Mad Easy Jam Coconut Macaroons

Coconut, shmokonut, we all love it around here. Thanks to this subtropical climate I live in, such flavours are much desired and a great match for the other tropical fruits that grow locally here, such as mango and banana. But there's long been a combination I've desired to see together. I'm a terrible matchmaker-most matches I make end in tears, so I'm better of sticking with food rather than ill-suited couples. I give myself brownie points for trying though (lets make that dark chocolate fudgy brownie points).
The local Woolworth store here has these amazing coconut drops with strawberry jam on the top, and I have been long looking for a recipe. The coconut is sweet and moist, but the little drops hold together beautifully and hardly look cooked--how do they do it? Anyway, I have not been able to find any recipe to compare. But I'm back with the Secret Recipe Club after my post baby break, and I was given the blog A Couple In The Kitchen to cook from. They have a great 4 ingredient recipe for coconut macaroons--and I just had to try it. It's so simple, quick, and gluten free--exactly the type of recipe a new mummy like me needs between baby sleeping and waking. They're also strangely addictive, and are sure to disappear from the kitchen very quickly.

When you first inhale that warm coconut aroma, and the sweet scent of boiling strawberry jam, you will realise that eating these coconut jam drops straight out of the oven is well worth burning the tongue for.

I've adapted the recipe a little to see if I could make them anything like the Woolworth's coconut drops. (It turns out, to my absolute glee, that they are very much like those delicious morsels! They're soft, sweet and moist with a little crunch on the outer--divine!) My husband also has a strong aversion to almond essence, which was in the original recipe, so I made them just vanilla instead. I also did not have sweetened flake coconut (I don't think we even sell sweetened coconut here in Australia!) so I used dessicated coconut, and found that the sweetness from the condensed milk was enough to satisfy any sweet tooth. I think the addition of strawberry jam also added just a little more sugar, and made these darling little coconut jam macaroons the perfect addition to an afternoon tea platter or even a festive little treat for the Christmas table.
Please don't forget to check out  A Couple In The Kitchen's blog...they are recent award winning bloggers!

MAD EASY JAM COCONUT MACAROONS (adapted from A Couple in the Kitchen)

3 cups dessicated coconut (unsweetened)
300g sweetened condensed milk (approx. 3/4 can)
3 tsp vanilla essence
1/4 cup strawberry jam

Preheat the oven to 180C.
Line one large baking tray with non stick paper. In a large bowl, place the coconut, condensed milk and vanilla essence. Stir until well incorporated. Scoop amounts the size of a golf ball into your hand and gently form into a round shape. Using your index finger, make a small indentation to the top, and place on tray and lightly flatten. Repeat until all the mixture is used up. Then fill the indentations with a little jam. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until lightly browned. Allow to cool on the tray before removing.

Makes approximately 18

Peanut Butter Cup Bars

 They're a little bit of smooth and creamy with a little bit of crunch. The delightful flavours of the chocolate top layer combine in complete harmony with the fudgy peanut butter and make it oh so rich and irresistible.
Peanut Butter Bars. I knew when I came across Christine's blog Kitchen Chronicles that she would be the culprit of a weekend's indulgence and possible weight gain. (Don't worry Christine, I already can't see my toes anyway. My hubby had to do a few more kilometers at the gym though, he doesn't have pregnancy as an excuse!)
I loved everything about this slice, not only the flavour and appearance, but that because of the divine richness, it forced portion control. It's also a really easy recipe to make, and requires no use of the oven, just a little bit of the stove or microwave, which makes it great for summer. The only problem I had was a wee one--the peanut butter layer tended to come away with the knife when I cut through the bar. It was probably an error in my butter calculations that made it so. I heated the knife to make it easier to cut the chocolate layer, so maybe that had something to do with it as well.
Well, I'm off for a while from the Secret Recipe Club to have my bub! Wish me luck!

