mitzireddy

Olympic memorabilia – butter biscuits – gift from my daughter the Lovely Linda.

2012 is a year that’s keeping the Brits busy – with the Wimbledon now over it time to host this year’s Olympics with the opening ceremony being tonight. Not having time to prepare something that is traditionally British I scratched through some of the stuff I had prepared previously and decided to wing it with the Chocolate Melting Moments. I was hoping to be able to say that these biscuits originated in Britain – but that is not the case. I then hoped to pass off the chocolate filling as being made in Britain – but again that is not the case as it’s made in Poland. The recipe is by Racheal Allen and just when you might think -  ah! she is British – Racheal says it’s originated in Australia.

Finally something truly British – the crockery is made in Britain –and not in China.

Racheal Allen says, “I absolutely adore melting moment which are Australian little melt-in-the-mouth crumbly biscuits, sandwiched together and these are a chocolate version which are also divine and addictive.”

Chocolate Melting Moments
Ingredients
• 125g  butter, softened
• 50g  icing sugar
• 50g  corn-flour
• 25g  cocoa powder
• 100g  plain flour
• about 2 tablespoons chocolate hazelnut spread – I used Nutella
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Lightly grease or line a baking tray with parchment paper.
3. Beat the butter, then add the icing sugar and beat until soft and light, sift in the corn-flour, cocoa powder and plain flour into the butter and sugar and mix until the dough comes together. Divide the dough into 24 equal parts (about the size of a walnut in its shell). Roll into balls, place slightly apart on the prepared tray, then flatten slightly each biscuit with a fork. Cook in the preheated oven for 10-12 minute or until firm. Remove from the oven and let the biscuits sit on the tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool. Then sandwich the biscuits together with a nice thick layer of chocolate hazelnut spread.
4. Makes 24 halves (12 when sandwiched together)

Its pelting with rain this morning in Johannesburg
as I am busy writing this post – you can feel the chill in the morning air
these days with the approach of autumn.

I made these cookies on Tuesday evening convincing
myself that these are healthy as the main ingredient is oatmeal. There are
numerous recipes for oatmeal cookies and one I chose to make is from a cookbook
called Grandmother’s Cookbook by Carrie Gamble. According to Carrie this recipe
has been in her family for more than 100 years.

The origin of oats is still clouded but it has been
around Europe for more than 3000 years – and to quote from Samuel Johnson’s
dictionary, oats were defined as “eaten by people in Scotland, but fit
only for horses in England.” The Scotsman’s retort to this is,
“That’s why England has such good horses, and Scotland has such fine
men!”

Oats are recommended by nutritionists as it has the
highest protein content among cereals, can reduce blood cholesterol, contains
soluble fibre which keeps one’s stomach full for longer,  blah blah blah etc  – I made these cookies to satisfy my sweet
cravings while trying to maintain a healthy eating plan.  

Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients

1 Cup White Sugar

1 Cup Brown Sugar

2 Eggs

3 Cups Oatmeal ( I ground 3 cups of oats in my coffee grinder to make the
oatmeal)

1 Cup Butter

1 Cup Flour

1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

½ Cup Chopped Walnuts or Pecans

½ Cup Raisins

½ Cup Coconut

I added a teaspoon of vanilla essence and ½ teaspoon of cinnamon powder for some
flavour (optional)

Method

Cream together sugar, butter and eggs until light and fluffy.

Add flour, oatmeal and baking soda.

Add nuts, raisins and coconut. Mix well.

Drop from a teaspoon on a greased cookie sheet.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes at 180 C degrees.

This recipe makes a big batch of cookies. These cookies are
delicious and very moreish – Rajen and I have almost demolished the lot already

During our family holiday to the States in October last year we stayed at the Doubletree hotel in Key West. Doubletree, besides being a fab chain of hotels, is famous for their chocolate chip cookie which is given to each guest as they check in. This tradition was introduced in the 1980s and is used to suggest Doubletree hospitality and to differentiate the brand from its competition. This marketing strategy obviously works as I have no hesitation recalling the name of the hotel.

