Contains Dairy Archives | Page 11 of 33

Chicken, lime and avocado tortillas

Ingredients

2 skinless chicken breast fillets
2 tbsp olive oil
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground coriander
½ tsp ground turmeric
4 soft tortillas

Salsa

1 corn cob, cooked
1 cup peas, cooked
½ red capsicum, thinly sliced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 avocado, diced
juice of 2 limes
1 tbsp olive oil

Yoghurt dressing

½ cup natural yoghurt
¼ cup finely chopped mint leaves

Method

Rub the chicken with half of the olive oil and all of the the spices and set aside to marinate for at least 30 minutes.

Heat a frying pan to medium-high and add the remaining olive oil. Cook the chicken breasts on one side for 2 minutes, or until golden, turn over and cook for another 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to low, pour in 2 tablespoons hot water, cover with a lid and cook for 7 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. Set aside to cool a little.

Meanwhile, combine all of the salsa ingredients and stir well.

To make the dressing, combine the yogurt and mint leaves and season with sea salt.

Cut the chicken into thin strips and warm the tortillas as per packet instructions. Serve with the salsa and yogurt dressing on the table and let everyone make their own.

Notes

This dish is also great if you swap the tortillas with taco shells, iceberg lettuce cups or even steamed rice.
Serve finely chopped red chilli on the side for adults.
This recipe was created by Sophie Hansen

More Mexican recipes

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Veal, feta and spinach involtini

Ingredients

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
2 x 400g tins tomatoes
4 veal escalopes (ask your butcher to pound them down to a nice thin width)
4 slices prosciutto
1 cup cooked and chopped spinach
1 1/2 cups feta, crumbled
40g butter
parsley, to serve

Method

To make the sauce, in a saucepan, heat the oil over a medium heat and cook the garlic until fragrant (about 1 minute). Add the tomatoes, reduce heat to low and simmer foråÊ10 minutes. Set aside.

Meanwhile prepare the meat. First preheat the oven to 180å¡C or 160å¡C fan-forced. Lay each piece of veal flat on a work surface, layer with a piece of prosciutto each, then a little spinach and then the feta. Roll up and secure with a small kebab skewer or toothpick.

Melt the butter in a saucepan on high heat. Once frothy, brown the veal wraps in batches until nice and golden on each side. Place these in a baking tray; pour over the tomato sauce, dot with extra feta, cover tightly with foil and bake for 10 minutes.

Notes:

Involtini is the Italian term for wrapped bundles and you can use your imagination to wrap any meat in the same way. I think chicken would be great instead of the veal in this dish too.
If you are not a feta cheese fan, you can swap the feta for an equal amount of mozzarella cheese and it will give you a nice golden top.
This recipe was created by Sophie Hansen for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder. åÊYou can follow Sophie on Local is Lovely, Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.

Spinach and feta pie

This spinach and feta pie is a traditional Greek dish that’s surprisingly easy to make, lovely for lunch with a salad and tastes just as good the next day in your lunch box.

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil
1 brown onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 bunch silverbeet (spinach), washed, trimmed and chopped
250g feta cheese, crumbled
250g fresh ricotta cheese
3 eggs
6 filo pastry sheets (at room temperature)
250g butter, melted

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C (180° fan-forced). Spray a 20cm pie dish with cooking spray and set aside.

Place olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and cook the onion and garlic for 3 minutes, or until the onion is translucent.

Add the silverbeet to the saucepan, cover, and cook for 5 mins, stirring every minute, until all the leaves are wilted.

Drain and cool the mixture for 10 mins.

In a bowl, combine the eggs, feta and ricotta cheese. Add the silverbeet mixture and mix well.

Remove the filo pastry from its packaging and cover with a damp tea towel to keep it moist.

To make the base you need to brush three pastry sheets liberally with butter and lay them on top of each other.

Brush three pastry sheets liberally with butter and place them in the pie dish, on top of each other, to line it.

Next, place the spinach and feta mixture on top of the pastry, spreading it evenly in the pie dish.

Brush each remaining pastry sheet with butter and layer over the filling. Brush the top layer with butter.

Using scissors, or a very sharp knife, trim the pastry at the edge of the dish.

Cook the pie in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the pastry is golden. Serve with a garden salad.

Notes:

Filo pastry can become crumbly within a few minutes of being exposed to air so it is very important to prevent the sheets from drying out while you are working with them by covering them with a damp cloth.
You can use unsalted butter to counter the saltiness of the feta if you prefer.
This recipe was created by Jennifer Cheung for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.

