French crepes with berries
Serves:
Ingredients
- 150 grams blueberries
- 150 grams strawberries, hulled & halved
- 4 tablespoons castor sugar
- 1 vanilla bean, split lengthways
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- 2 teaspoons cornflour
- 70 grams plain flour
- 20 grams butter or margarine, melted
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup skim milk
- olive oil or canola oil spray
- 4 – 6 scoops optional Light Vanilla ice cream
Method
Heat berries, 3 tablespoons sugar, vanilla bean/essence and 300ml water in a saucepan over low heat for 5 minutes or until sugar dissolves.
Mix cornflour with 1 tablespoon water and stir into berry mixture.
Simmer, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes or until sauce thickens, then cover and remove from heat.
Sift flour into a bowl, then stir in remaining sugar and make a well in the centre.
Combine butter/margarine, lemon zest, eggs and milk in a small jug.
Whisk into dry ingredients and stir until mixture resembles a smooth batter.
Lightly spray a small non-stick frypan with oil, add 2-3 tablespoons of batter to pan and tilt pan so it covers the base.
Cook over medium heat for 2 minutes or until golden underneath.
Flip and cook the other side until golden.
Remove from pan and transfer to a low oven to keep warm while you cook remaining crepes.
Serve with sauce and a scoop of ice-cream, if desired.
Serving Suggestions
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Rice cake owls
Serves:
Ingredients
- 1 slice meat of your choice (chicken, ham, etc.)
- 1 rice cake
- 1 boiled egg
- 2 sultanas
- 1 slice of cheese
- 2 slices of cucumber
- 1 carrot stick
Method
Lay meat on top of rice cake.
Carefully slice your boiled egg and use the two middle slices as eyes, place sultanas on for eyeballs.
Using a knife cut a small triangle for the beak and fashion feet out of cheese, as shown in picture.
Cut one cucumber slice in half and use as wings, then with another slice make ears.
Once positioned on a plate, place a carrot lengthways underneath the owl to serve as a tree branch.
Find more snack ideas
Serving Suggestions
Note
- I used sliced chicken for this owl but you can use whatever your kids like.
- You can swap some vegetables in this recipe like zucchini for cucumber. It's really all about the shapes.
- This recipe was created by Karla Gilbert. You can read her blog at Ironmum Karla, catch up with her on Twitter, find her on Facebook or peek at her pins on Pinterest.
Apple and buttermilk cake
Serves:
Serves 12
Ingredients
- 5 Granny Smith apples
- 3 tbsp raw sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 2/3 cups (400g) plain flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cups (335g) caster sugar
- 1 cup (250ml) vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup (125ml) buttermilk
- 4 eggs, room temperature
Method
Preheat oven to 170°C (150°C fan-forced). Grease and line a 22cm springform cake tin. Peel and core apples and chop them into 1.5cm pieces. Toss them in the raw sugar and cinnamon.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine oil, buttermilk and eggs. Gradually add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, beating well until just combined. It will have a thick consistency.
Pour half the batter into the prepared tin. Top with half the apples. Add remaining batter, spreading it out to cover apples. Top with remaining apples.
Bake for 1 1/2 hours or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Check cake after an hour – if it is becoming too brown, cover loosely with a piece of foil.
Find more delicious cake recipes:
Serving Suggestions
Note
- Choose a green apple for this recipe so that the pieces keep their shape during baking.
- I used a normal round baking tin, but a ring tin would alleviate the potential problem of an undercooked centre.
- This recipe was created for Kidspot, New Zealand's best recipe finder by Greer Worsley, who blogs at Typically Red.
Chicken bacon and mushroom fettucine
Serves:
Ingredients
- 500g chicken breasts or tenders
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 500g fresh or dry fettuccine
- 1 ½ tablespoons butter
- 2 rashers bacon, rind removed and chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 300g (3 cups) mushrooms (any), sliced
- 1 cup beef stock (optional)
- ½ cup light sour cream
- ¼ cup milk
- 1/3 cup fresh parsley, roughly chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
- 50g Parmesan cheese, finely grated
Method
Brush chicken with oil. Bring a grill pan to medium heat and grill chicken until cooked through. Set aside and cover tightly with foil to keep warm.
Bring a large saucepan of water with ½ teaspoon salt to a rolling boil over medium-high heat, and cook fettuccine according to packet directions making sure to stir every few minutes so it doesn’t stick to the bottom. Drain and set aside.
