Chocolate Almond Meringue Bar

When I saw the pictures accompanying this recipe, I knew I had to make it. Meringue? Check. Chocolate? Check. Nuts? Check. No matter how much I love a good brownie, there's only so many times you can eat them before craving something different.

These bars were not too sweet, but still had a nice chocolate hit to them, with the almonds-meringue top providing a nice crunch to it.


Seriously, how could you not think "GET IN MAH BELLY!" when you see these?

Okay, enough teasing, and on to the recipe.

Chocolate Almond Meringue Bar
Adapted from Godtopus Eats.

Batter:
4 tablespoons of butter
1/2 cup brown sugar, very very very lightly packed
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 160C and grease an 8-inch square baking pan.

Cream butter and brown sugar. Add the egg and the vanilla, and beat well.

Mix together flour, salt and baking powder, before adding to butter mixture and combining.

Stir in the chocolate morsels and spread onto the prepared pan.


Meringue:
1 egg white
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped nuts [I used almonds]

Beat the egg white until it stands in stiff peaks, then continue beating as you add the sugar.

Fold in the nuts if you’re using them.

Spread the meringue over the batter.


Bake for 25 minutes or until the top is slightly cracked and lightly browned.

Let cool and inhale.

Green Tea Sweets.

So, let's ignore the very very sporadic postings and jump right back into it.


I've actually made these before, but rolled them out too thinly and well, they didn't turn out. Learnt my lesson this time and they were much better. So, if you decide to make these, remember not to roll them out too much, otherwise you'll have mostly burnt cookies. And no one likes those.

Recipe here.

Barley-Chickpea Soup

If you live in Melbourne, you'll agree that the past week has just been freezing. So, what do you do when life gives you chilly weather? You make soup of course. This recipe was the result of having left over ingredients in my fridge and my stubborn refusal to eat them on their own. It may not be the best soup in the world, but it was quick, easy and most importantly warming.



Chickpea-Barley Tomato soup

Dice garlic and fry with cumin (or any other herbs you might prefer).

Add a shot of balsamic vinegar

Pour in a can of dice tomatoes and heat through.

Throw in chick peas and barley (Just keep adding until you feel there's enough).

Add in a can of water.

Simmer (and add in more water as needed).

Serve with thick crusty bread (or in my case, cornbread).

Cottage Cheese Pancakes

I'm not really a pancakes sort of girl.

In fact, the only time I was actively eating pancakes for brekkie was that one summer when I was travelling around USA. Fun fact: Most hostels there offer free breakfast by way of self-serve/make pancakes.

However, despite not being a frequent eater of pancakes, my memories of them are fondly and irrevocably tied with traveling and home, as each time I'm back, me and my friends would head over to Maccas for hotcake breakfast and a catch-up session.

The problem for me in making pancakes is that I'm just too impatient for it. I'll always try to flip them before they're done, making them winkled, odd-shaped and messy. Either that or I'll get bored waiting, wander off for a bit / turn the heat waaaaay too high and end up with one burnt side.

Needless to say, I rarely make them.

But after coming across a recipe for cottage cheese pancakes and watching the recent episode of Masterchef, I knew i had to make some. So here's my version of Smitten Kitchen's adaption of the Joy of Cooking's cottage cheese pancakes.



Cottage Cheese Pancakes

1 1/3 cups whole-wheat flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk
1 cup full-fat or low-fat cottage cheese
2 large egg yolks

2 large egg whites

Lightly butter a non-stick pan and place over medium heat.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon or nutmeg and salt together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, cottage cheese and egg yolks.

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and gently whisk them together, mixing just until combined.

Beat the two egg whites until they are stiff but not dry and fold them into the batter. (As it was just me, I only whisked the egg white till fluffy before mixing into the batter.)

Spoon batter onto the pan. (As these are a bit thick, they might take a little longer to cook, or if you're like me, impatient, gently spread out the batter so it forms a thinner pancake)

Cook until the top of each pancake is starting to dry around the edges – you will get a few bubbles here and there – then turn and cook until the underside is lightly browned.

Smother with maple syrup and enjoy!

Notes:

I halved the recipe and made around 7-ish. If you like, you can probably throw in some nuts or even choc chips into the batter. I had mine the old fashion way; plain with some butter and maple syrup.

Smitten suggests keeping these in a preheated the oven (200 degrees F) if you're not planning to eat them right away.

