Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 cups quick-cook oats
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 165℃.
  2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth.
  3. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla.
  4. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir into the creamed mixture until just blended.
  5. Mix in the quick oats and chocolate chips.
  6. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets.
  7. Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven.
  8. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

    Chocolate Chip Cookies

    Ingredients

    250 g plain flour
    ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
    ½ tsp salt
    170 g unsalted butter, melted
    200 g dark brown soft sugar
    100 g caster sugar
    1 vanilla extract
    1 egg
    1 egg yolk
    325 g chocolate chips

    Method

    Prep: 10 mins. Cook: 15 mins.

    1. Preheat the oven to 170℃. Grease baking trays or line with parchment.
    2. Sift together the flour, bicarb and salt. Set aside.
    3. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and caster sugar until well blended.
    4. Beat in the vanilla, egg and egg yolk until light and creamy.
    5. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended.
    6. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon.
    7. Drop cookie dough onto the prepared baking trays, with each cookie around 4 tablespoons of dough (for smaller cookies, drop 1 rounded tablespoonful and adjust baking time as necessary). Do not flatten the dough. Cookies should be about 8cm apart.
    8. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted.
    9. Cool on baking trays for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

    Rainbow Cake

    Ingredients

    For the cake:
    340 g self raising flour
    340 g white sugar
    340 g butter or soft spread
    6 large eggs (more if medium sized)
    milk (or water), fi needed
    baking powder
    small cake tins, greased and lined
    rainbow food colourings
    For the icing:
    about ½ a box Icing sugar (more or less, to taste)
    cream cheese
    butter or soft spread.

    Method

    1. Weigh the mixing bowl and spoon and make a note of it.
    2. Pre-heat the oven to ???.
    3. Mix all the cake ingredients except the colours together and add the milk until the right consistency is reached.
    4. Reweigh the mixture.
    5. Work out the following:
      (second weighing – first weighing) / number of layers wanted.
    6. Put the weight of the answer into a small bowl, and mix in a small amount one of the colourings thoroughly. Put it in the greased/lined cake tin, and cook for 15 mins or until cooked through. Repeat for all layers.
    7. Wait until cool. Trim the cakes if lopsided to make them easier to stack.
    8. Mix together all the cream cheese and butter with most of the icing sugar and taste, adding more icing sugar if needed.
    9. Layer some frosting between the cakes, then slather the rest over the top and sides.
    10. Pin all the way through with a couple of skewers to stop it sliding around. Refrigerate to set the icing.
    11. Take out the skewers and eat!

    Gravy

    You will need

    fat from a roast, or can use butter
    flour
    stock either from previously made stock, veg water or a stock cube and hot water
    mixed herbs
    optional
    ingredients     		onions
    chilli jelly or cranberry jelly
    red wine

    Method

    To make a decent gravy, you need good ingredients.  Stock can be ideally from previously made stock, but can also be from a stock cube and boiling water (either from a kettle, or – even better – from water being used to cook vegetables.

    The fat should ideally be from around the roast, as that will contain all the flavour of the meat, but in the absence of all of that you can use butter.

    1. Melt the butter in a saucepan, and if making onion gravy you can add the onions at this point, cooking them very slowly until they are thoroughly cooked.
    2. Stir in a tablespoon of flour until it is all absorbed by the fat.
    3. Add the stock, a little at a time, whilst stirring.  The more you stir, the less chance there is of getting lumps.  If you start getting lumps, keep stirring until they are beaten out, then add more liquid.
    4. Add the herbs (and optional red wine), and simmer gently until the gravy thickens.
    5. If it is the right consistency, but the wrong colour, you can add a teaspoon of Bisto to darken it down.  The Bisto will also cause it thicken up.
    6. Add chilli or cranberry jelly shortly before serving and stir in for additional flavour.