Cookies/Cookie Sandwiches

Manic Mania!

Do you all have those days where you become absolutely ob-sess-ed with something. You see it everywhere you go, you think about it and then dream about it as well?

Well, last post, I told you I was reading Anna Karenina.
It’s a novel about a love story. Sounds pretty average right? NO! It is so much more than a love story…

 

Cheesecake Chocolate Chip Cookie Sandwich

Cheesecake Chocolate Chip Cookie Sandwich

Written by Leo Tolstoy, who is one of the most brilliant writers in history, it is the tragedy of one married woman who discovers the emptiness of her life after finding immediate lust and love. Leading to an adulterous affair, she continues to try and still be part of her autocratic and judgmental Russian society, while battling her internal demons, a poisonous mixture of jealousy and depression egged on by morphine.

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Interweave this story with another tale of a philosophically minded man whose discovery of love leads to confusion and questioning, you get a novel which so intricately explores the human condition. Personally, I also found Tolstoy’s descriptions to be a criticism on society’s animalistic tendency for ‘acting as a pack’. Anna is condemned for her actions by all of her class, which truly speaks out about how narrow-minded and opinionated a group can be.

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Made It To 2013!

HIIIIIIII!!!!! 😀 😀 😀 😀 I’m Backkkkkkkk….. well actually, I would like to make a slight confession… which you already know from my last guest post… I have been back for almost 5 ½ days now…. And yes it is only now I am addressing you, my friends, again.

You would honestly think after an over-2 week break, I would be making a run for the kitchen, falling over my feet to get to a handheld mixer. However… on arrival home from the airport, I was more like sloth-crawling, still falling (yes you can crawl and still fall) over my feet to get to the nearest sign of a warm, comfy, no-seat-involved bed.  The reason I say no-seat is because our night flight in economy class resulted in a sore backside and quite a stiff neck 😛

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So I therefore resolved to sleep sleep and sleep a little more and start cooking the next day. I had a vision in my head of how awesome it would totally be. Nope, wrong, guess what lil ol’ jetlagged me ended up doing the next day… sleeping? Nope. Jokes, that is all I did 😉

So I resolved yet again to work on my post and cook something the next day but guess what happened at night. I woke up at 2:30am (YAY) because my screwed up body clock told me in a sneering, I-have-total-control-and-I-flaunt-it voice that it was not sleep-time in India. Hahaha-friggin ha 😉

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But I do believe now, finally, while I am typing up this post, I may have gotten over the worst of it 🙂 – I feel fresh, alive… wait… naaaah, I feel pretty normal. As much as 43 degree heat will let you 😛

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Guest Post: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

Merry Christmas my friends, can you all believe the holiday season everyone dreams about is finally here for us 😀 😀 😀 😀

I hope you are all celebrating with family friends this joyous occasion of 2012, with lots of wonderful festivities, food and laughter 🙂

I wish I could be here with you all, and I promise to celebrate with you all belatedly but right now, I am with my family in India as I should be during this fabulous time 🙂

But no fear, no fear, I have some incredible guestposts lined up for you all and I hope each and every one brings a smile to your faces like they did mine – what else is Christmas and New Years about if not grinning? 😀

Happy Holidays!!!

P.S. I will not be commenting on ANY blogs for approximately 2 weeks so please do not think I have forgotten about anyone, I will be back on task straight after holidays 🙂

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Happy Birthday CG 2012!

Aaah, sorry I was a little bit MIA this week but school and life got in the way and basically led to me dropping all maths – yes I am proud of my life choices (:D 😀 😀 😀 😀 :D) but I did miss this! Now, on to the post…

How I used to feel… hehehehehe

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Now I know I am not the only one who has had a friend who is… kind of awesome at everything. You want to hate them but you just can’t because they don’t brag, aren’t spiteful and basically, they are a pretty fabulous human being 🙂

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My Guestpost: Jumbo Chocolate Fudge Cookies

When I say JUMBO, what do you think of? Elephants? Acceptable, they are big, fat and adorable.
Or maybe you think buildings, rollercoasters and other architectural wonders which just make life a little easier because c’mon, who can live without rollercoasters, sheesh…

Or maybe you think about food. I am just saying, ‘Jumbo’ is just too playful a word for impressive skyscrapers and frightening-hurling-to-your-doom rollercoasters, a little too cartoon-character for elephants.

