I’ve been after a bit of baking lately, the cupboards are a bit bare as I’m not partial to shopping and come dinner time, after I’ve done away with my main I’m often after a bit of something sweet to finish.
I know, hardly good for the upholstery but good for the soul, I’m sure you’ll agree.
So this week I’ve been hit by the bakery bug twice and to salve my conscience just a little I’ve eaten my fill of my chosen treat and taken the rest to work to share, because I might as make my workmates souls a bit lighter, even if their butts won’t be…
So this week’s offerings were Hokey Pokey biscuits and Coconut Chocolate Brownies, recipes courtesy of that bastion of good NZ home cooking, the Edmonds Cookbook…
The Hokey Pokey biscuits were rather lovely but the Brownies? Sublime. So, because I love you, I’m going to share the recipe here…
125g butter
1/4 c cocoa
1 c sugar
2 eggs
1tsp vanilla essence (5ml)
1/2 c coconut
1/2 c plain baking flour
1/2 tsp Baking Powder.
Now, the Edmonds book says use Edmonds flour and Edmonds Baking Powder… that’s bogus, but allowed because it is the Edmonds book after all… you can use whatever the heck brand you like. I sure did. Because I don’t live in NZ and can’t get hold of the ‘proper’ brand…
Anyway…
Melt the butter in a medium (sized) saucepan. Add cocoa and stir over LOW heat for 1-2 minutes. (I used a balloon whisk to stir it to make sure there are no lumps).
Remove from heat. Stir in sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition (the balloon whisk works well at this point too!!). Beat in vanilla and coconut (I used coarse shredded coconut rather than the common or garden variety dessicated coconut, it added great texture). Sift flour and BP. Stir into mixture. Pour into greased and lined shallow 20cm square cake tin. Bake at 180deg C for 30-35 minutes. Leave in tin for 5 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack. Cut into bars when cold and dust with Icing (confectioners) sugar.
Makes 16 (which of course, depends on how big you cut it… I used a round tin as I’d nothing else and cut it up v small, they were so awesome, I’m all set for round 2).
So there you go, NaBlo day 10 and a free recipe for all… aren’t you lucky??!!
Well you have guilted me into it. I will go and do some baking for my children. Sigh.
But perhaps I will sneak in your recipe and hide it in the laundry, cause everyone KNOWS kids and husbands don’t go in there!
Will let you know how far my butt expands.
Good old Edmonds Cookbook! Bought the latest edition which has prints of all the old Edmonds advertising. Going
to do a bit of scanning and decorate the kitchen with them! (Shush don’t tell the Copyright office…)
Now what about Ginger Gems? I haven’t had one for donks. First of all, one needs a gem iron, thought, doesn’t one…
Ohhhhhh Fi, now you’ve reminded me about Ginger crunch… think I’ll make that next, particularly given that I’ve run out of cocoa… but ginger gems sound aces… can you get gem irons on trademe?
If I were permanently pregnant – well, I look like I am anyway, I’m such a lard-arse – my family would be obese. When pregnant with Todd I couldn’t stop baking – it was nuts.
It stopped though, so I admire your talent.