Chewy Chocolate Brownie,,,,,a winner with the Kids!

 Can you believe I have never, not ever in my life, baked Chocolate Brownies?????  I can't.  I remember when I was a kid, growing up reading books based in America and reading about Chocolate Brownies and thinking they must truly be the most divine things ever put on the planet.  I have been a mum for over 17 years now but still, I never baked Chocolate Brownies.  I have never wanted to make the packet variety, they never seemed like the real deal.

Finally in my stash of recipes I came across a "Chewy Chocolate Brownie" recipe.  This recipe I have probably had for a good 10 or more years, but I have never made it, don't ask me why.  Finally last week, I decided to give it a go.  I needed something quick to whip up that would be good with icecream for dessert that night, but also be good enough to keep a couple of days and be used for school lunchboxes.  This did both those things very well.  I didn't get to taste it myself as Hubby and I are on a diet and I was being very well behaved lol, but the kids all loved it and want me to bake another batch this coming weekend, so it must have been pretty good.

CHEWY CHOCOLATE BROWNIE

125 grams Butter, melted

2 cups Brown Sugar

1/2 cup Cocoa

1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Essence

2 Eggs

1 cup SR Flour

1/2 cup Pecan Nuts, finely chopped (I used Almonds)

Mix the melted butter and sugar, sift in dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Add the remaining ingredients, combine well.

Put into  a greased and floured (or baking paper lined) pan and cook for 30 minutes at 180 degrees.

Cut up into small squares and serve with cream/icecream or they are equally great as a lunch box treat on their own.

 

Chocolate Cereal Crumb Slice

I have been so slack in the cooking department lately.  My brain hasn't been able to get past the quick and easy food that I have been making for years.  No new recipes have been cooked, which is pretty sad really.  Now that school is back, I hope to regain my cooking mojo and start working through my cookbooks again.

This recipe was selected for its super fast making time and the fact that I had everything on hand last Saturday morning lol.  I desperately needed something for this week's lunchboxes and wanted to try something new at the same time.  This recipe filled those requirements.

The kids loved this, well all except Buddha cuz he don't like chocolate lol.  You can add dried fruit to it as well if you like but since I didn't have any on hand, I left it out.

CHOCOLATE CEREAL CRUMB SLICE

2 cups of dried cereal crumbs (I used the crumbs from the Vita Brits)

1 cup of Flour (any flour will do)

1/2 cup Coconut

2/3 cup Sugar (brown or white)

1 cup of Chocolate Chips (I used some Nestle Chocolate Melts)

1/2 cup of any Dried Fruit (I left this out)

120 grams melted butter or margarine

1-2 tablespoons Milk

Melt the butter in microwave or on stove top.

Add all other ingredients and enough milk to get a slightly moist consistency.

Mix well.

Press into a lined lamington tin and bake in moderate oven for about 30 minutes.

You can ice it if you like but it really doesn't need it.

Trust me, its good!!!

White Christmas

This year my Christmas baking is turning into a very last minute type of event,,,,I hate that but I guess sometimes you have to just go with the flow in today's busy world.

On Monday Stinky, Shortstuff and I made up a batch of White Christmas.  Personally I like it with sultanas in it but due to 3 out of the 6 kids hating sultanas we decided to leave them out :(

So if my pictures look like something is missing, you are right lol.  If it wasn't for the fact that if I made another batch with the sultanas in it I would end up eating the majority of it, I would be in the kitchen right now mixing it lol.

So here we have it, our family's White Christmas!  (I apologise for the picture,,,my camera is doing strange things lately!)

WHITE CHRISTMAS

(Recipe is from "The Complete Step-by-Step Christmas Cookbook")

1 cup Dessicated Coconut

1 cup Full Cream Powdered Milk

1 cup Pure Icing Sugar, sifted

1/4 cup Raisins  (I usually use sultanas instead)

1/4 cup Glace Cherries, chopped

1/4 cup chopped Glace Pineapple

1/4 cup Mixed Peel

2 cups Rice Bubbles

250 grams Copha

1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence

Place all ingredients (except Copha and vanilla essence) in a large mixing bowl.

Place copha and vanilla essence in a heavy-based saucepan, and heat gently until the Copha melts.

