Macadamia and white chocolate chip cookies (with a touch of iron)

I'm not one who repeats sweet recipes often - aside from household favorites such as Alice Medrich's cocoa brownies and Nigel Slater's lemon and thyme cake, for instance, I get thrilled to try new things, or at least pimped up versions of baked goods and desserts I once tried and loved.

I hadn't baked white chocolate macadamia cookies in ages, and was pretty happy with my go-to recipe, but when I read Alice Medrich's version with pulverized rolled oats in the dough I had to give it a try: after I found out I was anaemic I tried to increase the amounts of iron rich foods on my daily routine, and oats were a big part of it - in this case it was a win/win situation, since the cookies turned out delicious, too. :)

Macadamia and white chocolate chip cookies
from the delicious Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies by Alice Medrich

75g rolled oats
100g all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
½ cup (1 stick/113g) unsalted butter, melted and still warm
70g granulated sugar
70g light brown sugar
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
135g roasted salted macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped
170g white chocolate chips or chunks

Pulverize the oats in a food processor or blender until fine. Add the flour, baking soda and salt. Pulse to combine and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the melted butter with the sugars and vanilla. Whisk in the egg. Stir in the flour mixture just until all of the dry ingredients are moistened. Let the mixture cool for a few minutes if it is still warm. Stir in the nuts and chocolate chips, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and preferably overnight.
Preheat the oven to 165°C/325°F – you will bake the sheets in the center of the oven, one at a time.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator to soften. Line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
Scoop 1 rounded tablespoon of dough per cookie and place 5cm (2in) apart onto prepared sheets. Bake until cookies are deep golden brown, 13-15 minutes. Cool on the sheets for 5 minutes, then slide the paper onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Makes about 35 cookies

White chocolate and macadamia bars

Great songs are everywhere to be found, don’t you think? As I was trying on some shoes a couple of weeks ago when a song playing at the store caught my attention – I reached for my phone and Shazam showed me that it was “Boy”, by Ra Ra Riot, which is a band I’d never heard of; I just love discovering things this way – it’s the kind of simple thing that makes my days ever better.
I feel that great recipes are just the same – as much as I try to use my books constantly, I keep my eyes open because one never knows where the next tasty treat might come from – in this case, these delicious and ridiculously simple to make bars come from the Australian Women Weekly’s website.

A quick note before the recipe: I still haven’t heard from all the giveaway winners, and I have to send the info to Zinio as soon as possible – please, send me the info by email urgently or unfortunately you’ll no longer receive your digital magazine subscription.

White chocolate and macadamia bars
slightly adapted from here

½ cup + 1 tablespoon (127g) unsalted butter, room temperature, chopped coarsely
180g white chocolate, finely chopped
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups (210g) all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
¾ cup (105g) unsalted roasted macadamias, coarsely chopped*
150g white chocolate, extra, in chips or chunks

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 20x30cm (8x12in) pan, line it with foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides, then butter the foil as well.
Combine butter and chocolate (180g) in a medium saucepan; stir over low heat until smooth. Cool for 10 minutes.
Stir in sugar, eggs and vanilla until smooth. Sift flour, baking powder and salt over batter and mix to combine. Mix in the macadamias and chocolate chips/chunks. Spread batter into prepared pan. Bake for about 30 minutes or until set and golden around the edges. Cool completely in the pan over a wire rack. Cut into bars to serve.

* the macadamias I had at home were salted, so I rinsed them in cold water and dried them in paper towels before using; I also omitted the pinch of salt from the recipe

Makes 20

Macadamia crunch ice cream + my favorite cookbooks

Every other day I receive emails from the readers asking which are my favorite cookbooks; for each of those emails I reply two more arrive in my inbox – not a very practical thing. That is why you’ll find below the list with my all time favorite cookbooks – the ones I love the most (in no particular order):




This delicious ice cream – if you think I’ve become addicted to praliné, you’re right, how could I not? – comes the cookbook I’ve used the most so far: the one that comes to mind whenever I think of making something sweet – which, let’s be honest, is something that happens quite often. :D

Macadamia crunch ice cream
from the fantastic and always delicious Bon Appetit Desserts: The Cookbook for All Things Sweet and Wonderful

Toffee:
2/3 cup (94g) roasted salted macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup (67g) granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter

Ice cream:
1 ½ cups (360ml) heavy whipping cream
1 ½ cups (360ml) whole milk
pinch of salt
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
6 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Toffee: butter small rimmed baking sheet. Combine nuts and baking soda in a small bowl. Stir sugar, water and butter in a heavy small saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves and butter melts, about 2 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high. Boil until dark amber colored, stirring constantly, about 3 minutes. Mix in nut mixture and immediately pour it onto buttered sheet, spreading it as much as possible. Cool completely, then chop with a sharp knife into small pieces.
Ice cream: bring cream, milk and salt to a simmer in a heavy large saucepan. Whisk sugar and egg yolks in a medium bowl. Gradually whisk hot cream mixture into yolk mixture. Return mixture to same saucepan. Stir over medium-low heat until custard thickens and leaves path on back of spoon when finger is drawn across – do not boil. Pass through a sieve into a medium bowl, stir in vanilla and refrigerate until very cold, 3-4 hours.
Process custard into ice cream maker according to manufactures’ instructions. Add toffee during last 5 minutes of churning. Transfer to an ice cream container, cover and freeze until firm.

Serves 8-10