Meanwhile, begin the pasta sauce while the fettuccine cooks.
Heat a frying pan to medium heat, and add butter. Sauté bacon for 3 minutes, then add garlic, onion, mushrooms, and pepper, and cook until soft (approx. 5-8 minutes).
Add stock and let the sauce simmer for about 3 minutes.
Stir in sour cream, milk and parsley. Slice chicken and add to sauce.
Return the cooked pasta to the large saucepan it was cooked in and toss it together with the sauce.
Serve immediately with parmesan cheese.
Notes:
- If you’re looking for budget-friendly meals, I think this dish is just as delicious without the chicken or bacon! My husband loves it and he’s really fussy about ‘vegetarian’ dishes!
- If you feel like a more adult version of this recipes, try using a mixture of mushrooms such as button, shiitake, and a small handful of dried porcini mushrooms. Pour a cup of boiling water over the dried mushrooms, allowing them to steep in the water for ten minutes. Remove the mushrooms from the water and reserve the water. Chop the mushrooms and add them to the sauce along with the other mushrooms. Replace the beef stock with the mushroom liquid. You can also add a small glass of white wine to the sauce along with the stock/liquid but be sure to let the alcohol cook off for a few minutes.
- I am addicted to fresh pasta! If you have the chance to buy some for this dish, do try it because fresh pasta takes it to a whole new level of deliciousness!.
This recipe was created by Kristine Duran-Thiessen for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.
Serving Suggestions
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Low-fat meat pie recipe
Serves:
Ingredients
- 6 reduced-fat puff pastry sheets
- 1 tbsp rice bran oil
- 1 onion, pureed in a food processor
- 750g extra-lean beef mince
- 1/3 cup plain flour
- 750ml (2 1/2) cups beef stock
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
Method
Remove pastry sheets from freezer to defrost.
Saute onion in oil until softened. Add mince, breaking up lumps with back of spoon until browned.
Blend in flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Gradually stir in stock and tomato paste. Bring to boil, stirring. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Cool.
Heat pie maker. Cut pastry circles using pie cutter. Place large circle in pie maker, fill with mince. Place smaller circle on top. Cook until golden (takes about 5 minutes). Serve with lots of veggies.
Leftover pies can be reheated in the pie maker for another meal. Recipe makes 12 pies.
Find related pie recipes
Serving Suggestions
Note
- If you don’t have a pie maker, use a large muffin tray. But I do recommend getting your hands on a pie maker. Your kids will think you’re a kitchen superhero and they’re a fail-safe way to create a meal.
- Kids are often anti-onion which is why I puree veggies in a food processor to hide them.
- This recipe was created by Alana House for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.
Oat Date and Honey Muffins
Serves:
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/4 cups rolled oats
- 1/3 cup castor sugar
- 1 cup dried dates, roughly chopped
- 150ml vegetable oil
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup milk
- 3 tablespoons honey
Method
Preheat oven to 180ºC (350ºF).
Lightly grease and base line with non stick baking paper a 12 hole (1/3 cup capacity) muffin tin. Sift together flour and baking powder, add sugar, oats and dates.
In a medium bowl whisk together oil, egg, milk and honey. Fold flour into the liquid, mix until combined. Spoon into the prepared tin.
Sprinkle evenly with the reserved oats. Bake 15-18 mins or until golden and firm to touch. .
Serving Suggestions
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Sweet potato muffin recipe
Serves:
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup wholemeal self-raising flour
- 1 cup self-raising flour
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 150ml rice bran oil
- 1 large sweet potato, steamed and pureed
Method
Pre-heat oven to 200°C or 180°C fan-forced.
Place paper cases in a muffin tin.
Beat eggs and sugar together.
Add dry ingredients and stir to combine.
Add the oil and sweet potato and stir to combine. Spoon into paper cases.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden.
Find more muffin recipes:
Serving Suggestions
Note
- Be sure to sift the two flours together to ensure the muffins rise properly.
- Don’t go too hard on the stirring. Muffin mixture is supposed to look lumpy. Mix until just combined to get the fluffiest texture.
- This recipe was created by Alana House for Kidspot, New Zealand
Rice cooker vegetable frittata
Serves:
6
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil or butter
- 1 small brown onion, finely sliced
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 1 medium zucchini, finely sliced
- 1 medium red capsicum, de-seeded and finely sliced
- 1 cup potato, peeled, grated and with moisture squeezed out
- 6 eggs
- 2 tbsp grated cheese
- salt and pepper
Method
Step 1. Heat the butter or olive oil over a medium heat in a frying pan.
