Off The Shelf - 'Love is A Pink Cake' by Claire Ptak

Bought at: Pre-ordered via Amazon

Recipes Made: Blondie Peanut Butter Cookies p.29, Sticky Toffee Date Pudding p.77 and Pear Eve’s Pudding p.81

Blondie Peanut Butter Cookies (made with crema di pistachio)

Since I cannot eat any peanut products, I made the Blondie Peanut Butter Cookies with crema di pistachio instead. This substitution didn’t really work unfortunately. As you can see in the photo, the cookies turned out flat as pancakes and some of them struggled to cook through properly. Maybe I could try this again with pistachio butter instead, but possibly it’s better to move on to a recipe that doesn’t contain peanuts and need a substitution at all! I’m sure they are good made as they are intended to be!

Sticky Toffee Date Pudding

The first time I made the Sticky Toffee Date Pudding I also made the sauce for the pudding as well as I had all the ingredients needed for it. The sauce is quite different to any I have made before as an accompaniment to a sticky date pudding, and it was probably a little rich for my tastes (2 cups of double cream in a recipe will do that!). The sauce was nice, but I found the pudding almost didn’t need it. The pudding was light, and did not dry out even when I kept it in the fridge. Once reheated it was soft and pillowy and was very delicious on it’s own (which is how I ate it the second time I made this), or with some ice cream. I will definitely be making this again as it was very easy to make and can be made in advance.

Edit 24/07/2023 - I have since found that the Sticky Toffee Date Pudding was nice without the sauce and didn’t dry out in the fridge because I somehow did not read the recipe properly either time I made it! The recipe says to drain the dates once they have been soaked in water, I did not do this so the texture of my pudding was very different - though very nice and much more to my tastes than the original recipe made as intended as it turns out. I would personally continue to make it with the water in. The recipe with the water from the dates drained, definitely needs some kind of sauce (whether or not it is the one from this recipe or another you have made before and liked). Made as per the recipe in this book, the pudding is too dry and dense to eat on its own - though nice with a sauce! So really you can choose your own adventure on this one!

Sticky Toffee Date Pudding

My Mum made the Pear Eve’s Pudding not long after I got this book, and I was a little skeptical as apart from sticky date pudding I’m not a massive fan of pudding. This pudding was great though, and the leftovers reheated really well. It was quite a cake-like pudding, and the top crisped up nicely similar to how some cakes can be when they first come out of the oven. There aren’t too many ingredients in this recipe, but it was still delicious and had a nice flavour. Another recipe to be made again!

Favourite Things About the Book: I really love the look and feel of this book. The photography, style of recipes and flavour used really feel like what I’ve come to love from Claire’s books. I love her book ‘The Violet Bakery’, and this book feels like a extension of that but with it’s own distinct differences too. The book is divided into two main sections, California and England, the two places Claire is connected to and influenced by the most. Within those sections recipes are then divided by Mornings, Afternoons, After a Meal, Party Party and Savouries and Holiday Treats (with a pastry section at the end of the book too). 

Claire has a really unique way of baking, that to me doesn’t feel distinctly American or English (though I would definitely associate her recipes with more English style baking if I had to choose). It has a focus on ingredients that I don’t associate with American style baking, yet a individual way of putting flavour together that I wouldn’t associate with traditional English baking either. It’s interesting and diverse, and doesn’t feel like so many other baking cookbooks that can start to feel all a bit the same. Even if you own previous cookbooks from Claire, I think there is still something new to be discovered here. 

Bookmarked Recipes (to make later!): Big Sur Cookies p.27, Pistachio Green Plum Cake with Candied Violets p.47, Lemon Meringue Pie Bars p.55, Poached Pear Pavlova p.76, Nectarine and Cherry Cobbler p.147 and English Angel Cake p.168.

Off The Shelf - 'Sweet Enough' by Alison Roman

Bought at: My copy was gifted to me by HardieGrant*. 

Recipes Made: Old-Fashioned Strawberry Cake p.91, Plummy Pudding p.146, Salted Pistachio Shortbread p.173 and Cheesy Salty Savoury Scones p.258.