Crispy Salted Oatmeal Cookies

On the side of chewy vs crisp cookies, I'm on Team Crispy all the way. Most times, I end up having to modify recipes I find in order to make them just the way I like. The downside is that it increases the chances of them burning. So I was really excited when I came across this recipe for crispy salted oatmeal cookies.


Crispy Salted Oatmeal Cookies
From Cook’s Illustrated

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon table salt
14 tablespoons unsalted butter, slightly softened
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup good-quality chocolate, chopped
1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt (for sprinkling on top)

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and table salt in a medium bowl.

Beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Scrape down bowl, then add egg and vanilla and beat until incorporated.

Gradually add flour mixture and mix until just incorporated and smooth, followed by oats and white chocolate.

Divide dough into 24 equal portions, each about 2 tablespoons. Roll between palms into balls, then place on lined baking sheets about 2 1/2 inches apart. Using fingertips, gently press down each ball to about 3/4-inch thickness.

Sprinkle a flake or two of sea salt on each cookie

Bake until cookies are deep golden brown, about 13 to 16 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack to cool.

Notes:
I was baking while watching Masterchef and completely forgotten to add sea salt on top of the cookies. Oops. They still turned out fine though. Next time I'll try some lemon salt on top.

I actually made my cookies about 1/2 tablespoon sized and baked for 10mins instead.

Orange-Cranberry Rolls

It's been one of those weeks where I just cant be bothered cooking. Most days I just end up getting take-away or rummaging through my pantry for nonsense. For instance, hypothetically speaking, I may or may not have had a giant bag of chips as a meal, and this may or may not have happened several times. Hypothetically speaking, of course.

Anywho, instead of cooking, I decided that needed something sweet to help me get through my statistic assignment. So I made orange-cranberry rolls with some left over marmalade. Very simple and easy, just the thing I need when I'm stressed.

The dough was from my favourite cinnamon buns recipe, and really, you can use whichever recipe you prefer.


Orange-Cranberry Rolls
Dough recipe from The Pioneer Woman

For the dough
1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 1/4 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder, heaping
1/4 teaspoon baking soda, scant
1/4 tablespoon salt

For the filling
Orange-cranberry marmalade
115g butter, soften and slightly melted
Brown sugar
Dried cranberries
Nuts, optional

Mix the milk, vegetable oil, and sugar in a pan. Scald the mixture and leave to cool until lukewarm (around 45min).

Sprinkle in the yeast and let sit for a minute or so. 

Add in 2 cups of all-purpose flour and stir the mixture together. Cover and let rise for at least an hour. 

Add the remaining flour, the baking powder, baking soda and the salt. Stir mixture together.

Sprinkle surface generously with flour. Take the dough and form a rough rectangle. Then roll the dough thin, maintaining a general rectangular shape.

Spread marmalade over the dough. (I used about 4 heaping tablespoon cause that's all that I have left, but what you're aiming for is a nice layer) Spread/Drizzle butter over the dough and sprinkle the sugar over. (I used nearly 1 cup, but it really depends on how sweet or bitter your marmalade is). Finally add chopped nuts, cranberries, etc to taste.

Now, begin rolling the dough up, keep it relatively tight. Pinch the seam to the roll to seal it. Then, cut the rolls approximately 3/4 to 1 inch thick and laying them in the buttered pans.

Let the rolls rise for 20 to 30 minutes, then bake at 190 degrees until light golden brown, about 15 to 18 minutes.

Banana Bread Cookie

Now I know these don't look like much, but honestly, you have to make them. The shockingly bad picture doesn't detract from the fact that these cookies are amazing. It just tells you that I've been baking at night again. They pretty much taste like soft pillowy bites of banana bread, encased in a crisp outer shell. Give it a go and let me know how yours turn out.


Banana Bread Cookies
Recipe modified from the Tasty Kitchen

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
splash of almond extract (optional)
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 bananas, mashed
1 cup oats

Preheat oven to 185C.

Cream butter and sugar together. Add in eggs and extracts.

Combine flour, baking soda and cinnamon. Mix into butter mixture.

Gradually add banana and oats.

Drop by spoonfuls (I used about 1/2 to 1 tsp as I like small cookies) onto prepared cookie sheets.

Baked for 10-12 minutes and cool immediately on wire racks.

Notes:
Be careful not to overbake these. You want it just done enough to have a crisp, slightly brown outside while maintaining a soft interior.

The original recipe calls for 1/2C chocolate chips. If you're so inclined, add them in after the banana and oats.

As I knew I was going to make small cookies (I ended up with about 50), I've actually halved the recipe. If you prefer a more traditional sized cookies, feel free to double the proportions.