Step 2. Add the garlic and onion and saute for two minutes. Add the capsicum and zucchini and cook for a further two minutes. Add the potato and continue to cook for another two minutes.
Step 3. Grease the rice cooker bowl with canola spray or olive oil. Add the eggs to rice cooker and lightly beat until combined. Spoon in warm vegetables and cheese, season to taste and set to cook with the lid on. If your frittata isn't cooked after the cook cycle you can leave it on the warm cycle for an extra 10 minutes to allow it to set.
Step 4. Remove the cooked frittata from the rice cooker by inverting onto a plate. Slice into four and serve with a garden salad.
Serving Suggestions
Note
- You can use your own favourite combination of vegetables in this recipe or even used leftover vegetables from a recent meal.
- It is best to squeeze out the moisture from the potatoes or it will make your frittata too moist.
- If yo love bacon then this Healthy bacon and vegetable frittata recipe may be the one for you.
- This Chorizo and potato frittata has spicy chorizo which marries with potatoes very well as they soak up all the flavour.
- If you have some spinach in the fridge then try this Mushroom and spinach frittata.
- I like to roast extra vegetables at dinner so I can use them the next day for this Roast vegetable frittata.
- Are you looking for something to do with leftover ham? Try this Ham frittata.
- When leek are cheap then this Leek, zucchini and cheese frittata is a great light meal.
- This recipe was created by Jennfer Cheung for Kidspot, New Zealand's best recipe finder.
Light Spaghetti Carbonara
Serves:
Ingredients
- 1 pkt (400g) thin spaghetti
- cooking spray
- 12 slices shortcut bacon, cut into thin strips
- 4 spring onions, sliced
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- ½ cup skim milk
- ¼ cup parsley, finely chopped
- 1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
- 400g low-fat cream cheese
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- freshly ground black pepper
Method
Cook pasta as per packet instructions.
In a frying pan sprayed with cooking spray, cook the bacon, spring onions and garlic for 5 minutes, stirring continuously. Add milk, parsley and half of the parmesan cheese to the frying pan, stirring continuously.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the cream cheese and eggs and set aside.
Place the cooked pasta in the frying pan with the bacon mixture. Add the eggs and cream mixture, tossing to coat all strands for 2 minutes or until slightly thickened.
Serve in warmed bowls, sprinkle with the remaining cheese and season with freshly ground pepper.
Notes
- This will feed 4 to 5 people. It’s OK to halve the ingredients if you’re cooking for 2.
- Reserve some of the pasta water to thin the sauce if it becomes too thick.
- Try to make sure that you don’t overcook your pasta as it will continue cooking in the sauce.
- It’s cheaper to buy a block of parmesan cheese and grate it yourself. Just wrap it in baking paper and place in a resealable bag in the fridge to store.
More pasta recipes:
This recipe was created by Jennifer Cheung for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.
Serving Suggestions
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Double chocolate chip biscuits
Serves:
Ingredients
- 110 g butter (softened)
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup plain flour
- 1/4 cup cocoa
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 125 g milk chocolate (melted)
- 100 g milk chocolate (roughly chopped, chopped into pieces)
- 200 g white chocolate chips
Method
Preheat your oven to 160C (140C fan-forced) and line two trays with baking paper. Place the butter and brown sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until light and creamy. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat for 2-3 minutes until well combined.
Remove the bowl from the mixer stand and add the flour, cocoa, bicarbonate of soda and melted chocolate to the bowl. Add the extra chopped milk chocolate and white chocolate chips and stir with a large spoon to combine. Don’t worry if your mixture doesn’t start to come together straight away, it can take a minute or two to combine.
Use a dessert spoon to scoop up the double chocolate chip biscuit mixture and roll it into balls. If you find your mixture is quite soft, place it in the fridge for 10 minutes to firm up a little. Place the balls onto your prepared baking trays and flatten slightly. Repeat, making sure you leave approximately a 3cm gap between each biscuit, until all the mixture has been used.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until slight cracks have formed on top of the biscuits, before cooling on the baking trays for 5 minutes and carefully transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Find more biscuit and cookie recipes.
Serving Suggestions
Note
- Use your favourite kind of chocolate for these bickies. If you have a penchant for dark chocolate, go for it. If white chocolate is your thing, use that instead!
