Have you ever tried making these? They are easy to make and very more-ish.  You can use any jam you like for the centre.

Preheat the oven to 180degC.  Lightly grease several baking trays or line with non-stick baking paper.
Cream the butter, sugar, vanilla essence and lemon rind then beat in the egg.  Add the sifted flours, then add a tiny squeeze of lemon juice. Using teaspoons of the mixture, roll into small balls with lightly floured hands (don’t make them any bigger than this because they spread).  Place onto the prepared trays, leaving room between for spreading.  Make a small indent in each one using the pointed end of an egg then fill the hollow with jam.  Bake in the oven until pale gold, about 15 – 20 minutes.  Remove from oven then slide off the trays using a spatula.

These little gems give trendy macarons a run for their money.
Preheat oven to 170°C.
Whisk the egg whites, salt and cream of tartar together in a large, clean bowl until soft peaks form. Add the sugar a spoonful at a time, whisking well after each addition.
Keep whisking for 2 – 3 minutes or until mixture is thick and glossy.
Add the lemon myrtle and whisk to combine. Stir in the toasted coconut gently, using a large metal spoon to fold in until just combined.
Spoon mixture onto lined trays (one heaped tablespoon at a time, with a twist on top – mine resemble small turbans!), leaving some room between  each one to allow for spreading.
Bake in preheated oven 15 – 20  minutes or until light golden and firm.
Remove from oven, leave to cool on the trays for five minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Store in an airtight container – they won’t last long.  Makes about 20.

To toast the coconut: spread the coconut out over a couple of baking trays. Place in preheated oven, stirring occasionally, for 4 – 5 minutes, or until a light golden colour. Watch carefully because once it begins to brown, it turns colour very quickly.  Remove, transfer to a large plate or platter and let cool.

I can’t give you the recipe for a wonderful Valentine’s Day, but I can give you this one for delicious hearts.

Cream together the butter and sugar.  Beat in the egg and vanilla then add the flour, mixing to form a soft firm dough.
Form into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap.  Chill in the fridge 2 – 3 hours (or 1 hour in the freezer).
Preheat oven to moderate (180degc or 160degC Fan Forced).  Line 2 – 3 baking trays with baking paper.
Remove from fridge and cut into thirds – work with one-third of the dough at a time. If it feels brittle, soften by kneading with floured hands.  Roll out onto a floured bench (or roll between two sheets of baking paper which is easier) to 5mm (1/4 inch) thickness.
Stamp out the dough with heart-shaped cutters and place carefully on lined trays.  Bake 12 – 15 minutes or until golden.
Makes about 45 – 50.

White Frosting:

In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg whites and salt until foamy.
Gradually add the sifted icing sugar, lemon juice and glycerine (if using).
Attach a small, fine nozzle to a piping bag and fill the bag with the frosting.
Decorate hearts with your chosen designs.

Please Note: the photo shows shortbread hearts from Sweetness the Patisserie (www.sweetness.com.au) covered with pink and white fondant and decorated with royal icing.

Here’s a terrific recipe for gingerbread from my latest book Mini Chef – Cooking with Kids.  Once you’ve made it, roll it out and cut into different shapes: christmas trees, bells, angels, stars,cockatoos, kangaroos, maps of Australia.  You can also use it as the foundation for a Gingerbread House – cut out walls, roofs, chimneys and doors, then stick together next day with cement icing (see below). It needs to be refrigerated and you need to flour the rolling pin and bench top when rolling it out as it can be sticky (if too sticky, wrap it up again and return to the fridge until chilled).

Cream together the butter and sugar until light.
Beat in the eggs one at a time then add the honey. Sift together the dry ingredients and add to the creamed mixture alternately with dissolved bi-carbonate soda.If the dough feels too soft, add a little more flour.  Shape into a ball and wrap in greaseproof paper or plastic wrap.
Refrigerate two hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 180degC.
Divide the gingerbread into four so that you can work with one piece at a time, putting the remainder back (wrapped) into the refrigerator.  Roll out onto a lightly floured board and stamp out various shapes with a cutter. If making gingerbread men, insert sultanas or currants for eyes and buttons. Lift carefully onto greased baking trays.  Bake for about 15 minutes or until browned.
Remove with a spatula to cool on a wire rack.  Decorate as you wish – use the white frosting (below) as “cement” for smarties (eyes), jellybeans (mouth) and coconut (hair). Or spoon it into a piping bag with a small nozzle and pipe squiggles over the men.

Makes about 20 men, or enough for a Gingerbread House.

To make the icing:

Sift the icing sugar.  Whisk egg whites until stiff, then gradually add the sifted icing sugar, lemon juice and glycerine.  Keep beating until a stiff consistency, cover well until ready to use. A drop of blue food colouring added towards the end will help to keep it sparkling white.

Cover tightly with plastic wrap and/or a damp cloth to ensure no air penetrates – or it will harden like cement.

This recipe was given to me on a recent trip to Mildura by Joanne De Blasio of Oak Valley Estate.
Originally from Calabria, Joanne uses olive oil in the recipe with olives grown and processed at Oak Valley and  sweet intensely flavoured Oak Valley Estate Flame seedless raisins.  Joanne’s husband, also from Calabria, makes delicious hand-crafted wines, including an intensely flavoured ‘Vinocotto’, fabulous with duck and quail, or drizzled over soft cheese and fruit or ice cream.  More info at www.oakvalleyestate.com.au

Preheat oven to moderate (180degC). Line a loaf tin (10cm x 22cm) or 2 bars tins with baking paper.
Beat oil and sugar together, add eggs one at a time and mix well.  Beat in the milk and essence  or zest.  Sift in the flour and mix well to combine.  Stir through the raisins.
Pour into prepared tin and sprinkle walnuts on the top.  Bake 30 – 35 minutes.
Remove and cool and dust with icing sugar before serving.