Old Fashioned Strawberry Cake

I made the Old-Fashioned Strawberry Cake and substituted the buttermilk for plain yoghurt mixed with some milk (I did not have any buttermilk, but needed to use the yoghurt up). I don’t know if it was my substitution, but the cake was dense. I usually find swapping yoghurt and buttermilk easy in baking, and won’t notice any difference. I know lots of people have made this cake, but it definitely wasn’t a favourite for me. I later made this cake with strawberries, and enjoyed it infinitely more.

Plummy Pudding

I don’t make puddings often, but since plum season was coming to an end, I decided to try the Plummy Pudding. In the recipe notes Alison says it’s “near impossible to mess up this pudding”, but maybe I did? I found it rubbery and very eggy, maybe I cooked it too long? A lot of the oven temperatures in this book tend towards the high side, and since our oven runs hot I usually feel the stipulated temperatures will be too much. In this case, maybe turning the oven temperature down meant cooking it longer which possibly wasn’t right. Either way, this one wasn’t for me. Whether the recipe just wasn’t my thing, or just puddings generally aren’t my thing, maybe we’ll never know. 

Salted Pistachio Shortbread

The first recipe I made out of ‘Sweet Enough’ was the Salted Pistachio Shortbread. Mostly because I am a pistachio obsessive, and I also had all the ingredients needed when the book arrived. Out of all the recipes I’ve tried in this book, I did like this one. I could have done without the sprinkling of salt over the top of the shortbread as it just took it too a slightly too salty place for me, but otherwise it was nice. The shortbread dough itself was quite different to others I am used to, it was very wet and definitely could only be pressed into a tin as this recipe does. It could not be rolled out and cut into shapes like the shortbread I normally make. This made it a crumbly shortbread to eat, but very satisfying all the same. 

Cheesy Salty Savoury Scones (before baking)

After trying some of the above sweet recipes and not being blown away, I decided the magic of this book for me may lie in the handful of savoury recipes dotted throughout ‘Sweet Enough’. After watching Alison’s Home Movies episode on scones, I decided to make the Cheesy Salty Savoury Scones. I must caveat this with I think American scones and British scones are almost two different things. In the episode everything Alison said she disliked about scones, were basically all the things that make a traditional British scone, a scone. These scones are very heavy on fat (double cream, sour cream, butter and a lot of cheese). I’m not at all saying this is a bad thing in and of itself as fat is essential to baking and cooking generally. In this case however, it did make the scones very rich. To the point they really didn’t need any butter or other spread on them. It just would have been too much. 

The fat heavy mix also meant these scones don’t rise as much as you would expect a traditional scone to, and they were definitely less flakey as well. I liked the very cheesy flavour of these, but that’s all I could taste. I used spring onions in the mix and they were lost, along with the dill, to the cheese. Considering the richness of the whole thing, I also thought the scones could have been a but smaller in size (maybe also as I’m accustomed to British style scones). These were nice, but I felt I could use some of the aspects of this recipe to make my own more traditional version that suited my tastes more (which I have done in a way here). 

Cheesy Salty Savoury Scones

Favourite Things About the Book: Ok, by this point it may not have escaped your notice that I don’t love this book. I know, I’m a bit sad about it too, but also not 100% surprised. I’ve always loved Alison’s recipes, but more specifically her savoury recipes. There are many from ‘Nothing Fancy’ in particular that we make regularly in our family, and I frequent those shared in her newsletter (a newsletter) and her YouTube channel Home Movies often. So this isn’t a ‘Alison Roman’s recipes just isn’t for me’ thing - most certainly not! This is more of a ‘I don’t love Alison’s baking recipes as much as her other recipes’ thing. It’s not that they aren’t good. They just aren’t for me. I am a self confessed sweet tooth, so something that is ‘sweet enough’ may not actually be sweet enough for me. I also don’t love adding salt to my baked goods (shock horror!) so some of these recipes were too salty for me. 

