose from so try experimenting with different fruits until you find one you like. Diced strawberries, cherries, banana chunks or raisins are all great tasting alternatives to chocolate. If you don’t want to ditch the chocolate then using brands with a higher cocoa content is a much healthier way to go. Cut them out into fun shapes to reflect their new content using our fun food themed cookie cutters.
Better butter
Trying to cut the amount of fat in your recipe is a great way to make healthier cookies. Butter is the main culprit when it comes to your cookie’s fat content, so try reducing the amount you use. Also try using healthier alternatives such as low-fat peanut butter or almond butter. Mashed banana and other fruit purees also make healthier and sweeter butter substitutes.
Flour power
There isn’t any escaping the need for flour when you’re making cookies for most recipes, but there are ways you can improve the recipe’s health benefits by changing the type of flour you use. Wholemeal flour will give your cookies a healthy kick, while adding a wholesome taste and richer colour.
Healthy additions
Adding healthy ingredients to your recipe will add new dimensions to your cookies. Vitamin and mineral powders can help give your immune system a boost, and healthy oats will add a new level of taste and texture.
Less is more
The key to eating healthily is to maintain a balanced diet while staying active, so there’s no reason you can’t treat yourself every once in a while. Try making your cookies slightly smaller than you normally would, or reduce the amount you make in each batch so you can still enjoy your favourite treat without overdoing it.
]]>Peanut butter and pumpkin cookies
This delicious blend of creamy peanut butter and sweet pumpkin will make a healthy snack for dogs.
Ingredients:
Put all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix together, adding water to create a dough that’s stiff and dry. Roll out the dough and cut it into pieces using our paw print cookie cutter or mini bone cookie cutter, then place them into the oven at 180 degrees celcius until they’re hard.
Fish and coconut crunchies
Anyone who has a cat will know how picky those four legged felines can be, but these delicious treats are sure to have them purring for more.
Ingredients:
Combine the ingredients in a food processor, or with a whisk in a bowl. Make sure to mix it evenly into a dough that is slightly sticky. Roll chunks of the dough into small croutons and bake on a tray for 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) until dry and crunchy.
Bird lollies
A lot of pet treat recipes focus mainly on cats and dogs, which means that other animals are usually overlooked. This is a recipe for bird lovers to keep their avian friends chirping with joy.
Ingredients
Bring your water to the boil and then stir the gelatine powder in until it has dissolved. Stir occasionally as the mixture cools down and thickens. Add the rest of the ingredients and keep stirring to spread the berries and seed evenly. Separate the mixture into moulds of your choice and leave to set. If you want to keep your winged friends cool then simply pop the lollies in the freezer.
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