In what has become something of a tradition, I spent the weekend baking cookies for Christmas gifts for my work colleagues.
This year I even presented them nicely in little Chinese take-out boxes.
I was initially going to make 3 types of cookies, but realised midway through baking that 2 was more than enough to fill the little boxes. I made 2 types of cookies – chocolate, coconut and pecan and spiced snaps.
Chocolate Chip-Pecan-Coconut Cookies
By: Leah
Once again, this recipe is taken from Amanda Hesser's book "Cooking for Mr Latte". Go buy it! In the original recipe she used chunks of chocolate, and toasted her pecans. I used chocolate chips (dark, milk and white) and skipped the toasting.
Details
- Prep Time:
40 min - Cook Time:
12 min - Ready In:
52 min
Servings: 3 dozen
- 230 gs butter, softened and cubed
- 1 cup caster sugar
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 tsps vanilla extract
- 3 larges eggs
- 3 cups plain flour
- 1 tsp baking soda/bicarb soda
- pinch sea salt
- 1 cup various chocolate chips
- 2 cups (or to taste) pecans, chopped
- 1 cup coconut (I used dessicated)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 160*C.
- Line 2 large baking trays with non-stick baking paper.
- Cream the butter with both sugars, until light and fluffy. I used a handheld mixed because that's all I have but if you have a mix-master I recommend using it!
- Add vanilla and eggs to butter/sugar mixture and keep beating until smooth.
- In another bowl, stir together flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beating on low each time you add more until blended. Too much at once and it won't mix well.
- Once everything is mixed well, add chocolate, pecans and coconut. Fold in by hand - it's good exercise!
- I rolled to dough out onto gladwrap and then froze until I was ready to bake. If you want to cook on the same day, let the dough chill for 30 minutes (particularly important in sunny Queensland!).
- Drop the dough in small amounts onto the baking trays. Alternatively, you can roll the dough into a log and then cut circles off the end.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes (I like mine chewy so I went for 12 minutes, if you like crispy bake for longer. Remember, they will keep cooking on the baking tray when you take them out of the oven).
- Allow to cool, or serve warm and melting...
Sugar and spice snaps
By: Leah
This recipe is taken from one of the ever-reliable Australian Women's Weekly cookbooks - "Christmas Food". In my experience, you can't really go wrong with a recipe from Women's Weekly - they triple-check everything in their test kitchens. Mine don't look nearly as pretty as in the book, but then things rarely do in my kitchen!
Details
- Prep Time:
40 min - Cook Time:
10 min - Ready In:
50 min
Servings: 3 dozen
- 1 1/2 cups plain flour
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 tsps ground ginger
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- 1/4 tsp ground clove
- 150 gs butter, softened and coarsely chopped
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1/4 cup raw sugar
Directions
- Preheat your oven to 180*C (lower if fan-forced). Line your baking trays with baking paper.
- Mix the flour, sugar and spices in a bowl. Add the butter and gently 'rub-in' until your mixture is crumbly and well-combined. (Alternatively, you can just throw all of these ingrediants into a food processor - I don't have one).
- Add the egg yolk to the dough and mix until combined.
- Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth.
- Again, at this point I rolled out in dough into logs and covered with gladwrap and froze overnight. Alternatively, just roll out and then chill for 30 minutes in the fridge (covered).
- Cut your log at regular intervals and put the rounds of dough out on the trays. Sprinkle the cookies with the raw sugar.
- Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes, depending on how think your dough is. Again, remember the cookies will continue to cook on the tray once out of the oven, so don't overcook them. I made these cookies a bit crisper and crunchier than my chocolate chip ones.
17.12.09 | 
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Thanks for the tip on the jars – I was up until midnight last night making chilli chutney and some biscuits of my own…
Nice photos.