However, as always, I love Alison’s writing. I really enjoy her trademark humorous tone, and very realistic approach to things. I really enjoyed reading what Alison had to say about baking in this book, even if the recipes themselves don’t take my fancy as much. The introduction was great and definitely worth a read (anyone else often skip those first few pages?!).The pages on what Alison loves and hates about baking (pp.52-3) was my favourite part of the whole book, as it’s so relatable. Alison isn’t trying to make out like baking is always easy and that it’s for everyone (though I think Sweet Enough will appeal to those less inclined to check out more traditional baking/dessert books), and is honest about the process. I think many will relate to that.

Bookmarked Recipes (to make later!): Raspberry Ricotta Cake p.118, Tomato Tart pp.76-7 and Caramelised Onion and Anchovy Tart p.71. 

* This gift came with no obligation to talk about the book, and my opinions are my own. And honestly, I love Alison Roman so I would have bought this book myself anyway!

Cookbooks Worth Waiting For in 2023 - Part Two!

We are almost halfway through the year, which means there are more new cookbook releases on the way for us! 

There are so many cookbooks I am interested to see in the second half of this year. However the below titles are the ones I will buy or preorder without having a look through first as I am that sure I will like them. 

As always this list a bit of a mixed bag, some come from cookbook writers whose previous works I have loved and others are first time cookbook authors whose transition from the internet world of cooking I am keen to see translated into our ever favourite recipe format, the cookbook. 

Links are there for your reference (not sponsored or anything), and I suggest searching around for the best price as at the time of writing some of these titles are quite pricey (we can only hope it goes down closer to their release date?!). 

To read my first Cookbooks Worth Waiting for List for this year click here, and to read the recap of that list click here.

Let me know in the comments below if you are looking forward to any of these books as well, or if there are others you have on your list. 

1. The Plain Cake Appreciation Society by Tilly Pamment (July 2023) - The first book to be released from this list in early July is Tilly’s (of @tillystable) first foray into cookbook writing. I am really excited to see this one, as I’m sure many of you are as well. Tilly’s well known aesthetic is equal parts beautiful and delicious and to see it, along with her recipes, in a cookbook is something I am very excited about. Tilly has not just written this book, but styled and shot the whole thing as well - no mean feat! I was lucky to get some ‘insider’ knowledge about this book recently, and I have been told there aren’t too many recipes using chocolate (which I can’t eat), which brings me a great sense of relief (thank you Angela!). Sometimes I open a new baking book to find it so chocolate heavy I know I will barely make anything out of the book. But to know I am in safe hands with Tilly makes me all the more excited to see her book in a few short weeks. 

2. Portico: Cooking and Feasting in Rome’s Jewish Kitchen by Leah Koenig (August 2023) - I have been looking forward to this book for what feels like a long time. Back in 2021 when the current pandemic kept us all at home, I was lucky to do some recipe testing for this book (along with lots of other people!). I made three dishes and loved all of them. I tried a fennel gratin, that had no cream in it, which I traditionally dislike in such dishes as I find them too rich. This gratin was so delicious I made it a couple more times. I also tested a chicken and celery dish that looked like it would be quite plain, but somehow definitely was not. The final recipe was a Roman Jewish version of arancini balls, which were delicious, if not slightly fiddly on top of making the risotto, but it was lockdown so I had time!

   I cannot wait to finally see the other recipes in this book and read what Leah has researched and discovered about Rome’s Jewish kitchen. The food of Jewish Rome (and Italy generally) is quite different to traditional Roman or Italian cuisine, due to the religious rules known as kashrut (to prepare and eat kosher food) - no pork and no dairy with meat is the very basic ‘gentile’ way of describing it (there’s really more to it, you can read more here for a better description). Pork is so widely used in all Italian cuisine, that it’s removal changes the cuisine entirely in my opinion - so this book is sure to have very different recipes than other Roman/Italian cookbooks, and I am very much looking forward to it after enjoying many of Leah’s previous books.