Related vegetarian recipes

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Snazzy Sausage Rolls

Ingredients

500g beef sausage mince (or just skin sausages if you have some!)
1 medium carrot, grated
1 small potato, grated
10cm leek, finely diced
1 slice grainy bread, grated
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp tomato sauce
pepper
1 egg
3 sheets frozen puff pastry
(egg wash or milk to brush rolls with)

Method

Take puff pastry out of freezer and allow to defrost whilst preparation takes place.

Preheat oven to 200C.

Mix all above ingredients (except the puff pastry) with a fork and make sure they are well combined.

Place the meat onto a pastry sheet about 3cm from edge in logs of about 3cm circumference allowing some extra at the ends that you can chop off to ensure meat goes all the way through.

Roll edge of pastry over meat and then roll until completely covering meat with a 1cm overlap.

Cut and place with overlap underneath on greased tray.

Prick with fork to allow hot air to vent and brush with egg wash or milk.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until completely cooked and browned on top.

Notes

Love, love love these. Never buy them from a bakery now as I think mine taste one million percent better (cocky huh?!) But I’m not alone – I’m pretty sure my family is with me on that one.
This sausage roll recipe is a great one to knock up on a lazy afternoon or for a cold day’s lunch, but you can also make them into mini sausage rolls for entertaining or serve them cold for school lunches.

This recipe was created by Melissa Klemke for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.

Find related party food recipes

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Banana pancakes with caramel sauce

Ingredients

3 cups plain flour
3 tsp baking powder
3 cups milk
3 tbsp castor sugar
4 tbsp butter, melted
2 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 ripe bananas, 2 diced/mashed (for batter) and 2 sliced (for serving)

Caramel sauce

1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups thickened cream

Method

Sift flour and baking powder in a large bowl.

Stir in sugar. Add butter and vanilla essence.

Whisk in milk half a cup at a time and add mashed bananas.

Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat.

Grease pan with a little extra butter.

Working in batches, pour 1/4 cup of batter into pan.

Reduce heat to low. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until bubbles start to appear on surface. Turn the pancake over and cook for a further 2 minutes, or until cooked through.

Repeat with remaining batter, greasing pan in between pancakes.

To make the caramel sauce, place all ingredients in pan and bring to the boil stirring all the time until the sugar dissolves.

Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring often until nice semi-thick consistency is reached.

Notes

This is my families favourite pancake recipe and tastes great if you serve it with ice-cream.
You can make the carmel sauce days ahead and keep it in the fridge. It returns to it’s gooey caramelness with a minute or two in the microwave.
I was surprised that this recipe contains no egg. So I want to put it up here for all those people with egg allergies and especially my great-niece Emily Fox whose mum Bec is always on the hunt for egg free recipes.
This recipes was created by Jennifer Cheung for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.

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Easy chocolate choc chip cookies

Ingredients

125g butter
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups of brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup of plain flour
1/4 cup of self raising flour
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/3 cup cocoa powder
2/3 cup of M&M’s/Chocolate chips

Method

Preheat the oven to moderate. Lightly grease two oven trays

Beat butter, vanilla extract, brown sugar and egg in a small bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Transfer to a larger bowl.

Sift together plain flour, self-raising flour, bicarbonate of soda and cocoa powder and pour into large bowl and mix.

Drop level tablespoons of the mixture onto the trays, leaving 5cm between each cookie. Add on M&M’s or/and chocolate chips.

Bake uncovered in moderate oven for about 10 mins. Stand cookies for 5 minutes then tranfer to a wire rack to cool.

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Parsley potatoes

Ingredients

1kg baby potatoes, halved
200g butter
½ cup fresh parsley, chopped
salt and pepper

Method

In a saucepan, cover the potatoes in cold water and bring to the boil.

Simmer until tender and drain. This should take around 15 minutes, depending on the size of your potatoes

Add parsley and butter to the saucepan and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.

Toss to coat and pour into serving dish.

Notes:

I used baby potatoes for this dish but you can use any new potatoes you like. I think Nadine potatoes are great for this dish as well.

Find related potato recipes

This recipe was created by Jennifer Cheung for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.

Serving Suggestions

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One cup crumble cake

Ingredients

1 cup wholemeal self-raising flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup porridge oats
200g cold unsalted butter, diced
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup mixture of linseeds, pepitas or other little seeds
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup fresh fruit, this has a sliced beurre bos pear and some raspberries
cream or yoghurt to serve

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C or 160°C fan-forced. Line a 24cm springform cake tin with baking paper.

