Donna Hay Vanilla cookies

 It's a tradition in this household that we make Christmas cookies every year, some of which we wrap up and give away to neighbours as gifts. I made these cookies this year - they are the Donna Hay Vanilla Cookies. They were delicious, although quite buttery. My daughter helped me decorate!

RECIPE:

185g butter, chopped
1 cup caster sugar
2 1/2cups plain flour
2tsp vanilla extract (or use vanilla seed paste)
1 egg

Place butter, sugar and vanilla in a food processor and process until smooth. Add the flour and egg and process until combined. Remove mixture and wrap in cling-wrap. Refrigerate the dough for 30mins. Preheat the oven to 180C. Roll out the dough on baking paper or lightly floured surface until 5mm thick. Cut the dough, using  7cm round cookie cutter and place the biscuits on the trays lined with baking paper. Bake for 10-13mins until the cookies are golden on the bases. Cool on trays. Makes 24.

They look so festive placed in little containers and decorated with Christmas ribbon!

The neighbours loved them!

Easy Christmas treat

I found this recipe on a facebook page - I can't remember which one, just remember it coming up in my news feed.

SO simple, yet so festive and tasty.

Simply place two candy canes facing each other to make a heart shape. Place onto a lined baking tray, pour melted chocolate in the middle and sprinkle with 100s and 1000s. Refrigerate until set.

I then wrapped them individually, tied with a bow, and gave them away as gifts for Christmas!

Zucchini, Bacon and Tomato slice

I made this for dinner tonight after getting the recipe from the recipe book "The Thrifty Kitchen" by Suzanne and Kate Gibbs.

Basically all it is is throwing all the ingredients into a bowl, including: 4 grated zucchinis (drained), i diced onion, 3 rashers of bacon (finely chopped), 1 cup of grated cheese, 1 cup of SR flour, 5 eggs, 1/4 cup of rice bran oil and salt and pepper. Pour the mixture into a lined loaf pan (however, I used a baking dish), spread some sliced tomato on top, and bake in a 200 degree oven for an hour.

Perfect when served alongside a salad.

Kit-Kat Cake

I made this cake for my daughter's 4th birthday. This was the cake we cut on her actual birthday, but for her party in a few weeks she has requested a mermaid cake.

The mud cake I made was a simple mudcake (ok, it was the packet mudcake from Aldi). Once that cooled, I spread the top of the cake with a thin layer of chocolate ganache (chocolate and cream over the stove top, stirred until melted).

I then started placing the kit kats around the cake, tying it with the first ribbon to keep them from falling down. I then poured the remainder of the chocolate ganache on top until it was flat, and placed the maltesers and smarties on top.

It's a fairly simple cake, although it's a tad fiddly.

Everyone loved it!