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A Premature Happy Holidays!

OMG I am totally gushing, Merry Christmas everyone! Look see I brought presents, and cake, and cookies and… wait… it isn’t Christmas yet?

Bu… but… I don’t understand… I went into Myer the other day and they had huge Christmas trees up. I saw them! All beautiful, big and dripping with decorations like wet leaves on a dewy morning (yes, Christmas has a tendency to bring out my awesome poetic skills ;)). I mean, HOW CAN YOU SAY IT IS NOT CHRISTMAS. They already had the presents wrapped and sitting under the trees…

Oh… but the candy canes? And the delicious mince pies in every bakery… oh ok I understand. I thought Christmas came early this year…

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Guest Post #7: David Lebovitz’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

Hi everyone, I am hitting the books and trying to pass the last exams of year 11. Can you believe there will only be one more year of school left then? I am SO stoked 😀 😀
Anyway, a couple of months back, I asked for your guest posts during this period and I was lucky enough to get a huge response – thank you all so much!
I promise you will not miss me, in fact, you will groan when I come back, becase I have so many wonderful guestposts lined up for you all! I hope you discover some wonderful new bloggers who tantalise your tastebuds like they do mine! Enjoy mes amis!
Should you need to contact me, I am more than at service through my email: gobakeyourself@yahoo.com.au or just leave a message on my facebook page: Go Bake Yourself

Also a significant note, I lost over 60-70 followers through some freak wordpress issue so please, if you were one of them and you have recently visited again, resubscribe – thank you!
Now I leave you to it… 🙂

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My… sniff… last post…

What can I say my friends… we have had a good journey. I thought perhaps I was ready to handle it all, honestly, the blogging, school, my friends, my family. I was even combining them!

A couple of weeks ago my parents and sat down. Serious faces on (wow, it is hard to joke right now), they told me carefully how they thought blogging was affecting my schooling, how there was always time for this later on. I mean, (hopefully) I have a long life ahead right? During Uni, they said, I would have more time to constantly do what I want, not tied down by algebra and calculus and five essays in one week.

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June Foodie Pen Pals + A Perfect Cookie

I may be republishing a few old posts from the past (this being one of them), so please just ignore the notifications you will get via email) – sorry about that! If this message does not start the post, then consider it to be a new one 🙂


 

Update: Sorry if my blog looks a little weird but the side bar that is usually directly next to my posts is right at the bottom of my page including the subscribe area, the categories etc. It will NOT for some reason appear next to my blogs and looks awful so as I try to contact wordpress.com incessantly without starting forum and actually just emailing them, I’m sorry you will have to deal with it! If any of you can help, please do 😀

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I know it is a little late but voila,my package finally arrived so here is my June Foodie Pen Pals 😀 😀 – So exciting right?

Sorry, what is Foodie Pen Pals?

Foodie Pen Pals is a food exchange program started by the wonderful Lindsay @ The Lean Green Bean between both foodie bloggers and food lovers in the US and Canada. She has forever been extending this project, now including the UK and recently, doing special exchanges across the Southern Hemisphere 😀

I was allowed to try it for one month and I was absolutely thrilled. Shopping for and waiting for food? how could it possibly get better right?

The wonderful Natt over at In Need Of Natt got my name for this exchange and it was absolutely wonderful 😀
Living in South Korea, the home of sweet and cute, she sent me a parcel determined to break any diets and pacts I had with dry bread and water (which I actually never made ;))

So here goes – yes, there was a little translation problem but hey, she is vegan and understands my vegetarianism so I know everything is sweet and beautifully meat free! Of course, I cannot have tasted everything by now (actually I could but mum worries about cavities and stuff ;)), so here is my wonderful parcel unwrapped – thank you so so much Natt 😀

These were some totally awesome Korean version of Skittles – yum!
And cute packaging right>

Ummm… this one will be a surprise when I open it but I think there is some kind of chocolate involved and seeds because of the birds 😀
Or mini chocolate eggs? 😉

A plethora of lollipops 😀
Who can resist apple, strawberry, cola or what I would assume, bubblegum?