Combine the flour, sugar and oats in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and with your fingers, rub it into the flour mixture. Keep going until you have a coarse, sand-like consistency.

Stir through the coconut and linseed mix and separate about one cup’s worth of the mixture, set this aside for later.

Mix through the eggs, again this can be done with your fingers. Press mixture into the cake tin and smooth with the back of a spoon.

Press the fruit in a pretty pattern and top with reserved crumble mixture. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden on top and firm in the middle. Let cool on a wire rack and serve.

Find more delicious cake recipes:

Serving Suggestions

Note

You could use a lamington tin and make this as a slice.
Use any kind of fruit you have handy. If using apples or pears there's no need to pre-cook them if you slice them nice and thinly.
A few chocolate chips scattered over the top always goes down well!
This recipe was created by Sophie Hansen for Kidspot, New Zealand's best recipe finder. You can follow Sophie on Local is Lovely, Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.

Cheese and tomato finger puffs

Ingredients

2 sheets puff pastry, thawed
1 tbspn tomato passta
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
1 egg, beaten lightly

Method

Preheat oven to 180C.

Spread the tomato across one sheet of the puff pastry, making sure to cover all the edges.

Sprinkle the cheese across the tomato-covered sheet of pastry. Gently lie the second sheet of pastry on top of the cheesey pastry.

Using a sharp knife, gently cut the pastry in half and then cut each half into twelve strips.

Lie the strips on a baking sheet, being sure to give each enough room to puff up in the oven.

Brush the pastry strips with the beaten egg and sprinkle a little more cheese across the tops and then place into the hot oven to bake for approx. 15 mins or until the pastry becomes golden and puffed up.

Remove from the oven and serve hot or cold.

Notes

While these puffs are great cold – and make a nice lunch box filler – they are even better hot! I find that at least half of every batch I make gets eaten while they cool.
Make sure that these pastries are completely cold before you store them or they will become extremely soggy.
I use tomato passata because it is basically pureed cooked tomatoes, but you could use tomato paste or tomato sauce – you will just get a much stronger and saltier tomato flavour with these. Which may not be a bad thing!
Once you conquer this basic model of finger puffs, you could start adding all sorts of ingredients into the mix. I love pesto puffs!
This recipe was created by Ella Walsh for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.

Serving Suggestions

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Gluten-free apple crumble

Ingredients

6-8 green and/or red apples, cored, peeled, each sliced into approx 8 wedges
¾ cup raw sugar

Crumble topping

3 tablespoons almond meal
4 tablespoons rice flour
2 tablespoons dessicated coconut
2 tablespoons sugar
1½ tablespoons butter or margarine, softened

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Place the apples and sugar in a saucepan with a little water, place heat on medium and cook until apples are tender. Be careful the apples don’t burn the bottom of the saucepan.

While the apples are cooking, combine topping ingredients and rub together with fingers.

Layer the apples and their juices in a greased ovenproof dish. Cover the apples with the crumble mixture and bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.

This apple crumble can be served hot or cold with your favourite plain yoghurt, custard or cream.

Find more dessert recipes

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Note

If you want to mix things up a bit you could add other fruits to this crumble recipe – great apple partners are rhubarb, blueberries, blackberries and pears.
More sugar can be added, depending on the desired sweetness.
This recipe was created by nutritionist Amanda Fraser for Kidspot, New Zealand's best recipe finder.

Tiny Teddies in the bathtub

Ingredients

1 pkt (450g) ready to bake chocolate chip cookie dough
18 Tiny Teddy biscuits, honey flavoured
white mini mallow bakes

Method

Step 1. Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). Spray a 24 cup mini muffin tin with canola spray. Roll 2cm balls of dough and press into muffin cups so they are of even thickness all the way around.

Step 2. Bake for 15 minutes.

Step 3. Remove from oven leave to cool for 10 minutes. Remove from tray. Lay a Teddy in each cup with a mallow bake behind the head as a pillow.

Step 4. Fill the "tubs" with mallow bakes and serve.

Find related Tiny Teddy recipes

Serving Suggestions

Note

You can find cookie dough in the freezer section of the supermarket. There are many flavours to choose from but I used chocolate chip.
It is best to give these time to cool so they stay in shape and hold the Teddies. They are very soft when they come out of the oven.
This recipe was created by Jennifer Cheung for Kidspot, New Zealand's best recipe finder.

