Apple Crumble Cheesecake Slice

250g plain or gingernut biscuits

125g butter, melted

500g philly cheese, softened

2/3 cup caster sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs, lightly beaten

¾ cup cream

1 teaspoon mixed spice

5 (500g) apples, 3 peeled and finely chopped, 2 sliced

1 cup rolled oats

¼ cup plain flour

¼ cup brown sugar

50g butter, chilled, chopped

Line base of 30 x 20cm pan with baking paper. This makes the cheesecake easy to remove.

Process biscuits until coarse crumbs, add melted butter, and process again until finer. Press into the base of lined pan.

Beat the Philly, caster sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer until just smooth.

Beat in the eggs then stir through the cream and mixed spice.

Fold through the chopped apple then pour onto the prepared base. Arrange sliced apple over the top.

Place oats, flour, and sugar in a bowl. Rub in butter until combined. Sprinkle over filling.

Bake at 180 for 30 to 40 minutes or until just set (cheesecake will wobble a little

in centre). Turn off oven. Cool cheesecake in oven for 3 hours with door ajar. Refrigerate thoroughly.
Cut into squares and sprinkle with icing sugar if desired.

Coffee Toffee adapted from Smitten Kitten (in metric)

I think it might be nice to try 1 cup slivered almonds stirred into the toffee just after it's reached it's maximum temperature.
250g butter
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons molasses (can swap corn syrup or honey)
1/4 teaspoon salt (or a heaping 1/4 teaspoon flaky sea salt)
1 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
170g or 1 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts (toasted, skinned and cooled) or another nut of your choice

Line a small baking sheet (mine are 9×13, to fit in my puny oven) with parchment paper or a silicon mat and set aside.
Melt butter, brown sugar, white sugar, molasses, salt and espresso together. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally with a whisk (one that reaches into the corners is especially helpful here) until the temperature approaches 120C at which point you should stir constantly until it reaches 148C.
Pour immediately into the prepared baking sheet — you can spread it more evenly with a offset or silicon spatula but don’t worry if you have neither.
Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the toffee and let them sit for a minute until soft, then spread the chocolate evenly over the candy base.
Sprinkle the chocolate with chopped hazelnuts and then, if you’re as impatient as we are, you can slide the sheet onto a cooling rack in the freezer until the toffee is set.
Break into pieces and store in an airtight container. If you’re kitchen is warm, you might prefer to keep it in the fridge so the chocolate doesn’t get soft.

Granny's Date and Ginger slice

Ingredients

• 1½ cups self-raising flour
• 1 cup chopped dates
• ¾ cup chopped walnuts
• 185g butter, melted
• 1¼ cups brown sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• ¼ cup chopped crystallised ginger
• Icing sugar for dusting

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to moderate, 180°C. Lightly grease a 20 x 30cm slice pan and line it with baking paper.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, dates and walnuts. Stir in butter, sugar, egg and ginger.
3. Spoon into prepared pan, smoothing the top.
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until cooked when tested. Let cool in the pan. Dust with icing sugar and cut into squares.

Cheese and Chive Bouikos

Makes 12 small or 24 tiny cheesy buns. I like the tiny ones because you get more crispy crust. These come with a serious addiction warning. This recipe is easily doubled or even tripled.
Best straight from the oven.

50g cold butter, cut into small cubes a little larger than a pea

40g mature Cheddar cheese, grated

40g feta, crumbled

100g cake flour

Pinch of salt

2 tbs chopped chives or 2 spring onions chopped

100g sour cream

Milk to glaze (optional)

Method

Preheat the oven to 220C.

Combine all ingredients except sour cream. Don’t allow it to warm in your hands too much.

Add sour cream and mix gently with your hands until dough just comes together. Don’t overwork the dough or you will warm the butter and toughen the gluten.

Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and pat it down to a rough rectangle (ie one side longer than the other) about one centimetres thick (roughly the height of a fingernail). Cut the long side into 4, and the short side into 3 to give 12 squares. Cut these squares diagonally to give 24 triangles. Of course you can make any shape or size you like - squares or circles.

Brush the tops with milk if you want them to be shiny, but this isn’t necessary. Place onto baking tray and into the oven for 10 mins.

Turn front to back, reduce oven temp to 200C and bake another 6 mins or until golden.

Adapted from Honey & Co. 