3. Garlic, Olive Oil and Everything Else by Daen Lia (August 2023) - Another first time cookbook author, Daen has flown to the top of the TikTok food scene and is now sharing her recipes in a cookbook. I am personally not a massive fan of recipe based Reels or TikTok (I don’t even use TikTok honestly), however discovering more about Daen, her recipes and food in an ‘old school’ format (i.e. a cookbook!) is something I can get behind. I really like Daen’s use of flavours, notably those that come from her Spanish and Italian heritage - like garlic and olive oil! - and while some on social media may criticise their use, I think these ingredients and Daen’s recipes will feel right at home in our cookbook loving part of the world. 

4. Gohan: Everyday Japanese Cooking by Emiko Davies (September 2023) - I think we all love Emiko, and her many books on Italian cuisine, however we are now finally seeing more of the food that Emiko grew up with and that is part of her food history rather than that of her current home in Italy. Emiko has spoken of how this book was a harder sell to publishers as they perceived a book on Japanese cuisine less ‘sellable’ than one on Italian, but I know I and many others are so glad this book is almost with us. I do not personally eat lot of Japanese food or ingredients generally, but I am keen to support this new book of Emiko’s as I know how much I love her previous ones. I know this book will be heartfelt, well researched and beautifully photographed as all her previous works are. And hopefully I will find some recipes that become unexpected favourites too. 

5. Now and Then by Tessa Kiros (October 2023) - A few years ago I made it my mission to expand my collection of Tessa’s books. I found some older titles on eBay, and even one I’d never heard of in Books for Cooks in Melbourne. So when I saw we would finally be getting a new book from Tessa (her last was published in 2016 I think), I knew it would make my cookbooks worth waiting for list. What I really like about Tessa’s cookbooks is they all have their own very unique story and often bring the reader along in some kind of discovery of a place, cuisine or Tessa’s family/family history. No two books of Tessa’s are the same, however all are beautiful and always have really thoughtful design elements that bring such a personal touch to each publication. The description of this book says it will be part memoir, travel guide and food odyssey and it feels like it will be a reflective piece filled with new recipes and memories. 

Links to books on Booktopia removed 15/07/2024.

Cookbooks Worth Waiting for in 2023 Part 1 - A Recap

It’s time for a recap! Maybe the best part of my Cookbooks Worth Waiting For series, is when the wait is over. In this case the wait is mostly over as one title I still don’t have, but I will add my thoughts on it when I do.

Otherwise below are my thoughts on the cookbooks on my Cookbooks Worth Waiting for List for the first half of 2023. As always there are some great books being released this year, so another list will be on its way soon.

Did you add any of these cookbooks to your shelves so far this year? What did you think of them? Or were there other books you have added to your collection you liked more? Let me know in the comments below.

And just a quick note, all books bar one have been purchased by me and the links are just for your reference - I suggest searching around to find the best price or try to support a local/independent bookshop! Links to books on Booktopia removed 15/07/2024.

1. Dark Rye and Honey Cake by Regula Ysewijn - If you love Regula’s other books, there is no way you could be disappointed with this one. The research and food history is very interestingly explained, in a way I feel only Regula could! Regula seems to have a knack for all elements in terms of bringing together a cookbook - her writing is excellent, her photography is amazing, and along with her husband’s illustrations she’s got a real winning trifecta right there. Of course the recipes are great, though I don’t see myself making many of these (mostly due to the fact I do not own any kind of waffle iron). However I do not think that detracts from this book in anyway. Many cookbooks bring more than the recipes, and it doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be on my shelf. I have learnt a lot from this book already, and if you love food history also, I think you will love it too.

2. A Table Full of Love by Skye McAlpine - This book presents really well - the design, the photography, the colour scheme. It’s a smaller sized book than Skye’s previous two, and a small part of me wishes it was the same size as the others as there’s something about seeing an authors works all together on the shelf and looking all neat, and having some kind of continuous link via their size (but maybe this is just me?). I have been enjoying the writing in this book, and to me, it stands out more in this book than in Skye’s previous works. I can’t say I am thrilled with the recipe selection however. There isn’t much in this book that immediately draws me in recipe wise, and makes me think I need to cook that ASAP. In terms of recipes this book doesn’t feel intrinsically different than Skye’s previous book, ‘A Table for Friends’, and although the idea of the book is eloquently written about, I struggle to see what this book brings to the table that hasn’t already been done by Skye previously. I suggest having a flick through this one before purchasing, to make sure the recipes and the whole thing take your fancy - though like I said, it looks beautiful and the photography is stunning. What takes your fancy recipe wise will be purely personal preference and is certainly no slight on Skye’s brilliant ability to produce stunning cookbooks. 