Frogs in ponds

1 jelly cup per child

Ingredients

1 pkt lime jelly crystals
chocolate frogs
sprinkles

Method

Mix the jelly according to instructions on the jelly box.

Pour equal amounts into plastic see- through cups.

When jelly has almost set, put a chocolate frog in the jelly with some sprinkles on top!

Serving Suggestions

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Marcella’s minestrone

Ingredients

4 tablespoons oil
30g butter
2 onions, finely chopped
2 large carrots, diced
2 celery sticks, diced
1 large potato, diced
200g green or red cabbage, shredded
half a red capsicum, sliced
2 small zucchini, sliced
1.5L chicken or vegetable stock
400g can diced tomatoes
parmesan rind (optional)
400g can cannellini beans
freshly grated parmesan, to serve

Method

Melt oil and butter in a large stock pot over low heat.

Cook onions for 2-3 minutes until soft.

While the onion is cooking, chop carrots, then add to the pot, stir and then leave to cook for 2-3 minutes while you chop up the celery.

Continue adding the vegetables one at a time.

After adding the zucchini, allow to cook for a further 2-3 minutes then add stock, tomatoes and parmesan rind (if using).

Bring to the boil and then reduce heat to a scant simmer.

Simmer for 2 hours, then add cannellini beans and simmer for another 30 minutes.

To serve, remove parmesan rind, check taste and add salt and pepper if needed, then ladle into bowls and garnish with a generous amount of parmesan.

Notes:

This is a beautiful minestrone, straight from the hallowed kitchens of Marcella Hazan.
What I love about this recipe is that you prepare the vegetables as you go; you could do them all at once, but make sure you leave a couple of minutes between each addition to help bring out the wonderful flavour.
You can stop the 2 hour simmering period at any point and restart later in the day or the next day.
However, the food safety supervisor in me must insist that you refrigerate the cooled soup in between!
Unlike most vegetable dishes, this soup is even better the next day and will keep in the fridge in a sealed container for up to 5 days.
Recipe created by Melissa Hughes for Kidspot.

Serving Suggestions

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Bacon, spinach and feta scrolls

Makes 12

Ingredients

1 cup (250ml) warm water
1 x 7g sachet yeast
1 tsp honey
2 cups (300g) plain flour
1 cup (150g) wholemeal flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil

For the filling:

1 tbsp olive oil
1 brown onion, diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
150g bacon, diced
1 x 250g packet frozen spinach, defrosted
100g feta
1 cup tasty cheese, grated

Method

In a jug, whisk water, yeast and honey then set aside in a warm place for 15 minutes until frothy.

Place flours, salt, oil and water mixture in the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment and mix for 10 minutes until dough is soft and elastic. You may need to add a little extra water if it is too dry.

Alternatively, mix the flours and salt in a large bowl, make a well in the centre and pour in oil and water mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until dough comes together, then turn out onto a floured surface and knead for 10-15 minutes until dough is soft and elastic.

Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover in plastic wrap and place in a warm place for an hour until dough has doubled in size.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a frypan over gentle heat. Cook onion and garlic for 5 minutes until soft. Add bacon and fry for a further 2 minutes. Add spinach, combine well and cook for a few more minutes, seasoning well with salt and pepper. Finally, crumble over feta cheese and stir to combine. Remove from heat.

Turn dough out onto a floured surface and roll out into a 30 x 40cm rectangle with the longer side in front of you. Distribute spinach mixture evenly over the entire surface. Sprinkle with half of the tasty cheese. Beginning at the front, roll over the dough and continue so that it looks like a big Swiss roll.

Preheat oven to 240°C (220°C fan-forced). Line an oven tray with baking paper.

Using a sharp knife, cut roll into 12 even pieces. Take each piece and place it on its side on the tray, gently squeezing it out into a circle shape. Make sure that they nestle up against each other on the tray. Allow to rest for 20 minutes.

Sprinkle remaining cheese over the top of the scrolls. Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden.

Find more bread recipes

Serving Suggestions

Note

Eat within 24 hours or freeze for lunch boxes.
Omit the bacon for a vegetarian version.
Recipe by Greer Worsley, who blogs at Typically Red.

Ginger ice cream

Ingredients

1 ½ cup Light Evaporated Milk, (375ml)
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tbsp brown sugar
50g crystallised ginger, chopped
2 tbsp maple syrup

Method

Combine the evaporated milk, vanilla, nutmeg and sugar in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until mixture is creamy.

