Go Green

In continuation of the pantry cleaning story, I also found a small delicately decorated jar of green tea, Matcha powder which i bought when I was in Japan few years ago. I have no idea what i want to do with it at the time, and I can't really appreciate the strong and bitter matcha serve to me during the tea ceremony, but i bought it anyway because it the packaging is too pretty. In fact, all the food packaging are super pretty and delicate and make fantastic homecoming gifts. However, I could not make up my mind when surrounded with all these pretty packages I ended up buying packages of mochi, biscuits, polka and other oh too pretty Japanese sweets that can't fit into my luggage bag. I still remember we're desperately trying to get a extra box ( so they dun get squash as some of the packaging is quite delicate ) to pack them, and not a lot of Japanese understand us in Takayama, but we later learnt a new word: Box = Haku in Japanese, and very soon, we're giving a medium size box to pack our shoppings!




In the recent cold and wet weather, my original intention was to bake something richer and comforting but I ran out of milk, yoghurts and cream, all the essential ingredients to bake a cake or something warming. There is no way I'm going out to the shop when the rain was pouring outside, so I have my eyes fixed on the delicate jar of matcha powder and make the easiest green tea cookies ever. In fact, so easy that the method would only consits of 1 sentence. You'll see.



Green tea Cookies

Ingredients:

• 80g butter, soften
• 40g sugar with extra
• 1/2 tsp matcha powder
• 2 egg yolks
• 140g plain flour

Method:

1. Combine everything together until it forms a dough, chilled it in the fridge for 15 mins, rolled out and cut with cookie cutter, sprinkle with extra caster sugar, bake in preheated oven (160 degree Celsius, lesser if fan force ) for 15mins.( depending on the thickness too! )
2. While still hot and soft, sprinkle more caster sugar on top and cool on wire rack, it'll become crispy and firm up while cooled, enjoy it before serving to anyone, or else you'll surely missed out as they taste like manna from heaven!
   

OK, so it's more than 1 sentence, but still, it's really easy cookie with a big taste!

Lest we forget

When I first came to Australia, I was very amused by those delicious oats biscuits normally sold in bulk from
Coles or woollies.




Later than I know that they are called Anzac Biscuits. It's kind of like the national biscuits in Australia, and it's eaten by soldiers who fought in WW1.

Anzac basically means: Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. Every year today (25th April), Australia and New Zealand celebrate this day to honour the armies, who fought in Gallipoli and the fields of Flanders during WW1.

We all know that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, so the mothers, wives and girlfriends of these army troops, bake heaps of biscuits to be sent to their loves ones who fought in Gallipoli. Concern that their loves ones doesn't get enough nutrient, they used a lot of oats in the biscuits, along with coconut, butter and golden syrup. Eggs, which are normally a binding agent in most biscuits, are purposely left out because they want these biscuits to be more sturdy and last longer in order to withstand the long journey to Gallipoli.
More interesting facts of Anzac Biscuits, can be found here.
Although I'm not too much an Australian myself yet, I do take this day to remember and appreciate them, for Australia is a free country today, all because of their sacrifice, and least not forget the little loving biscuits who give them strength and lift their spirit during the war!


Anzac Biscuits

Ingrediants: ( makes about 50 mediam sized biscuits )

• 125g butter
• 2 tbsp golden syrup
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1cup dessicated coconut
• 1 cup plain four
• 3/4 cup caster sugar
• 1 tbsp boiling water
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Methods:

1. Preheat oven to 160 degree Celcius
2. Line a large baking trays with baking paper
3. Place butter and golden syrup in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally.
4. Place all the dry ingrediants: oats, coconut, flour and sugar together in a large bowl.
5. Dissolve soda in the boiling water, and stir into the butter and golden syrup mixture.
   
6. Add wet ingrediants to dry ingrediants and stir until well combined.
   
7. Roll level tbps of the mixture into balls and place about 3 cm apart on the trays. Flatten slightly with the back of the fork, and bake in preheated oven for about 15-18 mins.
   
8. The biscuit will be golden brown, but still soft. It will harden and become crisp once cooled on the wire rack.
   
9. Stored cooled biscuits in an airtight container for up to 1 month.
   

Easy Peasy

This is probably the easiest cookies that i bake.
The best thing is that, it has no flour, no butter, and no egg yolk, but taste moist and moreish!
You can either make a almond one or a coconut one, i like the almond one ( the one infront ), and my husband loves the coconut one ( the one at the back ), well, there is something for every taste buds!!

Almond and Coconut Macaroons

110g Almond meal

75g Caster sugar

1 egg whites, lightly beaten

1. Preheat oven to 180 degree celcius
2. Place almond meal, sugar and egg whites in a bowl, stir to combine. Mixture should be firm, and slightly sticky.
3. Roll mixture into small ball, and flatten with the back of a fork.
4. Place balls 2cm apart on a baking tray, and bake for about 10 mins, or until golden.
5. Cool, and serve.

( substitude same amount of almond meal with dessicated coconut for coconut macaroons)

Not so wicked after all

Almond is almost always being associated with good health. Any health magazines will tell you that almond is good for you. Infact, almond inself contain practically no carbohydates. Hence, cakes and cookies made from almond flour makes these desserts less wicked, but with a great taste and texture. In fact, these cookies smell heavenly even without any essence being used.

Almond Crisps

makes 34 small cookies

125g butter, soften
55g (1/4 cup) caster sugar
150g (1 cup) Self raising flour
30g (1/4 cup) almond meal
2 tablespoon almons flakes

1. Preheat oven to 200 degree celcius. Grease oven trays.
2. Beat butter and sugar in a small bowl with electric mixer until smooth. Stir in flour and almond meal. Mix with a metal spoon until combine.
3. Roll level teaspoon of mixture into balls; place on trays 5cm apart. Flatten lightly with foured fork to 1cm thick; sprinkle with almond flakes.
4. Bake about 10 mins, stand crisps on trays for 5 mins or less before transferring to wire rack to cool.
5. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

Flatten dough with fork