- These biscuits are delicious and perfect to treat the kids with for parties, picnics, or a sneaky after-school snack.
- This recipe was created by Lauren Matheson for Kidspot.
Chicken mayo nori rolls
Serves:
2
Ingredients
- 1 cup BBQ chicken (finely chopped)
- 3 tbs Japanese mayonnaise
- 1 tbs fresh mixed herbs (chopped)
- 1 sheet sushi nori seaweed
- 1/2 carrot (julienned)
- 1/2 Lebanese cucumber (julienned)
- 1/2 avocado (sliced into strips)
- 30 g baby spinach
Method
Combine finely chopped chicken with mayonnaise and herbs. Season well with salt and pepper.
Place a nori sheet shiny side down on a bamboo sushi rolling mat. Spread half of the chicken in a thin layer along half of the nori.
Place vegetables evenly on top of the chicken.
Roll sushi, using the bamboo mat to press firmly. Brush edge of nori with water and continue rolling so that the edges seals shut. Slice sushi and place in lunch box.
More sushi recipes
Serving Suggestions
Note
- Kewpie is a Japanese mayonnaise that comes in a squeezie bottle. It is available in the Japanese ingredients section of most supermarkets. You can substitute regular mayonnaise if you prefer.
- Use whatever vegetables you or your kids prefer in the filling. Capsicum, herbs such as mint or coriander, or lettuce would be perfect.
- If you haven’t rolled sushi before, it takes a little while to get the hang of it. There are usually instructions on the back of the nori sheet packet. You can also find some great video tutorials online.
- This recipe was created by Greer Worsley for Kidspot.
Wholemeal apricot and coconut cake
Serves:
Ingredients
- 1 cup chopped dried apricots
- 1 cup hot milk (or soy milk)
- half a cup honey
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 cup wholemeal self raising flour
- half a cup coconut
Method
Combine apricots, milk and honey in a bowl. Cover and stand 1 hour.
Pre-heat oven to 180åC.
Grease a 14cm x 21 cm loaf pan, line base with baking paper.
In a bowl, stir the egg, sifted flour and half a cup of the coconut into the apricot mixture.
Spread mixture into prepared pan and sprinkle with remaining coconut.
Bake for approx. 1 hour.
Stand cake in pan 5 minutes before turning onto wire rack to cool.
Notes:
- This cake is like a healthy version of Apricot Delight and still delicious!
- This makes a wonderful cake to bundle up in baking paper & stick into lunchboxes for kids. It will keep their energy levels up and you could even add a half a cup chopped walnuts for added energy and crunch.
- This recipe was created by Kristine Duran-Thiessen for Kidspot, New Zealands best recipe finder.
Easy chocolate choc chip cookies
Serves:
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.
Serving Suggestions
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One cup crumble cake
Serves:
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
Serves:
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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Apple meringue
Serves:
Ingredients
- 450g apples, peeled, cored and sliced.
- 1 tblsp sugar
- 2 tblsp water
- Rind and juice of 1 orange or lemon
- 2 eggs, separated
- 1/2 cup caster sugar
Method
Preheat oven to 150’C.
Place apples, sugar and water in a saucepan, simmer over low heat for approximately 10-15 minutes until apples are soft.
You will only need to stir once or twice during that time.
Remove from heat and pour into greased casserole or souffle dish to cool. Set aside. When cooled, add egg yolks, rind and juice.
Beat egg whites until they reach soft peaks. Whist continuing to beat, add caster sugar gradually until combined. Beat further until egg whites have reached stiff peaks – meringue.
Pour or pipe meringue onto the apples mixture, smooth or swirl as desired.
Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and serve.
Related apple recipes:
Serving Suggestions
Note
- Bramley, Red Delicious and Pink Lady apple varieties are perfect for this dish as they are sweet and counteract the tartness of the lemon or orange.
- Serve as soon as you have removed from oven as meringue will be high and fluffy, as it is exposed to cool air the meringue will fall – although it will still taste good
- Feel free to substitute apples with pears!
- This is Moira Gillard’s recipe – adapted by Melissa Klemke for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.
Tiny Teddies in the bathtub
Serves:
18
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.
Flower fairy cakes
Serves:
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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Biscuit necklaces
Serves:
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
Note
Double choc chip muffins
Serves:
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
Serves:
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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Candy cane cupcakes
Serves:
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.
Find related sweet Christmas recipes
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
Serves:
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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Serving Suggestions
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!
Zucchini slice
Serves:
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.