3. Sweet Enough by Alison Roman* - I mentioned in my previous version of this list how I was a little disappointed that Alison’s next book was all about baking. I love baking (obviously!), but really associate Alison with her general cooking and savoury dishes. I like this book, it’s very Alison (especially the writing, gosh I LOVE her writing), but I don’t think I’m quite the target audience for it. Alison shares recipes in ‘Sweet Enough’ that suit people not as keen on baking, sweet things (hence the title) and maybe wouldn’t consider themselves dessert people. I am very much keen on baking, like sweet things and am a dessert person, so the offerings in this book don’t draw me in like I usually am with Alison’s recipes. I tried the Salted Pistachio Shortbread (p.173) which I liked but I found mildly too salty (on p.14 Alison says if you think any of the recipes are too salty then she takes that as a compliment, so compliments to the chef I guess!), the Plummy Pudding (p.146) and the Old-Fashioned Strawberry Cake (p.91). I am (maybe oddly considering the the title/point of this book) looking forward to trying the recipes in the savoury subsection in the Pies, Tarts, Galettes chapter as I have a feeling this is where the Alison Roman magic may lie for me in this book. This is definitely the book for you if you aren’t super keen on baking, and find many baked goods and desserts too sweet or too much effort. Alison is catering to a crowd who are probably not usually spoken to in cookbooks focused on baking, and that is a good thing - as everyone deserves to be a ‘dessert person’ in their own way.

4. Love is A Pink Cake by Claire Ptak - To say I am enjoying this book is an understatement. It is everything I expect and want from Claire Ptak, great recipes, interesting flavour combinations and new ways to cook things or new ways to use flavours I hadn’t considered. If ‘Sweet Enough’ by Alison Roman is for those not traditionally keen on baking or desserts, ‘Love is A Pink Cake’ is for those who are, and who want to explore the baking world that Claire has created with her bakery Violet and her previous books even more. Everything I have made from this I have thoroughly enjoyed - except when I swapped crema di pistacchio for peanut butter in the recipe for Blondie Peanut Butter Cookies on page 29, it did not work and that was because I made my own changes! I have made the Sticky Toffee Date Pudding (p.77) twice (it’s even fantastic on its own, no sauce, no ice cream, nothing!) and the Eve’s Pear Pudding on page 81 got a traditionally not pudding loving family very keen to eat the leftovers and make it again as soon as possible! 

5. The Flavour Thesaurus More Flavours by Niki Segnit - While this book has technically been released, getting a copy seems to mean waiting a while and paying anywhere from $40-60AUD. I saw a copy on Amazon (AU) for $29.99 with a release date of early August and locked in my preorder, so I will add my thoughts here after that! Unfortunately that price has gone up now on Amazon, however it is currently at $39.99 which is still less than other retailers currently.

   14/08/2023 - I finally have my copy of ‘The Flavour Thesaurus More Flavours’, and it was certainly worth the wait! It is so well researched as is everything Niki does, and I am really enjoying the various flavours/ingredients which have been included this time around. There are things like quince, passionfruit, pistachio, date, lychee and so many more that really complements Niki first book ‘The Flavour Thesaurus’. I really appreciate how Niki explains the plant led focus of the book, without the book being exclusively vegan or vegetarian (many of the flavours omitted from her first book happened to be plant based so the flavours chosen for this book naturally had that in common). As Niki says “The book would neither be quite vegan nor even vegetarian but loosely, forgivingly, non-dogmatically plant-led or flexitarian..” without getting into the well known arguments about eating less meat and more plants. I think the focus on plant based ingredients for this second volume makes sense as a compliment to the first (many meat/animal products were already covered there like egg, cheeses and various types of meats), but also as so many ingredients/flavours we use in cooking and baking come from a plant based source (think lentil, raisin, garlic, mint etc). If you have ‘The Flavour Thesaurus’, you also need ‘The Flavour Thesaurus More Flavours’.