Pour the mixture into a plastic container and stir every hour until frozen. Remove from the freezer for 10 minutes so that ice cream softens slightly.

Spoon the ice-cream into a bowl and add the ginger and maple syrup. Beat until smooth then refreeze until firm.

Serving Suggestions

Note

Stirring the ice-cream whilst it freezes is what gives it that creamy texture. If you don't stir it, it will develop ice crystals and set hard..
This ice-cream is a lovely accompaniment to fruit puddings, or the perfect dessert after a big meal to cleanse the palate.
This recipe was written by Weight Watchers as part of Kidspot Australia's Positively Life Changing initiative.

Flower fairy cakes

Ingredients

110g caster sugar
110g Canola Spread
2 whole egg, lightly beaten
110g self-raising white flour
1 tsp (s) vanilla essence, (plus 12 tiny fresh flowers)
30g egg white, (1 egg white)
25g caster sugar
25g icing sugar

Method

Preheat oven to 190C. Line a 12-hole muffin tray with paper cases.

Combine sugar, spread, eggs, flour, a pinch of salt and vanilla into a large mixing bowl. Beat with electric beaters for 1 minute, or until thick and well combined. Spoon into prepared muffin tray.

Bake for 18 – 20 minutes or until risen and firm. Remove cup cakes from tray and transfer to a cake rack to cool completely.

To make crystallized flowers, paint the flower petals with lightly beaten egg white and dip into caster sugar. Leave to dry.

Mix the icing sugar with a little water and food colouring of choice to make a smooth icing. Spread onto cakes. Decorate with flowers, but do not eat them.

Notes:

These cupcakes can look so different, depending on which food colour you choose to colour your icing. Pastels work really well, however stronger colours like red and green can also look pretty spectacular.

Related cupcake recipes:

Serving Suggestions

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Purple Shakes

Ingredients

Gluten-free, egg-free, nut-free

1 cup frozen blueberries
1 cup (250mL) low fat vanilla yoghurt
1 cup (250mL) low fat milk
1 tablespoon honey

Method

Place all ingredients in a blender and whiz until smooth and well combined.

Pour the shake into glasses and serve immediately.

Serving Suggestions

Note

Use frozen berries to help thicken the shake and make it icy cold.
I like this recipe as it doesn’t use banana…which I can sometimes sneak past number one son in a smoothie, but madam can taste even a hint of banana.
Madam also demanded a Pink one, so I halved the ingredients and used raspberries instead.
All for her to turn her nose up at the bits (raspberry seeds)! We shall persist.
Any leftovers can be poured into icypole moulds and frozen (as long as you do this straight away).

Cauliflower and potato soup

Ingredients

30 g parmesan cheese (cut into cubes)
1 tbs butter
600 g cauliflower (cut into florets)
3 medium potato (diced)
600 g chicken stock (liquid)
1 pinch sea salt (to taste)
250 ml cream
1 pinch nutmeg

Method

Grate the parmesan cheese and set aside.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan and add cauliflower and potato. Sweat with lid on for 10 minutes.

Add stock and salt and bring to a boil. Simmer with lid on for 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Pour contents into a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.

Pour back into saucepan on low heat and slowly add cream. Stir until mixed through.

Add pinch of nutmeg, stir and serve with parmesan cheese.

Find related soup recipes

Serving Suggestions

Note

Try making your own chicken stock out of chicken bones – extra tasty and nutritious!
This soup is delicious served with a slice of buttered sourdough toast and a big salad!
This recipe was created by Brenda Janschek for Kidspot.

Biscuit necklaces

Ingredients

250g butter, softened
1 cup caster sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups plain flour
Icing
2 cups icing sugar
food colouring
sprinkles, cachous or smarties to decorate
Ribbon, cut to 40-50cm lengths

Method

Cream the butter and sugar together with a spoon in a bowl or using an electric mixer. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until smooth. Add the flour and mix until a smooth dough forms. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line three baking trays with non-stick baking paper.

Divide dough into three pieces. Roll each piece of dough on a floured surface to 5mm thick. Use your favourite cutters to cut out hearts, stars, circles etc. Place biscuits on baking trays and use a wooden skewer or toothpick to make a 5mm diameter hole in each biscuit. Cook for 10-15 minutes until golden. Cool biscuits on trays.