Stir into the dry ingredients.

Continue stirring until well combined.

Press the mixture into a lightly greased lamington tin.

Smooth the top with a spatula.

Chill until firm and cut into fingers.

Store any leftovers in a covered container in the fridge.

Best used within 3-4 days.

ANZAC SLICE

 My son, Mr14 simply loves Anzac anything.  Anzac biscuits, Anzac slice, Anzac cake, it seems if it has the word Anzac in it and it is edible, it will be on his list of favourites.  I used to always make the Anzac Biscuits, but of course, biscuits require you to be close by the oven every 10-15 minutes or so to make sure you don't end up with burnt cookies.  I tend to try to multitask everything, so most days I flit from room to room and with biscuits, I tend to often forget about them if I do that.....whoops!

I can't remember where I found this recipe, I think it was either the Cheapskates website or Essential Baby, but whoever it was that posted it originally, I thank you, my son, in particular, thanks you.  This recipe is so quick and easy to make, and at least you can just throw it in the oven and walk away for 20 minutes, much easier with a busy life.

I have found with this slice that you can undercook it a bit and it will be nice and soft or you can over cook it a little and it will be more like a biscuit.  My son likes the biscuit style so I left mine in the oven for about 25 minutes.

ANZAC SLICE

1 cup Self Raising Flour

1 cup White Sugar

1 cup Oats

1 cup Coconut

150 grams butter, melted

2T Honey (or Golden Syrup)

Place all your dry ingredients into a large bowl.

Melt the butter, add the honey or golden syrup and stir in.

Pour the butter/honey mixture into the dry ingredients and stir in well.

Spread mixture out into a prepared lamington tray or small baking tray.

Bake at 180 degrees for approximately 20 minutes

Allow to cool slightly before slicing.

JELLY SLICE

  I love simple no fuss cooking and baking.  Even though this recipe has the potential to fall apart if you mis-time the jelly pouring, it is so yummy it is worth the risk lol.   (Besides you can always just make another jelly if you let it set too much and then you  can have the "too set" jelly with icecream for dessert!! :-)  )  This is a recipe that I got introduced to when I was a teenager.  I remember my sister in law at the time, made it and I was in heaven!  I think I made a thorough pig of myself that day lol and made her write the recipe out for me that same day.  She kept saying how simple it was to make, at the time I thought "how can something that tastes this good be easy to make" but you know what?  She was right it is pretty simple most of the time lol!!

I made this on the weekend to take along to my friend's 1st Birthday celebration for her little boy Theodore....and just for the record, I let the jelly set too long lol.  I couldn't believe it, I have made this recipe so many times and I had never had it fall apart but this time the jelly was just that little bit too far gone and as I went to cut the slice up to put on a platter it came apart.  I quickly had to tip the jelly off and make up another jelly which got placed in the freezer to cool quickly.  Thankfully the second time around I got it right.  So just a word of warning, don't forget about your jelly,,,it only has to cool, not begin to set!!

JELLY SLICE

1 packet plain sweet biscuits, crushed into crumbs 

165 grams butter, melted

1 tin of Condensed Milk

2 dessertspoons gelatine

3/4 Cup boiling water

Juice of 2 lemons

1 packet of jelly made with 1 1/2 cups of boiling water

Crush the biscuits (food processors are great for this!)

Melt the butter and then pour it in with the biscuit crumbs.  Whizz it in the food processor until it comes together.

 

Spread into a lamington tray (I like to line my tray as I find sometimes the biscuit base sticks a little) and push down so that it is nice and firm.

Place in fridge to set.

While the biscuit base is setting, you can make the white layer.

Simply mix the condensed milk and the lemon juice together.

Thoroughly mix the gelative and boiling water together until the gelatine is completely dissolved.

Add the gelatine mix to the condensed milk and thoroughly mix it through.

Pour this mixture over your biscuit base and place back in the fridge to set.

Prepare Jelly (remember to use just 1.5 cups of boiling water to make it)

Place jelly in fridge to cool (remember this has to be just cool, not setting lol)

Pour jelly over the condensed milk layer and place the whole lot back into the fridge again until the jelly sets.

Once set, slice it up into squares and enjoy.  This is very "moreish" and it never lasts long in our house!