PEANUT BUTTER CUP BARS (Adapted from Kitchen Chronicles)

Peanut Butter Layer:

3/4 cup butter
1 3/4 cups icing sugar
1 cup smooth peanut butter
3/4 cup biscuit crumbs (I used crushed Scotch Fingers but biscuits such as Graham Crackers do the trick well also)

Chocolate Layer:

1/3 cup butter
1 cup dark chocolate buttons

Garnish:

1 tbsp smooth peanut butter

Grease a 9x9 inch tray and line with baking paper.
To make the peanut butter layer, place the butter in a medium saucepan and melt over a low heat. Add the icing sugar, peanut butter and biscuit crumbs and stir until well combined.
Pour this mixture into the prepared tray and smooth with a spatula. Set aside.
For the chocolate layer, place the butter and chocolate in a small saucepan over a low heat. Stirring continuously, allow the chocolate and butter to melt and incorporate. Remove from heat. Gently pour this mixture over the peanut butter layer and smooth with a spatula.
In a zip lock bag, place the remaining peanut butter for the garnish. Microwave gently for 15-30 seconds until the peanut butter is runny, then decorate the top of the chocolate layer as desired. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before cutting with a hot knife.

Cinnamon Pumpkin Pull Apart Bread

I'd like to think I'm a risk taker. But in reality, I'm probably not at all. I think using pumpkin puree in a sweet bread sounds risky, almost too risky for me. Here in Australia, pumpkin isn't used as a sweet--but I know that Americans are quite used to the idea of serving pumpkin pie as a dessert.
Pumpkin certainly does have that sweet element, but to me it's still a veggie and it would never cross my mind to use it in anything but a savory dish.
So I stepped right out of my comfort zone with this month's Secret Recipe Club reveal and made Cinnamon Pumpkin pull-apart bread with a delicious caramely glaze. It was amazing and I was ever so pleasantly surprised by how beautifully all the flavours came together and the lovely soft texture of the bread itself. It consists of soft folds of sweet bread paired together with cinnamon sugar, sweetened by the deliciously sticky glaze. (I think I made my glaze a little thick, and would probably thin it next time. I also mucked up the cutting and stacking of the dough process so mine doesn't look quite as pretty as it might have if I had paid more attention to the recipe. Still tasted great though...sometimes looks aren't everything he he--says the woman blogging in her pj's with hair all amess.)
The recipe was discovered on Mommy's Menu, and this wonderful blogger is a stay at home mummy of seven little people. Amid all the business every day life presents for us stay at home mums, she still manages to cook up and blog some pretty amazing affairs! Bravo! Lets hope I'm still blogging and cooking up amazing things when I have seven!

CINNAMON PUMPKIN PULL APART BREAD (Adapted from Mommy's Menu)

Bread:

2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup milk
2 1/4 tsp dry yeast
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup sugar
pinch salt
2 1/2 cups plain flour
Extra flour for kneading and flouring surface

Filling:

1 cup brown sugar
1 heaped tsp ground cinnamon
pinch ground ginger
pinch ground cloves
3/4 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tbsp butter, melted

Glaze:

2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
3/4 cup icing sugar


To make the bread, in a large bowl, combine the butter and the milk. Microwave until the butter has melted, then set aside to cool until just warm. Add the yeast and set aside for 10-15 minutes to proof. The mixture will begin to foam when ready.
Add the puree, sugar and salt and stir to combine. Gradually add the flour 1/2 a cup at a time, mixing until well incorporated. Knead the dough with your hands for 6 minutes, adding 1 tbsp of extra flour at a time if too sticky. The dough should end up just slightly tacky by the end of the kneading, and be smooth and elastic.
Lift the dough from the bowl and spray with a thin layer of cooking oil. Replace the dough and cover. Set aside in a warm place to rise for 60-90 minutes, or until doubled in size.
Meanwhile, to make the filling, place the brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg together in a bowl. Mix until well combined.
When the dough has risen to twice its original size, turn it out onto a floured surface and punch it down with your fist. Knead for 2 minutes, then roll out into a 20x12 inch rectangle. Brush the surface with the melted butter, then evenly sprinkle on the prepared sugar and spice filling.
Using a pizza cutter or smooth bladed knife, cut the dough into 36 squares (6 rows horizontally by 6 rows vertically)  Stack the squares of dough three high, so you end up with 12 stacks of 3. Stack the piles of dough vertically in a 9x 15 loaf tin. Cover the tin with a clean tea towel and set aside to rise for 30-40 minutes.
Meanwhile preheat the oven to 180C.
Once the dough has risen, bake for 30-40 minutes until a deep golden brown. Remove and cool for 10 minutes before turning out on a wire rack to finish cooling.
To make the glaze, place the butter, brown sugar and milk in a saucepan. Bring to the boil, then remove from heat. Stir in the vanilla and the icing sugar to form a paste, then pour over the cooled bread. Serve.

The first stages of the bread making: melted butter and warm milk with the yeast form a foamy substance when left to sit for a while. Addition of puree and flour make a soft dough.

More flour is added little by little to make the dough less sticky, and it forms a smooth ball. It is left to rise and then is turned out onto a floured surface, punched down and lightly kneaded before rolling out.

A slathering of butter then covers the dough and a mixture of sugar and spices is evenly spread on the surface. The dough is then cut into rectangles, stacked in the tin and left to rise. Then it is cooked, and drizzled with a glaze when cooled.

Choc Chip Cookie Dough Bites

Most people wouldn't believe me when I said I have 6 brothers.
And that I was rarely teased by them.
But both are true.
I can remember just about every instant that I was teased, because it was so infrequently. I'm a super sensitive type, so I suppose that is maybe the reason I didn't get teased as much as most people would have been in my situation.
One instance I remember being teased, if it can be called that, is when my brother told me that I was going to get worms all throughout my body from eating raw pastry dough. I loved eating those "scraps" that were cut off my mother's quiches, and it terrified me that I was full of worms from eating so much of it.
So you can imagine my slight hesitation when I looked at Mis-Cakes Oven Adventures S'mores Cookie Dough Bites recipe and discovered them to be completely raw. I loved the sound of it, but the memories of that pastry incident flooded back, and I had a good laugh.

I made them, ate a few and felt like a very naughty little child for doing so. There's something so wrong about eating raw dough and not at least putting a bit of it in the oven. 

So wrong, but so right, because it's so yummy and you know none of it has to be baked. It's a completely safe recipe, as it contains no eggs, so even heavily pregnant me was able to delight in them. It would be the perfect snack to whip up for a ladies night in.

I didn't have any marshmallows on hand, so I can't honestly say that they are s'mores dough bites. I think they would be amazing with the addition of the sweet and spongy marshmallow bits though. I dipped mine in a little chocolate to make up for the lack of marshmallow. 

Don't forget to head over to check out the other recipes from The Secret Recipe Club reveal!

CHOC CHIP COOKIE DOUGH BITES (Adapted from Mis-Cakes Oven Adventures)

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
2 tbsp. milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla essence
1 cup plain flour
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips, plus an extra 1/2 cup for melting and dipping if desired
1/2 cup coarsely crushed biscuits

In a medium bowl, beat the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the milk and vanilla and stir until just combined. Add the flour. Beat until a firm dough forms and all ingredients are incorporated. Add the chocolate chips and crushed biscuits, reserving a few tablespoons of the crumbs for sprinkling later. Stir into the mixture until combined. Roll into balls about the size of a walnut, placing each on a baking tray lined with with non stick baking paper.
Refrigerate for half an hour. Meanwhile, melt the extra chocolate chips. Dip half of each refrigerated dough ball in the melted chocolate and sprinkle with the reserved crumbs. Serve chilled.