6. Heartbake by Charlotte Ree - This book surprised me in the best way. I am not, unlike Charlotte, a lover of love, so I wasn’t sure if the memoir part would be for me. I ended up listening to the audiobook of the memoir section and I was hooked early on. To hear Charlotte speak so thoughtfully and eloquently about her life and how food has nourished her in more ways than one, felt like a privilege. It’s amazing to follow someone on Instagram for a while and think ‘wow their life looks great’, and then to hear that SO much was going on behind those little squares on that app. It really shows we don’t know what’s is going on behind closed doors and that Instagram is really a highlight reel most of the time. I think Charlotte’s story also highlights the healing power of food, and the deep connection food has with our memories and emotions. And maybe also the fact that being true to oneself and not hiding the hard bits of our lives all the time can be massively freeing and, maybe in a small way, be helpful to others. The recipes in this book are also really good. David Lovett’s Focaccia (pp.245-8) is AMAZING, and I am constantly thinking about when I can make it again! I think the only downside to this book is despite the amazing cover, the fact that it is covered in fabric makes me worried to use it in the kitchen as it might get dirty/ruined! I am one of those few people who like my cookbooks to remain in as pristine condition as possible despite being used, so fabric covered cookbooks always bring me a level of stress I know is probably ridiculous (I have already considered using a sticky lint roller over this beautiful cover as it is getting little bits of fluff and dust on it, please tell me I’m not the only one!). Let’s just say if a paperback edition was ever released I’d probably buy it solely for kitchen use to allow the original to remain her in glorious yellow pristine condition (hopefully minus the dust etc, where is that lint roller….).

* this book was gifted to me by Hardie Grant. There was no obligation to talk about the book, and my opinions are my own. And honestly, I love Alison Roman so I would have bought this book myself anyway!

Pistachio White Chocolate Blondie

I seem to be incapable of not thinking of recipes that use pistachio, or specifically crema di pistachio spread. I am well and truely obsessed, and I can’t see that changing any time soon. 

While the combination of pistachio and white chocolate is very good, you could also adapt this recipe to use a chocolate hazelnut spread (or similar) if thats more your thing (and it is certainly easier to buy than crema di pistachio) and swap out the chopped pistachios for chopped hazelnuts and the white chocolate could be substituted for milk or dark chocolate as well. 

You can essentially make this blondie recipe your own - as long as you keep the quantities of everything the same it will work a treat. 

I personally steer clear of actual chocolate in my blondie recipes as I can’t eat milk or dark chocolate, and therefore, do not want any in my blondie. For me it’s not a blondie if it has any milk or dark chocolate in it, as to me it becomes as inedible as an actual brownie. However feel free to make any adaptations that suit you, I know I’m most probably in the minority when it comes to not eating proper chocolate (i.e. all chocolate that is not white chocolate). 

And a final note on the recipe, I use panela sugar in my blondie as I much prefer the flavour and texture it gives. It creates a nice slightly caramel flavour without being sickly sweet which I think works really well. You can substitute with light or dark brown sugar if you don’t have any panela - though I do highly recommend you try it!

Pistachio Blondie 

Ingredients: 

135g unsalted butter, melted 

250g panela sugar 

3 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

270g plain Flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

150g white chocolate, chopped

50g + 2 tbsp pistachios, chopped

1/4 cup crema di pistacchio or pistachio butter, optional

Method: 

Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius and line a 23cm square cake or brownie tin with baking paper. 

In a large bowl, combine the melted butter, panela sugar, eggs and vanilla extract with a whisk. 

Add the plain flour, baking powder and salt and mix again with a whisk until combined. 