The cookies are referred to as “warmers” by the staff and are baked several times a day in the hotels kitchens and are kept warm in the ovens built into the hotels’ front desks. These cookies are also sold online and the cookies obviously have to be excellent to be associated as part of the hotel brand.

The original recipe is brand protected for more than 2 decades – the recipe below is the copycat version

Not another chocolate chip cookie recipe – I know (it’s the reason why I delayed doing this post) – but these are really yummy and not sickly sweet – and well worth trying. These cookies are very moreish – I made daily trips to the receptionist, during our stay, for the cookies to munch with our nightcap of coffee.

DoubleTreeHotel

Chocolate Chip Cookies  

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup rolled oats

2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

2 eggs

3 cups semi-sweet, chocolate chips

1-1/2 cups chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 180 C degrees.

Grind oats in a food processor or blender until fine. Combine the ground oats with the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl.

Cream together the butter, sugars, vanilla, and lemon juice in another medium bowl with an electric mixer. Add the eggs and mix until smooth.

Stir the dry mixture into the wet mixture and blend well. Add the chocolate chips and nuts to the dough and mix by hand until ingredients are well-incorporated.

Spoon rounded 1/4-cup portions onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Place the scoops about 5 cms apart. You don’t need to press the dough flat. Bake for 16-18 minutes or until cookies are light brown and soft in the middle. Store in a sealed container when cool to keep soft.

For the best results in warm weather is to chill the dough overnight in the refrigerator before

baking the cookies.

Makes 20 cookies.

A friend took Elizabeth and myself last week (before the big freeze) to spend the day in Parys (Free State) – we had a leisurely drive there and spent some time browsing through the many art galleries and antique shops and had lunch at a place called Cherry on the Top – where I had my first taste of Verlaque fruit infused Birdseye Chili olive oil – delicious and very moreish – came home with a bottle – had to share with other foodies who might not have tried it as yet.

Where am I going with this and nan khatai – I am also not totally clear on this – except to say that I ended that fabulous day with a nightcap of a hot and spicy chai tea and delicately flavoured, crumbly, buttery, melt in the mouth, petite, bite sized nan khatai (I am not sure if good for digestion at that part of the night –but well worth it). See my previous blog for recipe for chai tea -http://blogs.food24.com/mitzireddy/chai-tea?page=12

Nan khatai is an Indian adaptation of the Dutch butter biscuits – in the 16^th century the Dutch set up trading posts in India for trading spices and set up a bakery for baking bread for their consumption in Surat, a large port city in Gujarat– this eventually led to biscuit making and when the Dutch left Surat the bakery was bought by one of the employees, Dotivala, who then adapted the biscuit to an eggless version and called it nan khatia. There is a very large Gujarati population in Bombay.The nan khatai were transported to markets in Bombay where it became a popular teatime item. It was eaten by dunking in the sweet hot tea latte (Chai).

NAN KHATAI (Petite)

250ml butter ghee

160ml castor sugar

125ml sunflower oil

60ml semolina

500ml cake flour

125ml gram flour (chickpea)

5ml cardamom powder

5ml nutmeg powder

2ml bicarbonate of soda

Slivered almonds

Cream butter ghee and castor sugar until fluffy.

Add the oil and beat well until light and creamy in colour (approx. 15 minutes).

Add dry ingredients and mix to a soft dough.

Mould into walnut size balls and place on a greased baking sheet.

Press an almond in each.

Bake the biscuits in a preheated oven (150 C) for 20 minutes or until cooked.

Cool in a rack.

Weddings are always a fabulous affair to attend as a guest – it’s a great excuse to wear a traditional sari and look glam and to socialize with friends and families. We are heading to Durban on Friday to attend a family wedding over the weekend. I am especially looking forward to spending some time just chilling with my sister, Dawn and her family. I usually try to bake some of her favorite goodies when visiting her in Durban and she asked for these snack bars – which are full of healthy ingredients including peanut butter – these cookies are delish and very moreish.