Cinnamon Brown Sugar and Almond Instant Oatmeal

Like so many things in the kitchen, vegan food has scared me a little bit. I suppose it's just because I've never known life without eggs, milk, cheese, meat and anything pertaining to the animal world. I've never lived without chocolate! And I've never had to cook without my trusty and well known ingredients.
I was pretty intrigued that for this month's Secret Recipe Club assignment, I was given the vegan blog We Heart Vegan to select a recipe from. There are lots of interesting looking recipes on this blog, and I planned to go all out and buy some ingredients I usually wouldn't have in the kitchen, such as flax seed. But unfortunately I had a busy busy month and found myself running out of time, with the reveal day just looming in the very near future. It gets a bit like that sometimes, when you have children. Sometimes you need to do things in a very quick manner, although I do like to spend time and lots of love over my creations in the kitchen.
But I didn't have too much time to spare, so I went hunting on the blog gain, and found a very time-pressed-mummy-friendly recipe on We Heart Vegan. Then this yummy recipe hit me in the face--Cinnamon Brown Sugar Oatmeal--which just happens to be a favourite around here! My babies even love it and I love the idea of having it packaged up in ziplock bags, already mixed and ready to pop straight into the breakfast bowl with some boiling water. You could even take them to work those mornings you don't have time to eat at home, or on road trips and the likes.
I omitted the chai seeds and walnuts that were in the original recipe, and added a few tasty things of my own from the pantry, including milk powder for extra creamy oatmeal. Thanks We Heart Vegan for making my life that little bit easier in the morning...makes my sleepy smile appear more quickly than usual, and my eyes can stay closed just that tiny, tiny bit longer!

CINNAMON BROWN SUGAR AND ALMOND INSTANT OATMEAL (Adapted from We Heart Vegan)

1 1/4 cup oats
1 flat tsp cinnamon
2 heaped tbsp brown sugar
1 cup dried milk powder
1/4 cup slithered almonds, walnuts or other nuts and fruit of your choice

Place the oats in a food processor. Pulse until the oats have broken down into smaller peices. Place the oatmeal in a medium bowl and stir in the cinnamon, brown sugar and milk powder. Add any dried fruit and nuts you desire. Mix thoroughly, and divide between three ziplock bags, about 1/2 a cup to each.
To serve, pour into a bowl and add boiling water, and stir through. Enjoy!

Strawberry Cream Tart

You know when you make the same thing so many times that the recipe gradually and unconsciously changes over time? I once discovered a great custard recipe and have been making it ever since. I made it so many times that I knew the recipe off the top of my head and discarded the hard copy. Eventually the custard turned out slightly odd, with a real corn flour taste and still not quite as thick as I swear it used to be. Time to go back and find the recipe, or time to try something new? When I saw this strawberry cream tart recipe from Cathy's blog Wives With Knives, I thought "try something new", just to shake things up in my world of custard. Custard has long been a favourite of mine. Occasionally I'll be seen buying a litre of it just to have on it's own. I preferred home made custard of course, until my cornflour dilemma.
And strawberries, please don't get me started! They're my favourite berry and come with so many childhood memories. I think I previously mentioned how my brother and I used to thieve them with our grotty little hands from the old lady's garden next door when we were kids. Seeing as I don't have any blind grannies living next door anymore, with loads of fat strawberries glaring at me through the crack in the fence, hubby comes home from the Brisbane markets with them instead. Legally obtained ones, of course.
Usually my two year old son gets to them first though, and has been known to scoff down a punnet in a sitting. Good thing they're high in vitamin C. When I think of that fact, I don't mind how many he eats.
So. Strawberries and custard, in a tart. How much better can it get? Oh wait! It's topped with strawberry jam as well. Delicious. And it's such a fancy looking yet simple dessert, and contains less sugar than my usual sweet morsels.
I added some lychee liqueur to the custard in my version of this tart, just to give it a more fruity, tropical twist. The smell is divine and the texture and taste just fabulous. The custard holds together beautifully, so if you go for the whole large tart instead of the smaller version, have no fear that it's going to squish everywhere out the sides when you cut it, as it chills nice and firm. The pastry case is particularly impressive too, resembling a (less crumbly) uncooked shortbread in the dough stage, and a nice, sturdy, crisp and sweet shell in the end. I will be keeping this recipe for other invented recipes, as you could fill these great pastry cases with anything from fruit to mousse, jelly or cheesecake! Don't forget to check out more delicious recipes from this months Secret Recipe Club reveal, and head over to Wives With Knives for the original recipe, which is a whole tart instead of my little individual ones. Bon appetit!