Add in the chopped white chocolate and 50g pistachios and briefly mix together with a spatula or wooden spoon. 

Pour the blondie mixture into your prepared tin, and smooth the top with the spatula or wooden spoon you were just using. 

If using, dollop teaspoonfuls of the pistachio spread over the surface of the blondie, then using a knife, swirl the spread into the blondie. 

Sprinkle with the 2 tbsp of chopped pistachios.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden and a skewer comes out clean. 

Allow the blondie to cool in its tin, then remove and cut into 9 very generous slices or about 12 slightly less generous slices - or you can cut it however suits you. 

Store in an airtight container.

Serves about 12. 

White Chocolate and Macadamia Cookies

There are probably quite a number of recipes for white chocolate and macadamia cookies around, but I really felt a need to add mine to the mix. 

Originally I was making the recipe by Natalie from Beatrix (Melbourne), who shared her recipe on the TV show Everyday Gourmet. The recipe is online, and I’ve made it a couple of times. It is of course very good, but I have to say it is a more cakey kind of cookie which isn’t my top pick when eating a cookie. The cookie dough is very soft and almost wet, even after chilling in the fridge for 24 hours, it is still quite a messy dough to work with. 

I personally prefer a chewier crunchier cookie, and one that isn’t as messy to roll into balls before baking too. I also found due to the texture of the dough it was hard to make smaller sized cookies, which is usually my preference. Natalies recipe is meant to make really jumbo sized cookies, and even when trying to make them smaller the wetness of the dough prevented me getting them the size I really wanted.

So inspired by the Beatrix recipe, I have created my own, using my trusty cookie base recipe that I have used again and again as I am yet to find something I like as much, and something that is so easy to make. 

I have taken the idea from Natalie’s recipe to toast the macadamias first as it makes such a difference to the flavour. I have also used a combination of light and dark brown sugars as the addition of dark brown sugar adds a nice deeper flavour, without overdoing the sweetness. And this cookie can definitely go overboard with sweetness if you let it, there is something about the combination of white chocolate and macadamias that is inherently sweet so the addition of dark brown sugar tempers that a bit, along with the addition of salt. 

You can also sprinkle a little flakey sea salt over the biscuits before they are baked. I just don’t as I find the salt in the dough enough (I’m not one for adding salt to things on the whole, so it really comes down to personal preference), and I also inevitably forget to do it and realise only once the cookies have been baking for a few minutes and decide its too late now anyway…

I have tried making this recipe with lightly salted butter (the Lurpak brand) and it worked well with that - no need for additional salt sprinkling in this case. 

White Chocolate and Macadamia Cookies

Ingredients:

170g macadamias

125g unsalted butter, melted 

125g caster sugar

50g light brown sugar 

50g dark brown sugar

2 tbsp golden syrup

1 tbsp vanilla bean paste

1 egg

290g self raising flour

1/4 tsp kosher salt

100g white chocolate chips

Method:

Preheat oven to 150 degrees Celsius and line three large baking trays with baking paper.

Toasted the macadamias in the preheated oven for a few minutes (5-8 mins), or until they are nicely golden brown - keep an eye on them as you don’t want over toasted macadamias at this stage as they will go in the oven again later. Once the macadamias have cooled a bit, roughly chop so they are in varying sizes and shapes.

In a large bowl whisk together the melted butter, sugars, golden syrup, vanilla and egg.

Then add the flour, the chocolate chips and chopped macadamias, and mix to combine with a wooden spoon.

Place the dough in the fridge for at least 20 mins, to allow it to firm up a bit.

Increase your oven temp to 170 degrees Celsius.

Once chilled, roll heaped teaspoonfuls of the dough into balls and place on the trays. The cookies will spread as they bake so leave enough room in between. 

If you can’t fit all the dough on your prepared trays (or oven), place the dough back into the fridge until you can bake it.

Bake for 12-14 minutes or until the cookies have spread a bit and are golden brown. Rotate the trays in the oven about halfway through to ensure the cookies cook evenly.  

Allow to cool on their trays, then store in an airtight container. 

Makes about 33 cookies.