To prepare icing, mix icing sugar with enough water to make a spreadable paste and mix in your chosen colour. Or divide icing into bowls and use 2-3 different colours. Decorate with sprinkles, cachous or smarties. Leave for 30 minutes until the icing is set. Thread ribbon through the hole in the biscuit and tie off to make a necklace. Will keep in an airtight container for 3-4 days.

Notes:

My kids loved every bit of making these biscuits! Wonderful to see their imaginations at work for some very serious decorating.
If it is a hot day, only work with one piece of dough at a time and keep the rest in the fridge until you are ready to roll! Warm dough loses its shape and is hard to manoeuvre.
Dont panic if the holes close over during baking wait until the biscuits are cold and then use a toothpick to remake the hole.
For a kids party, make the biscuits in advance and then make decorating the biscuits one of the party activities. A sure hit.

Serving Suggestions

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Big kingstons

Ingredients

1 cup rice bubbles
1 cup plain flour
1 cup coconut
1 cup sugar
125g unsalted butter
2 tablespoons golden syrup
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 tablespoons boiling water

Filling

100g good quality dark chocolate
half cup (125mL) pouring cream

Method

Preheat oven to 150C. Line 3 trays with baking paper.

Place rice bubbles in a large bowl and squish a bit with the back of a spoon. Add flour, coconut and sugar to the bowl. Melt butter and golden syrup in a small saucepan (dont burn!), then add bicarb and water. Fizz! Stir butter-foam into dry ingredients and mix well. Roll two teaspoonfuls into small balls and place on trays. Leave about 4cm between them. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Cool slightly before lifting off with a spatula to cool on wire racks.

Make filling by combining chocolate and cream in a small saucepan. Stir over low heat until melted and smooth. Transfer to a container and cool in fridge.

To assemble biscuits, spread chocolate filling on the base of one biscuit and top with another biscuit. Yum.

Notes:

The biscuit mixture spreads quite a bit when cooking to make large biscuits. To make smaller (more Kingston like) biscuits, use just one teaspoonful of mixture.
The unfilled biscuits keep well in an air tight container and the chocolate filling in the fridge, so I assemble a few at a time as needed. Then the biscuits dont get soggy.
The chocolate filling can also be used to ice cupcakes or larger cakes.
This is a gluten-free adaptation of an Anzac biscuit recipe. If you are not a gluten-free home, use rolled oats instead of the rice bubbles.
Recipe created by Melissa Hughes for Kidspot.

Serving Suggestions

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Double choc chip muffins

Ingredients

2 eggs
1/2 cup oil (125ml)
1 cup milk (240ml)
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cups plain flour (240g)
1/2 cup sugar (85g)
1/4 cup cocoa (35g)
1 tbs baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (85g)

Method

Preheat oven to 200 C and prepare muffin pan by greasing or fill with paper liners.

A nonstick pan requires no greasing, although I like to just grease the bottoms.

In large bowl mix well the eggs, oil, milk and vanilla.

In smaller bowl mix well the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, salt and chocolate chips.

Combine wet and dry mixtures and fold together gently until just mixed.

Spoon into prepared pan.

Bake at 200C for 20 minutes.

Remove from pan and cool on rack.

Nice sprinkled with extra chocolate chips on top of each muffin before baking.

Serving Suggestions

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Bread and butter pudding

Ingredients

1 small French bread stick, cut into 8 slices
30 grams butter
1/2 sultanas
3/4 cup Sweetened Condensed Milk
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups cream
2 teaspoons vanilla

Method

Spread one side bread slices with butter, place buttered side up in shallow ovenproof dish, sprinkle with sultanas.

Combine remaining ingredients, whisk well.

Pour custard over bread.

Bake in 180C oven 40-45 minutes until set.

If desired, dust with sifted icing sugar before serving.

Serving Suggestions

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Red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

Ingredients

2 ½ cups plain flour
1/3 cup cocoa
1 tsp bicarbonate soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tbsp pillar box red liquid food colouring
2 tsp white vinegar

Cream cheese frosting

100g butter, softened
250g cream cheese frosting, room temperature
1 cup pure icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C or 160° fan-forced. Line 2 muffin trays with 18 muffin sized patty pans.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, bicarbonate soda and baking powder. Stir in the caster sugar and mix to combine.

In a jug, whisk together buttermilk, vegetable oil, eggs and vinegar with the food colouring.

Pour into the flour mix and fold together until all ingredients are combined well.