If you shake it, it rattles like popping candy 😉

Sunflowers seeds! I can totally read 😀 😀

These are like chocolate freckles but instead of hundreds and thousands, there are small pearl-like balls stuck on – cute right? 😀

And now we get into the chocolate load up – love you Natt, know me way too well 😀

Can’t go wrong, so smooth, silky and smooth 😀

These next 2 bars, I am pretty sure they are chocolate, one grape and one peanut 😀 – Cool combos right?

Thanks again Natt, it was brilliant and I am sure as I quickly slowly progress, I will enjoy every minute! And your note was so wonderful too!

Want to join Lindsay’s awesome global village foodie project? Visit this page to find out all the info and sign up soon 😀
I love making friends around the world, as corny as that sounds 😉

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As much as I am sure I overloaded you all with food, I simply HAD to share a cookie recipe I recently made up – its highly chocolatey, thin-nish and very addictive so if you are in the mood for nice and simple, leave (or stay and bookmark for another day :D)
Due to my lack of desserts, this is one filled with my favourite things – white chocolate, Nutella, hazelnuts, brown butter 😀
Making this for an outing with friends, it is only coincidence that they like these things too (why else are we friends ;))

They are so soft and so beautifully melt-in-mouth, you will never be able to stop at one (assured!)
Also just be a little weary… I may or may not have smudged the white chocolate chip while putting them on top of the cookies… oops 😉

Enjoy the recipe my friends!

Brown Butter Hazelnutella Chip Cookies

Recipe Inspiration: Love And Olive Oil

Makes: 24

Ingredients

  • 113g butter, salted
  • 6 tbs caster sugar
  • 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
  • 2/3 cup Nutella
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence
  • 1/2 tsp coffee essence
  • 1 cup plain flour
  • 1/2 cup hazelnut meal (ground hazelnuts)
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 cup mini white chocolate chips

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Line 2 baking sheets with baking paper
  2. Brown butter over medium heat until it is frothy and has a nutty smell to it. As soon as a brown colour, remove from heat and coll for 5 minutes
  3. Stir in both sugars
  4. Mix in Nutella spread (because the mixture is warm, it will melt the Nutella into batter)
  5. Beat in egg then both essences
  6. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and hazelnut meal and whisk to combine
  7. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until the mixture is smooth and combined
  8. Using a tsp, drop dollops of dough onto the baking sheet, keep them 4-ish cm apart
  9. Slightly flatten them with a knife and bake for 6-7 minutes or until set
  10. While cooling on tray, quickly press in white chocolate chips on top, as many as desire per cookie
  11. Transfer to a cooling and rack and cooling completely
  12. Fill with extra Nutella, make ice cream sandwiches and eat away 🙂

See, see did I not tell you these would be addictive? Here are a few more shots to get you in the indulgent mood 😉
Work that cookie!

These cookies have been linked to Zesty South Indian Kitchen’s Favourite Recipes Event – so much fun and Swathi hosts a diffrent one each month! This month, obviously, it is cookies 😀

Oh, and before I forget, to all those in the US, Happy 4th of July, I am really enjoying all your festive posts 😀
And a belated Happy Canada Day to the maple syrup gurus!

Birthday, Brownie, Crownie

You see the link? No? You will by the end of this post or my alias is not Choc Chip Uru 😉

Today is my friend, vous elle appelez (you call her) SM’s, 17th birthday. Oh my gosh, she is the first of us ALL (when I say us I mean my group :D) to turn 17. The big ONE-SEVEN. Am I getting confused with 18? No, I am most certainly not because the way we all see it, 12-16 are the fun teen years, 17 is bordering on *shudder* adulthood and then at 18… let’s not go there 😉

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