Afghan Biscuits

As I have been going through the recipes, occasionally I have noticed there are little marks next to some of them. Ticks, stars and crosses (not sure whether that's a 'good' or 'bad' cross yet). This recipe however, had something a bit different. Grandma had written "very good" next to the title. Well that was enough for me, I just had to try it next.

These biscuits are really pretty to look at and are yummy as well. Lots of different textures and not overly sweet. Enjoy! 

Ingredients:

Biscuits- 

250g butter or margarine

125g castor sugar

1 tablespoon cocoa

1 tablespoon desiccated coconut

250g (1 cup) plain flour

Pinch of salt

60g (2 cups) cornflakes

Icing -

125g (1 cup) icing sugar

1 tablespoon cocoa

1 teaspoon softened butter or soft margarine

2 teaspoons warm milk

Walnut pieces for decoration

Method:

Biscuits - 

Cream butter and sugar together until soft and creamy . Stir in cocoa and coconut, then stir in sifted flour and salt. Finally stir in cornflakes (I ended up using my hands to bring the mixture together). Drop rounded metal teaspoonful of mixture on baking trays, allowing plenty of room for spreading. Bake in a moderate oven at 180°C for 12-15 minutes. Cool on a wire cooling tray. 

Icing -

Sift icing sugar and cocoa into a mixing bowl, add softened butter and warm milk and beat well until icing is smooth. Spread a little icing on each biscuit immediately and top with a piece of walnut.

Makes approx. 48

Milo Slice

I was reading through the list of recipes I have typed so far and one name jumped out at me and I just had to try it; Milo Slice.

I tend to think of milo as a superfood. It's yummy on icecream, microwaved in the middle of a doughnut (sounds strange but it works; thanks Karl), mixed into milk or eaten straight out of the tin (come on, I know you've all done it!). One thing I've never tried, however, is to bake with it. I think this recipe is an instant favouite though. Its quick and easy to make and its oh so very scrumptious! The golden syrup in the icing just adds that little extra something.

I have deliberately kept all of the recipes as they were written in the books, which means that some of them are not structured as a typical recipe is or has measurements that are no longer used, such as ounces. Where needed, I will include conversions.

Milo Slice

Melt 4 oz margarine and mix well into 2 oz sugar, 1 cup S.R Flour and 2 dessertspoons milo. Press flat into 11x9” greased tin. Bake 20 minutes in moderate to low heat. Ice whilst hot, a couple of minutes after it comes out of oven.

Icing: In saucepan. 4 tablespoons icing sugar, 2dessertspoons milo, 2 oz margarine, 3 teaspoons golden syrup. Keep stirring on low heat for a few minutes. When all is nice and smooth, pour on slice and spread evenly. Cut into squares a couple of minutes later and leave in tin until cold.

1 oz = approx. 30 grams

Moderate to low heat = 160-170°C

The icing was fairly runny and remained a little sticky even after it had set. A little extra icing sugar may help stop this, but personally I liked the sticky consistency. I also lined the tin (and allowed some of the baking paper to come over the edges) as well as greasing. This made it really easy to pick up out of the tin.

Cinnamon Cookies

I am lucky enough to be able to look after Grandma's recipe collection while I digitise them and as soon as I got them home I couldn't help myself, I had to make something. I let my husband have first choice from those that I had already typed up and he surprised me with by choosing the following recipe. I thought he would have gone for something chocolate, but no, he chose; Cinnamon Cookies.

These turned out wonderfully. Soft and a little chewy with a very subtle flavour. They were a different technique for making biscuits than I am used to as you roll balls of the mixture in a coating before baking, which, as we discovered, can give you very different flavours and textures depending on what you roll them in. A nice variation on this recipe is to use coconut and cocoa as the coating. 

Ingredients:

125g (1/2 cup) butter or margarine

185g (3/4 cup) castor sugar

125g (2/3 cup) brown sugar

4 egg yolks

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

185g (1 ½ cups) self-raising flour

125g (1 cup) ground nuts (almonds, walnuts or hazelnuts)

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Method:

Beat butter and sugars together until smoothly combined. Add egg yolks, milk and vanilla and beat well. Sift flour into mixture, then stir in until evenly mixed. Chill mixture, covered, until firm. Meanwhile, mix ground nuts with cinnamon.

Roll chilled dough into 2.5cm balls in clean cold hands. Roll balls in cinnamon-nut mixture until evenly coated. Place 5cm apart on lightly greased baking trays. Bake towards the top of a hot oven at 200°C for 10 minutes or until golden. Cool on a wire cooling tray.

Makes approx. 60

The beginning...

My Grandma has been in a nursing home for a few years now, but I can still vividly remember her and Grandad's place, with its sprawling back yard full of vegie patches and mango trees. Of walking into the kitchen and having huge cooked lunches with mountains of potatoes; both baked and mashed at once!! Her potatoes were my absolute favourite, and I don't think I'll ever taste any as good again. Of afternoon teas with cakes and biscuits and scones... oh the scones!

I think its clear to say that a lot of my memories from their place and my childhood times spent there revolved around food. Of family meals. So to be able to read and record and cook some of those recipes, is something I am very excited to do.

This blog is where I am going to collate these recipes and I am hoping to cook as many of them as possible as well.

I am going to leave this first post though with 2 photos. The first is of the cookbooks and recipes from my Grandma and the second is of Grandma and Grandad and myself a few days before my wedding.