Chocolate Hazelnut Friands

• 6 egg whites
• 1 cup (125g) ground hazelnuts, toasted
• 150g melted butter, cooled
• 50g plain flour
• 25g cocoa powder
• 1½ cups (240g) icing sugar, sifted
• Choc chips to taste

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 180°C or 160°C fan-forced. Lightly grease 12 friand molds.
2. Lightly beat egg whites. Stir in ground hazelnuts and melted butter. Sift the flour, cocoa powder and icing sugar into the mixture. Stir through choc chips if using.
3. Divide mixture among prepared pans (approx ¼ cup mixture into each one). 
4. Bake in preheated oven 25 minutes until cooked through (when a skewer is inserted into centre, it should come out clean).

Peanut Biscuits

125g butter

230g castor sugar (scant ¾ cup)

150g SR flour (1 large heaped cup)

1 egg

¾ cup unsalted peanuts

Cream butter and sugar.

Add egg and beat.

Fold in flour and peanuts.

Cook at 150 for 10-15 mins. They should be brown only around the edges.

This recipe is from Leila, Ted Hudson’s mother. Granny often made these for us and they’re really yummy.)

Naomi's Choc Chip Cookies

Adapted from the New York Times recipe

300g butter, softened
175g brown sugar (1¼ cups)
200g caster sugar (1 generous cup) 

1 ½ teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
3 1/4 cups plain flour
1 1/4 tspns bi carb soda
1 1/2 tspns baking powder
500g choc chips - preferably flat discs so they form layers
Sea salt  

1. Using an electric mixer, cream butter, sugars, salt and vanilla together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
2. Reduce speed to low, add flour, bi carb soda and baking powder and mix until combined. Add choc chips.

3. Refrigerate dough, covered, for 24 to 36 hours. Dough can be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 180°C. Line a baking sheet with baking paper.
5. Scoop 6 100g mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt.

6. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until golden brown but still soft. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. makes: 24 12cm cookies.

Keena's note: I have made these with smaller balls of dough and they're just as delicious.
You could use glace ginger, m+m's, nuts, dried fruit as well as, or instead of, the choc chips. 

Savory Breakfast Scones

Basic Mixture

3 cups plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon salt
3/4 cup lemonade
3/4 cup Greek yogurt 

Flavourings
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

1 onion, fried

250g bacon, chopped and fried

Preheat oven to 200.

Combine flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl.

Combine lemonade and yogurt in a large bowl.

Add cheese, onion and bacon to the wet ingredients.

Stir dry ingredients into wet, and mix lightly until it only just comes together. Don't overmix or the scones will be tough.

Shape into a circle about 2-3 cm high, like a thick pizza.

Bake at 200 for 30 mins, or until golden brown on top.

Cut into wedges like a pizza and serve. 

Options

Instead of these flavourings you could try a combination using chorizo, ham, haloumi, fried mushrooms, cooked asparagus, wilted baby spinach, 1/2 can creamed corn, or herbs like basil or parsley.

Use soda water for a less sweet scone. Or another flavoured drink eg ginger beer or fanta.

Or you could make them sweet using dried, stewed or tinned fruit, nuts and spices.

Caution - don't use wet ingredients like tomatoes, or the juice from the tinned fruit.

Cheese Biscuits

Ingredients

• 250g or 2 cups plain cake flour
• 35g or 3 tablespoons cornflour
• 250g block of parmesan cut into 3 or 4 pieces
• 1 good teaspoon salt
• Pinch of cayenne to taste
• 10g or 3 teaspoons dry mustard
• 220g butter chilled
• 1-2 tablespoons sour cream or lemon juice

Instructions

1. With food processor running drop cheese in giving it time to process each block before adding another.
2. Add flours, cheese and seasonings in food processor and process until well combined.
3. Cut into small pieces and add, processing until the mixture looks like sand.
4. With motor running add enough sour cream or lemon juice so mixture just forms a ball.
5. Roll into logs 4cm or 1 1/2 inches thick. Wrap in plastic and chill thoroughly, or freeze for a couple of months!
6. Cut up into slices about 3mm thick.
7. Bake in oven, at 160C for 10 -12 mins. Rotate tray front to back then close oven door and turn off. Allow to cool in the oven to brown and crisp up.
8. They're best when they are light brown.