Peanut Biscuits

125g butter
1/3 crunchy peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup of whole salted peanuts
1.5 cups of SR flour

Cream butter and sugar, add peanut butter and sugar and mix. Add egg, then peanuts and flour and mix until combined. Place teaspoons full on a greased tray and bake in a moderate oven for 20 mins or until golden brown. Cool on trays.

Makes approx 40 biscuits.

Christmas pudding shortbread

125g butter, at room temp
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup plain flour
1/3 cup rice flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
extra flour for kneading
1 eggwhite, whisked
1/3 cup demerara sugar

1. Preheat oven to 160C. Line 2 large oven trays with baking paper. Put butter, brown sugar and vanilla in a bowl and beat using electric beters until light and creamy. Sift flour, rice flour, cinnamon, cloves, mixed spice and nutmeg over butter mixture and stir until well combined. turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently until mixture comes together.
2. Roll out dough between 2 sheets of baking paper until 4mm thick. Using a 7cm round fluted biscuit cutter, cut 15 rounds from dough, re-rolling as required. Put rounds from dough, re-rolling as required. Put rounds on prepared trays, brush with eggwhite and sprinkle with demerara sugar. Bake for 15-20 mins or until light golden and firm. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Hazelnut and chocolate biscuits

140g unsalted butter, softened
160g sugar
4 large egg yolks
3 tsp dark rum
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
200g plain flour, sifted
2 tsp baking powder
50g hazelnut meal
60g whole hazelnuts
250g chocolate, melted

1. Preheat oven to 160C and line 2 oven tryas with baking paper.
2. Put butter and sugar in the large bowl of an electric mixer beat using whisk attachment. Add yolks, rum and vanilla nd mix to combine. Use a spatula to fold in flour, baking powder and hazelnut meal.
3. Spoon mixture into a piping bag fitted with a large star shaped nozzle. Pipe 4-5cm lengths of mixture onto prepared tray, allowing a 4cm space between each for spreading. Press 1 hazelnut on top of each biscuit. Bake for 25 mins or until golden. Put trays on wire racks to cool.
4. Line an oven tray with greaseproof paper. Dip 1 end of each biscuit in melted chocolate and set aside on prepared tray until set.

Cinnamon biscuits

2 eggs
1/2 cup olive oil
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups plain flour, sifted
1 tsp baking powder, sifted
2 tsp ground cinamon, sifted
extra 1/2 cup sugar
extra 2 tsp ground cinamon
80g unsalted butter
1/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp boiling water
2 tbsp very cold milk
1 tsp vanilla paste
icing sugar for dusting

1. preheat oven to 180 C. Line 2 oven trays with baking paper. Put eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla in the small bowl of an electric mixer and beat until thick and pale. Add flour, baking powder and cinnamon and stir gently to combine.
2. Put extra sugar, and cinnamon on 1 prepared tray and stir to combine. Roll a tsp of dough into a ball, then roll in sugar mix. Repeat with remaining dough.
3. Put balls, spaced 5 cm apart on other prepared tray and press down lightly on each to flatten. Cook for 8-10 mins or until golden. Put tray on a wire rack to cool.
4. Put butter and sugar in the small bowl of an elcric mixer and beat until the mix is very pale and fluffy. Add boiling water and beat for a further 1 min then add milk and vanilla paste and beat until mix is light and fluffy.
5. Sandwhich biscuits with tsp of filling. Lightly dust with icing sugar to serve.

Note: filling can be flavoured with zest, chocolate, nuts etc.

crescent moons

250g unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup pure icing sugar
1 egg
2 tsp almond essence
2 cups plain flour
1/2 cup SR flour
1/2 cup almond meal
extra 1.5 cups icing sugar

1. Preheat oven to 180 C. Line 2 trays with baking paper. Beat butter and icing sugar in the small bowl of an electric mixer until pale and creamy. Add egg and essence and beat until combined.
2. Transfer mixture to a large bowl. Sift flours over top of butter mixture. Add almonds meal and stir until combined. Using 1 tbsp mixture for each crescent roll into shape. Put on prepared trays, about 5cm apart, then bake for 20 minutes or until light golden. Leave to cool on trays 5 minutes.
3. Put extra icing sugar in a med bowl. Roll warm crescents in icing sugar until coated. Dust with more icing sugar just before serving.

pine nut biscuits

1 cup plain flour
1 cup polenta
1 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup pine nuts
125g unsalted butter, melted
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
extra flour, for kneading
extra 1 cup pine nuts

1. Preheat oven to 180 C. Line 2 oven trays with baking paper. Combine flour, polenta, sugar and pine nuts in a large bowl. Combine butter, eggs and vanilla in a large jug. Add butter mixture to flour mixture and stir until just combined. Turn out mixture onto a lightly floured surgace and gently knead until mixture comes together to form a dough. Form dough into a disc shape. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 mins.
2. Using a 1 tbsp of dough at a time, roll dough into balls. Put balls, 5cm apart, on prepared trays. Sprinkle extra pine nuts over top of each ball, the press each down to flatten slightly.
3. Bake for 15-20 min or until golden and crisp. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Pinolate

12og blanched almonds
270g sugar
4 eggwhites
100g hazelnuts, toasted, skinned
200g ground almonds
extra 300g sugar
80g butter
1 tbsp honey
180g pine nuts
150g pistachios
sifted icing sugar

1. Preheat oven to 150. Line 3 oven trays with baking paper. Put almonds, sugar and 3 of the eggwhites ina food processor and process until a paste forms. Transfer mixture to a bowl. Do not wash food processor.
2. Put hazelnuts, ground amonds, extra sugar, butter, honey and remaining eggwhite in a food processor and process until mix forms a paste. Add hazelnut mixture to almond mixture and stir to combine. Chill in fridge for 1 hour.
3. Clean food processor bowl and process pine nuts and pistachios until finely chopped. Transfer nuts to a bowl and set aside. Remove mixture from fridge and roll heaped tsp into small grape-sized ovals. Roll in pine-nut mixture to coat, then arrange on prepared trays about 4cm apart.
4. Bake for 18-20 mins or until lightly golden. Let cool then dust with icing sugar.

ANZAC biscuits

The easiest biscuit in the world (and the tastiest too)!

1 cup of plain flour
1 cup of rolled oats
1 cup coconut
1 cup sugar

mix dry ingredients in a bowl

110g or 4oz of butter
2tbsp hot water
1tbsp golden syrup

melt in the microwave

then add 1tsp of bicarb to the wet ingredients

add the wet ingredients to the dry. Shape into balls, place 5 cm apart on baking trays as they spread as they cook. Bake in a 180C oven for approx 12 minutes or until golden. Let cool on trays.
Makes approx 24.

White chocolate and cranberry cookies

Makes 32

1 2/3 cups plain flour
1 1/2 tsp bicarb
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup white chocolate
150 g butter, chopped
1 egg, lightly beaten

1. preheat oven to 160C fan-forced. Line large baking trays with baking paper.
2. Melt butter in microwave and set aside to cool.
3. Add flour, bicarb, sugar, coconut, cranberries, and chocolate into a large bowl. Add the butter and egg. Stir to combine. Roll level tablespoons of mixture into little balls. Place on prepared trays, 5cm apart.
4. Bake for 12-15 mins or until golden. Cool on trays for 5 mins then transfer to wire rack.