STRAWBERRY CREAM TART (Adapted from Wives With Knives)


Patisserie Creme:

2 cups milk
6 large egg yolks, room temperature
3/4 cup white sugar
3 tbsp. corn flour
1 heaped tsp. butter
1 tsp vanilla essence
3 tbsp lychee liqueur 


Pastry:

3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla essence
1 3/4 cup plain flour
pinch salt

Garnish:

12 strawberries, fanned (see directions below)
 3 tbsp strawberry jam to glaze


To make the patisserie creme, place the milk in a saucepan over high heat until boiling. Meanwhile, beat the yolks and sugar in a bowl on medium high until it is light yellow and falls into the bowl as a ribbon, after about 3 minutes. Add the vanilla essence. On a low speed, beat in the corn flour until well combined. Once the milk has boiled, remove from heat and, with the beaters running on low, pour the milk into the egg mixture. Combine. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and return to the heat. Lower the heat to medium and stir continuously with a whisk until the mixture is thick and the corn flour is cooked, after about 8 minutes. Bring this custard to the boil and cook, whisking for another 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer to a bowl. Stir in butter, vanilla and liqueur. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled.
To make the pastry, preheat the oven to 180C.
Place the butter and sugar in a medium bowl and beat until just combined. Add the vanilla.Sift the flour and salt over the top of the butter mixture. Beat until a dough begins to form.
With a light hand, gently combine the mixture and form into 12 rough ball shapes, all of equal size. Place each ball inside the holes of a regular sized, 12 hole muffins tray. If you are using a regular muffin tray, ensure it is well greased.
Press the dough into the holes and up the sides to make pastry cases. Make sure the dough is pressed evenly around the sides and bottom. Place the tray in the refrigerator to chill for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile cut out 12 squares of non stick baking paper to fit inside the muffin tray holes. Place these papers inside each hole on top of the chilled pastry. Use pastry weights or rice over each paper to ensure the pastry does not rise in the first faze of cooking. Place the tray into the oven and cook for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and gently remove the papers and their weights. Poke a few holes in the pastry bases using a fork. Return the pastry cases to the oven and cook for a further 15-20 minutes, or until golden and crisp looking. Cool in the tray, then remove and place on a cooling rack.
Fill each case with the patisserie creme. You can simply spoon it in or pipe it in for a prettier effect, as the creme is quite thick. Top with a fanned strawberry, and brush with jam to glaze. Serve with cream, if desired.

Making a fanned strawberry garnish:

 Lay the strawberry on a flat surface. Working from about a cm from the green stalk, cut a series of thin slices through the strawberry in a vertical motion from one side to the next. Take the strawberry and gently urge the slices apart in a fan motion. Voila!

NOTES: You can substitute the lychee liqueur for any desired flavouring, however, the intensity of flavourings differ, so add only a little at a time until you reach the desired strength. 1 tsp of cognac or brandy is a good substitute. If you are not using a silicone muffin tray, ensure the tray is well greased before placing the pastry inside the holes. You can also make this as one whole tart, by pressing the dough into a 10 inch round or 9 inch square false bottom tart pan. If you are using rice as a pastry weight, you can keep this and reuse this, as it will be unaffected by the heat.