Ricarelli

First time I have made these, definitely learnt how not to make them...I didn't whisk the egg whites enough, and probably over cooked the little chaps too. b=But they were nice, didn't have the chewy centre of which I have read, they were quite hard.

Must do better.

Cenci

1/2 lb flour, 1oz butter, 1oz Castor sugar, 2 eggs, Cognac, grated lemon peel and pinch of salt.

Combine together all of the above ingredients into a dough, wrap and leave to rest for a while.
Roll a small piece of dough out at a time, very thinly, and cut out shapes or into strips using a Ravioli wheel.
Heat some oil & turn the Cenci briefly in this and then remove.
Allow to cool and then dust with icing sugar

Cowboy Cookies

I have eaten all the Fig Rolls I made last week, I'm not ashamed as the figgy bit counted as one of my Five-a-Day. I can now compensate by making cookies with the chocolate chips my Gourmet Sister sent me. Flicking through the Field Guide to Cookies I decided to make 'Cowboy Cookies', maybe things would have been different on that Mountain if they had had a supply of these?!

COWBOY COOKIES

Makes 24

230g Flour

1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

225g Butter

110g Sugar

110g Light Brown Sugar

2 Eggs

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
175g Rolled Oats

200g Chocolate Chips

115g Walnuts

• Preheat the oven 180/350/Gas 4. Line two oven sheets.
• Sieve the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and set aside.
• In a stand mixer cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.
• Add the flour and mix on a low speed until just combined.
• Stir in the oats, chocolate chips and walnuts.
• Grab little balls of dough, about the size of a large walnut, place on the tray and flatten slightly.
• Bake for about 15 minutes until golden and feel firm. Cool on a wire rack. Keep in an airtight container for 2 weeks, or freeze.

Fig Rolls

Yesterday I received a wonderful surprise parcel from my Gourmet Sister J, lots of delicious goodies and a fantastic little book 'The field Guide to Cookies' (Anita Chu/Quirk Books) with recipes for nearly every cookie imaginable including one of my favorite, Fig Rolls.

FIG ROLLS

makes about 16

150g Plain Flour

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/4 tsp Salt

110g Butter

175g Soft Brown Sugar

1 Egg

3/4 Vanilla Extract

1 tsp Orange Zest

Filling

215g Dried Figs, chopped

1 tbls Sugar

• Sift flour, salt and baking soda. Cream butter and sugar together until fluffy, add the egg, orange zest and vanilla extract and mix. Add flour and mix on low speed to form a dough. Turn dough onto cling film and chill for an hour.
• To make the filling put figs, sugar and 240 ml of water into a saucepan, bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook until it reaches a jammy consistency. Set aside and cool.
• Divide the dough into two and roll first piece out on a floured surface, roll into a rectangle about 18 x 30cm. Carefully transfer to a sheet of parchment paper.
• Spread the filling down the centre half of the dough, fold one side over the middle and then the other side over the top - this will be obvious as you do it! Flip cookie over onto it's seam side. Repeat with other half of dough and then chill for 20 minutes. Meanwhile preheat oven 375/190/Gas 5.
• Bake for 20 minutes. Allow to cool and then cut into 4cm slices.

Cinnamon Crisps

The Ministry of Food 'Cookery Calendar' were recipe sheets designed to give the frustrated housewife ideas to make the most out of her weekly rations. Some of the recipes are nothing short of grim like the spaghetti sauce made from root vegetables and cabbages 'boiled together for 30 minutes', but many sound intriguing and also very cheap! These humble Cinnamon Crisps are lovely and, as the name suggests, very crisp, they remind me of those little plastic-wrapped biscits you sometimes get free with coffee.

(Recipe copied as printed)

CINNAMON CRISPS - another tea-time treat

1 oz. margarine 4 oz self-raising flour 1 level tablespoon syrup

1/2 level teaspoon cinnamon 1 oz. sugar A very little milk or water

1/4 level teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Melt the margarine in a saucepan, remove from the heat and mix in the syrup, sugar and soda. Add the flour and cinnamon and just sufficient liquid to bind the mixture. Turn on to a board, knead well and roll out very thinly. Cut into rounds and bake in a moderate oven for 10-15 minutes, until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack and when cold store in tins.

N.B. - this quantity makes about 16 biscuits with a 2" cutter.

Oat Cookies

I have made literally thousands of these simple cookies over the past four years while working at the school. I remember eating them when I was a student there in the eighties, except then they were covered in chocolate. Up until two years ago we were allowed to put a single Smartie in the centre, but then the government decided that was far too unhealthy and so the frivolous chocolate treat had to go. But, even striped of their chocolate fig-leaf, these cookies are delicious, they taste crisp and golden.

OAT COOKIES

Makes about 18

225 g Butter

225g Caster Sugar

225g Plain Flour

225g Rolled Oats

140g Golden Syrup

1/2 tsp Bicarbonate

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

Preheat the oven to 180/350/gas 4

• Cream the butter and sugar together.
• Sieve the flour, bicarb and baking powder and add to the sugar and butter along with the syrup and oats.
• Beat this all together until evenly combined.
• Roll into balls the size of a walnut and flatten lightly onto a lined baking tray.
• Bake for about 12-15 minutes until golden, leave to cool slightly on the tray before removing to cooling rack.