Place ¼ of a cup of the mixture in each patty pan and bake for 18-22 minutes.

Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack while making the frosting.

Using a mixer, whip the butter until it is pale and fluffy. Add the cream cheese and sift a little of the icing sugar in at a time until all of it is combined.

Add the vanilla extract and mix well. Beat on high for 3-4 minutes until the frosting is fluffy and pale in colour.

Place in a piping bag and swirl onto cooled red velvet cupcakes.

Notes:

Make sure you store any of these uneaten cupcakes in the fridge.
If you don’t have any buttermilk on hand, before you start baking, you can add an additional 2 tsp of white vinegar to regular milk and by the time you need to use it, it will have become buttermilk. Please note that this in addition to the 2 teaspoons already included in the recipe.
There is no need to use a mixer for this cake batter. You need to pour these into the patty pans as soon as they are mixed and get them into the oven. There is a chemical reaction that happens between the vinegar and the bicarbonate soda that begins as soon as they are mixed together. This makes the cupcakes light and fluffy.
You can substitute the red food colouring for blue if you want to make blue velvet cupcakes.
This recipe was created by Jennifer Cheung for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.

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Note

Candy cane cupcakes

Ingredients

1/2 cup (125g) butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup (175g) caster sugar
2 eggs
2 cups (300g) self-raising flour
1 cup (250ml) milk

Cream cheese icing

250g Philadelphia cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup (115g) caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla
4 tbsp double cream
12 mini candy canes

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). Line a cupcake tray with patty pan cases and set aside.

Using an electric mixer, cream the butter, vanilla and sugar together. Then add eggs one at a time, beating well.

Add half of the flour and milk and beat until well combined. Repeat with the remaining flour and milk.

Divide equally among the patty pan cases and bake for 12-15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

To make the icing

In a mixing bowl add the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Mix with an electric mixer until light and fluffy and the sugar has thoroughly dissolved. Add in the cream and mix until just combined.

Place into a piping bag and pipe onto cooled cupcakes. Top the icing with mini candy canes.

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Serving Suggestions

Note

If you want to make this recipe even more special, crush up a few candy canes and add them to the cupcake mixture before baking.
If you don’t like cream cheese icing then you can replace it with a buttercream icing mixture.
This recipe was created by Jennifer Cheung for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.

Easy apple roses

Makes 6

Ingredients

1 sheet puff pastry
1 red apple (thinly sliced, medium)
3 tbs vanilla custard
1/2 lemon (juiced)
1/2 cup water
icing sugar (for dusting)

Method

Preheat oven to 190_C and have a six cup muffin pan handy.

Slice the apply thinly into crescents, then place it in a microwave-proof bowl with the water and lemon juice. (There should be enough water to cover the apples while cooking, so add more if ½ cup is not enough.)

Microwave the apples on high for three minutes. When they’re done, drain them and set them aside.

Sprinkle the bench with flour and roll out the sheet of pastry with a rolling pin, stretching it out to be about 30cm in width.

Use a pizza cutter or pastry cutter to slice the pastry sheet into 6 strips, 5cm wide each.

Lay a strip horizontally in front of you. Spread a teaspoon of custard along the middle of the strip, then place apple slices overlapping the top edge of the pastry and coming down to halfway. Fold the pastry strip in half upwards, over the bottom of the apple slices, the whole way along. The apple crescents should poke out from the top of the fold.

Now roll it up into a tight scroll. Pop it into one of the muffin cups in your tin to hold its shape. Make five more, then put them in the oven for 40 – 45 mins.

When they’re done, sprinkle them with icing sugar and serve.

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Note

You could use apricot jam instead of custard on the inside of these roses.
You can sprinkle the apple slices with cinnamon sugar before you roll it if you want a hint of spice.
Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or some custard for a yummy dessert.
These make a delicious lunch box or after school snack. So fancy!

Express french onion scalloped potatoes

Ingredients

1.5 kg desiree or pontiac potatoes, peeled and sliced in 1.5cm thickness
50g butter
3 tblsp plain flour
500ml milk
2 tblsp French onion soup mix
1 and a half cups grated tasty cheese
3 pieces shortcut bacon, diced
half a leek, diced (approximately 1/4 cup)

Method

Preheat oven to 200c.

Steam potatoes either in the microwave until cooked, but not mushy. (i.e. you should just be able to pierce with a fork – microwave approx 10 minutes, steam approx 15 minutes). Set aside.

