BISCUITS: Romany Cream like Biscuits but way Better ....

Yum Yum Yum

I stumbled across this recipe and decided to make up my own version - while using some of the basic measurements as a guideline i concocted some very yummy choc biscuits that i must say are soo good.

INGREDIENTS

200 grams Real Butter

1/3 Cup Sugar or Xylitol

1 & Half Cups rice Flour or Wheat flour

1 & Half Tablespoons Cocoa or Carob Powder

1 generous Cup Rice Krispies

1/4 Cup Coconut

a little extra castor sugar if you wish to make it sweeter

50 grams Dark Choc for melting on Top

1) Lightly grill the coconut in the oven until light brown - WATCH IT DOESN'T BURN!!! and leave it to cool.

2) Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

3) Stir in sifted flour and cocoa then the slightly crushed Rice Krispies and the toasted coconut

4) Roll into smallish balls and flatten slightly - mixture can be crumbly so press tigether hard inbetween the palms of your hands and then shape

5) Place on greased oven/ baking trays and allow a little space inbetween each biscuit

6) Bake at 150 degrees celcius for +/- 25 min

7) Allow biscuits to cool then drizzle with melted dark chocolate and leave to set

8) serve with tea or Just Eat!

NUM NUM

*TIP* i try to use as little sugar or Xylitol as possible so these biscuits are not to sweet - if you have a sweet tooth add more sugar, prehaps 3 more tablespoons of it!

shortbread cookie shaped biscuits

this is trial batch number 1 - quite a few of the biscuits broke so i ended up making stars

Today i had the pleasure of baking biscuits for my daughters class as tomorrow it will be her turn to be baker-lady for her class. this means she get to dress up and pretend to "sell" her baked goods to her friends in her class for a class fund raiser -which she is ever so chuffed to do. Easy peesy for my little one of 5 years old but not so easy peesy for mommy, as i am the one who has to produce the goods to sell.
Well you see my daughter is Gluten intolerent which means she can't have wheat flour or oats and 1 or 2 other things. So i had to bake something wheat-free which most baked things containing flour and are made out of ... - Wheat! So having done this wheat free thing for a while now (nearly a year). I whipped out my recipes and a packed of rice flour and started trying and testing and concocting biscuits recipes - 3 biscuit batched later.... here is my soft short bread biscuit recipe: Tip use a good quality rice flour that doesn't smell.( I used the brand Entice self raising Rice Flour. but still on the look out for a better brand as they use fructose in the self raising bag that i bought.)

INGREDIENTS
3 Tablespoons Xylitol or Sugar
90 grams Butter (real butter and NOT margerine)
2 teaspoons caramel ess or Vanilla ess (which ever you prefer)
3 Tablespoons Corn Flour
2/3 Cup Rice flour or Wheat flour (if you can have wheat)

METHOD

1) Beat together Xylitol, butter and Essence until smooth and fluffy.
2) Mix in corn flour amd rice flour and make into a ball
3) Roll out between 2 sheets of wax paper until 5 - 7 mm thick.
4) Cut into cookie shapes of your choice or roll into small balls and flatten with a fork
5) Place on a greased and lined baking tray and bake @ 150 degrees celcius for +/- 8 min or until light brown
WATCH AS THEY BURN VERY QUICKLY!
6) take out and leave to cool before using with your choice of coloured icing

Enjoy with a good cup of tea or for a nice treat for the kids

Spaghetti Bolognese (my version)

SPAGHETTI BOLOGNESE

1 x  500g pack of free range beef mince
2 x medium onions
1 x 125g button mushrooms
2 x garlic cloves
1 x tin of tomatoe paste concentrate
1 x large jar of organic tomatoe puree or 2 x tins of whole italian organic tomatoes
6 - 10 tablespoons sugar 
basil dried or fresh
oregano dried or fresh
salt
pepper
Spaghetti pasta ( i use wheat free - king soba noodles)



1) Place the mince in a large frying pan and over low heat fry (stirring occasionally) until cooked and changed colour to brown
2) while mince is browning finely dice the onions, thinly slice the muchrooms and peel and crush the garlic
3) when the mince is brown add the onions and cook until onion is translucent
4) add mushrooms and garlic and stir, cook until mushrooms start to soften
5) add the tin of tomatoe concentrate, stir in
6) add the jar of tomatoe puree (if using the whole tinned tomatoes push them through a sieve mashing until all juices are extracted and add to mince mixture)
7) add a little salt and pepper
8) add roughly a teaspoon of basil and a teaspoon of oregano (dried) or a half a hand ful of each chopped (if using fresh)
9) add 2- 3 tablespoons sugar
10) stir and let simmer with the lid on for 30 minutes
11) taste, add more sugar if the mix is still to sour and a little salt of it needs
12) simmer until nice and thick and not to runny then add a bit more oregano and basil to taste
13) cook pasta as instructed on the packet
14) drain pasta and put into bowls - dollop mince on top and grate over a good parmesan cheese

serve warm with some nice soft fresh bread and a salad - or enjoy on its own

Enjoy

Roast Chicken

MMMM the smell of roast chicken is sooo good. It has this nice homely smell that is just so comforting.
So for a Dinner or lunch that takes very little prepartion but a bit of waiting - here is the easy roast chicken and little potatoes.

For the Quickest Roast chicken and potatoes

Ingredients
1 x medium/large freerange, hormone free chicken
5 x medium carrots or parsnips
1 x packet of whole baby potatoes with garlic butter
 a little butter
salt

Method
1) Turn you oven to 180 degrees celcius
2) Wash your chicken inside and out under running cold water and then shack off to dry.
3) place in a oven proof large dish or roaster and season with lots of salt all over the skin
4) open the bag of baby potatoes and place all around the chicken and put a few in the body cavity
5) Brake the garlic butter that came with the potoes in half and place a piece on either end of the dish on top of the potatoes
6) Dot blobs of butter all around the dish
7) scrub and wash the carrots and then cut into long sticks and place on top of the chicken and potatoes
8) Spoon the butter back over the potatoes from the dish at 15 to 20 minutes intervals 
9) Place dish in the middle of the oven and roast for roughly an hour - check on the chicken at 40min and adjust your cooking time accordingly.

Chicken is cooked when crispy and brown on the outside and clear juices run out when inserting a knife into the thick part of the meat.

Serve you chicken, potatoes and carrots with a nice crisp salad for a nice lunch or dinner

enjoy
Betty Bake