Peanut butter filled chocolate cookies

So we've had this recipe for a while and decided to make them today.
We got the recipe online (not sure where from, sorry!) and made a few tiny changes. This is it...

INGREDIENTS

1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1/2 cup icing sugar

1. Preheat oven to 180˚C.
2. Mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
3. Beat the sugar, butter and 1/4 cup of the peanut butter until light and smooth. Add the vanilla and egg. Once combined, slowly add the flour mixture. 

4. To make the filling, cream together the icing sugar and remaining 1/2 cup PB until smooth.
To assemble: 

1. Make a small ball on your hand. Place ball on a piece of plastic wrap and flatten.

2. Add a teaspoon (not too much) of the PB filling on the middle and holding the bottom of the cookie through the plastic, fold the sides inwards so that you close the cookie and it becomes a ball again. You shouldn't see any filling at this point.

3. Roll into a ball and slightly flatten.

4. Place on a baking tray and bake for about 10 minutes or until you see they start to dry out and they look crackly.

5. Transfer to wire rack to let cool completely.

 

Bread :)

Yummy yummy bread.
F has been attending a Steiner playgroup in Sydney. Every week they make bread and it is delicious! So they gave me the recipe :)
We tweaked it a little and this is what we made:

INGREDIENTS:
1Kg of flour (you can mix and match any kind- we used wholemeal and plain)
500ml of water (@ body temperature)
1 Tbsp dry yeast
1 tsp honey
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp of oil (we used olive)
OPTIONAL:
Oregano
Chocolate flakes
Anything you want to add to the loaf.

1. Put 250ml of the water in a container and sprinkle the top with the yeast to make it bubble and foam (if it doesn't, it means the yeast isn't good and your bread won't rise). Leave for 10 minutes.
2. Add all dry ingredients less the oregano and chocolate flakes and mix in the mixer.
3. Add the water and yeast and knead with the kneading hook.
4. Slowly add the rest of the water until your dough forms.
OPTIONAL:
5. We split the dough in two and mix the oregano onto one batch and the chocolate on another. You can add whatever you like such as cheese, sultanas and nuts, etc.
...
6. Leave in a greased bowl covered with a tea towel at a warm place for it to rise for an hour.
7. Remove from the bowl and knead for a few minutes again. Put back in the bowl and cover with the towel and let rise again for another 30-45 minutes.
8. Make whatever shapes you like and bake in a 180ºC oven for 25-45 minutes (depending on the size of your loaves). It will be ready when you tap the bottom and it sounds hollow.

Enjoy!

AGAIN OUR PICTURES SHOW UP BLACK! :(

Banana Pancakes

My little man loves pancakes with peanut butter so we have tried different recipes and this one is great, the pancakes are moist and we don't have to add butter to the batter. It also just makes about 6 pancakes so that is more than enough for us.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
2 tsp baking powder
1 ripe banana
1 egg

1. Add all ingredients to the blender and mix until thoroughly combined.
2. Heat a pan and add a bit of butter every time you're about to cook a new pancake.
3. Cook the first side until you can see holes through the batter and then turn for less time on the second side.
4. Serve with anything from jam to peanut butter or honey or fresh fruit. Possibilities are great!

Yummy shortbread cookies

We found a recipe for easy cookies but we made changes and came up with this recipe instead. We used it at one of our children's class and we had lots of fun making these.

INGREDIENTS:
250 grams of butter at room temperature*
1 cup of icing sugar
3 cups of flour
1 tsp vanilla
A bit of milk
Sprinkles to decorate

1. Cream the butter and sugar in the mixer until well combined and light
2. Add the flour and mix
3. Once the mixture is crumbly, add the vanilla and a bit of milk just to make sure the dough sticks together. Knead either by hand or with the kneading hook on your mixer.
4. Cut them in shapes and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180ºC for about 10 minutes or until the edges are brown. Remove from oven and transfer to a cooling rack before they cool down (or they can break).