Grease a small baking dish or loaf pan.

Place a medium sized saucepan on the stove and melt butter over a moderate heat setting. Add flour and mix in the butter, stir constantly as it will thicken to an almost dough (roux) immediately and keep milk on standby.

Add milk gradually and allow to thicken before adding more milk.

Continue to add milk, stir and thicken, until all milk is added.

Stir the french onion soup mix into the thickened sauce mix, take off the heat and stir through 1/2 of your grated cheese. Set aside.

Layer half the potatoes on the bottom of baking dish, then add leek, another 1/4 of the cheese, and half the bacon with half the sauce.

Layer the remaining potatoes, sauce and sprinkle with remaining cheese on top and then the remaining bacon.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

Notes:

You can make this up to 2 days ahead, bake initially covered with aluminium foil. Refrigerate or freeze and then reheat after removing foil.
Don’t waste! Leftovers can be consumed cold as a yummy potato salad.
This recipe is freezer friendly and can be frozen for up to 1 month
This recipe was created by Melissa Klemke for Kidspot, New Zealands best recipe finder.

Serving Suggestions

Note

Zucchini slice

Ingredients

375g zucchini
1 onion
1 cup of self-raising flour
5 eggs
3 rashes bacon
1 cup grated chedder
1/2 cup oil
salt and pepper

Method

Grate zucchini coarsely.

Finely chop onion and bacon.

Combine zuccini, onion, bacon, cheese, sifted flour, oil & lighly beaten eggs.

Season with salt and pepper and poor into well greased lamington tin.

Bake in moderate oven for 30 to 40 min or until browned.

Fennel and thyme gratin

Ingredients

2/3 cup (150ml) chicken stock
1/4 cup (50g) butter
2 large fennel bulbs, trimmed and halved
1 brown onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tsp lemon thyme leaves

Gratin

1 1/2 cups sourdough breadcrumbs
1/2 bunch parsley
1/2 cup grated parmesan
grated zest of one lemon
1/4 cup (70mls) milk

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C conventional (180°C fan-forced).

Bring the stock and butter to a gentle simmer in a saucepan and add the fennel. Cook in this liquid for about 10 minutes then transfer the fennel and juices to a baking dish.

Wipe the saucepan clean, add a splash of olive oil and cook the onion and garlic for a few minutes or until soft.

Add the thyme leaves and some freshly ground black pepper.

Meanwhile, mix the gratin ingredients together, stir through the onion and garlic and then sprinkle over the fennel.

Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes or until the top is golden and crunchy.

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Serving Suggestions

Note

You could also add some roughly cubed pancetta to this recipe; add it with the onion and garlic and then mix into the gratin mixture.
If you can't find pancetta, you can use bacon in its place.
This recipe was created by Sophie Hansen for Kidspot, New Zealand's best recipe finder: You can follow Sophie on Local is Lovely, Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.

Peas and bacon

Ingredients

1kg frozen or fresh peas
300g shortcut bacon
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter

Method

In a lidded frypan, heat olive oil and fry bacon for 3 minutes.

Add peas and toss.

Place lid on and steam for 4 mins stirring occasionally. Serve in a bowl with the butter on top.

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Serving Suggestions

Note

These are a yummy side dish to serve with your favourite roast or bangers and mash.
The saltiness of the bacon compliments the peas so make sure you just sprinkle with pepper when seasoning.
This recipe was created by Jennifer Cheung for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder

Gingerbread

Ingredients

125g unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup treacle
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
8 small lumps crystallised ginger, finely chopped
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Icing sugar, to dust

Method

Preheat oven to 180C.

Grease two loaf tins (about 10 x 20 cm) or a 20cm square cake tin and line with baking paper.

Cream butter and sugar with an electric beater until fluffy. Pour in treacle and beat until well combined.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each egg.

Sift flour, bicarb soda and spices into butter mixture, add chopped ginger and beat to combine.

Pour in milk and vanilla extract and mix until just combined.

Pour mix into tins and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Cool in tins, then turn onto wire racks to cool completely.

When cold, dust with icing sugar.

Notes:

This is a spicy gingerbread, the kids may not like it (all the more for the adults!).
Lovely served spread with butter and a nice cup of tea.
On holiday we had toasted gingerbread for breakfast, served with sweet pineapple and creme fraiche – what a breakfast!
Make this gluten-free using gluten-free plain flour
Recipe created by Melissa Hughes for Kidspot.

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