How was the original Anzac biscuit made? The biscuit, that is, not the soldier!

If you go to the Australian War Memorial in Canberra and hunt around in the research centre you’ll find it described as an army biscuit (or Anzac wafer or Anzac tile). This version was a hardtack (or long shelf-life like) biscuit used as a substitute for bread. It was made with flour, sugar, milk powder, salt and water. Rolled oats, coconut and golden syrup are all absent.

Unlike bread, however, the biscuits are very, very hard. Some soldiers found them more palatable if they ground them up and used them as porridge. A recipe supplied courtesy of Frank Townsend, former chief chemist at Arnotts Biscuits, points out that after rolling and pressing and cutting into squares, the biscuits were “docked” with a flat-ended pin or rod.

“Each biscuit should have five vertical and five horizontal rows of docker holes, 25 holes in all,” says Townsend. “There are those at the War Memorial who argue for 49 holes (7 x 7) as the authentic number”.

Looking at the illustration which accompanied the recipe he sent me, they remind me in some ways of Vita Weats. They certainly don’t look like the Anzac biscuits I bake at home! Another recipe, provided by Bob Lawson, an Anzac present at the Gallipoli landing, gives a more popular version and includes rolled oats, coconut and golden syrup. In “One Continuous Picnic”, Michael Symons says that this version was in the recipe books by 1925.

Certainly there are countless variations (a 1945 version is kneaded like bread and called parkin or cocky’s joy) and some have suggested it was an adaptation of traditional Yorkshire biscuits called parkin.

Here is my favourite version – great for morning or afternoon tea and just the thing to add to the children’s lunch box.

Anzac Biscuits

Are Anzac biscuits unique to Australia? How will we ever know? But along with pavlova and lamingtons, we lay claim to them, even if they are based on borrowed ideas.

125g butter
1 tablespoon golden syrup
2 tablespoons boiling water
1 teaspoon bi-carbonate soda
200g (1 cup)sugar
125g (1 cup) plain flour
90g (1 cup) rolled oats
90g (1 cup) coconut

Preheat oven to 150 degrees Celsius. Grease a couple of baking trays or line them with non-stick baking paper.

Melt the butter in a small pan, add the syrup, water and soda – it will bubble up. In a mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Pour the butter mixture over the dry ingredients and mix well to combine.

Dollop spoonfuls of the mixture, about 4cm apart, on a greased baking tray, flattening them slightly. Bake for about 20 minutes. Makes about 20 biscuits.

Tip: Use shredded or flaked coconut for a biscuit with more texture.

For the sweet tooth in the family, these melt-in-your mouth biscuits are very more-ish.

Preheat oven to 170degC.
Cream together the butter, icing sugar and lemon zest until smooth. Sift together the flour and cornflour to make a soft dough. Use a piping bag with plain or rosette tube and pipe circles approximately 3cm apart onto a tray lined with baking paper.
Bake for 12 – 15 minutes or until firm. They should not colour too much. Allow to cool on the tray transfer to a cooling rack.
To make the passionfruit filling: cream together the butter and sugar until very light. Stir through the passionfruit to taste. Sandwich the biscuits together with the passionfruit cream. Dust with icing sugar if liked. Makes 10 – 20 depending on size.

Tip: These are very fragile so handle them carefully. Tiny ones are delicious with coffee as ‘petits fours’.

There are endless variations for these popular cookies – this one will give you a real hit.

125g softened butter
75g (1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp) brown sugar
50g (1/4 cup) caster sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
150g (1 1/4 cups) plain flour
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
100g (1/2 cup) dark chocolate chips
50g (1/4 cup) white chocolate chips
75g coarsely chopped macadamia kernels

Preheat oven to 170degC. Line baking trays with non-stick baking paper.
Cream the butter with the sugars until light. Add the egg and vanilla and beat again. Sift in the flour, cocoa, salt and baking powder and mix to combine. Stir through the chocolate chips and nuts.
Drop the mixture by dessert spoonfuls leaving enough space in between to allow each one to expand. Bake 20 – 25 minutes or until firm. Try to resist them until they have cooled – the choclate stays very hot!
Makes about 20 biscuits.

Tip: You can use rolled oats or walnuts instead of the macadamia nuts, and mint extract can be used instead of vanilla.

These have a lovely gingery flavour and are not too sweet.

275g (2 1/ 4 cups) plain flour
75g (1/4 cup plus 4 tsp) caster sugar
3 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon bi-carbonate soda
3 tablespoons golden syrup
2 tablespoons treacle
75g butter, melted
1 egg, beaten
Approx 2 tablespoons demerara sugar

Preheat oven to 180degC. Grease a couple of baking trays or line them with non-stick baking paper.
Sift together the flour, ginger and bi-carbonate soda. Add the sugar and mix to combine.
Add the syrup, treacle, butter and egg and mix to form a soft dough. Knead the dough lightly on a floured surface and shape into a large log. Roll in the demerara sugar and wrap tightly in foil or plastic wrap. Chill for two hours. Remove from refrigerator and, using a sharp knife, slice the dough. Place slices on a greased baking tray. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes. Cool on the baking tray for five minutes then transfer to a cooling rack. Makes 30 – 40 biscuits.

Tip: The beauty of this recipe is that the dough can be kept in the refrigerator for up to two weeks and slices taken when you need fresh biscuits. Try substituting different spices (cinnamon, mixed spice, cardamom) for different flavours.

Are Anzac biscuits unique to Australia? How will we ever know? But along with pavlova and lamingtons, we lay claim to them, even they are based on borrowed ideas.

125g butter
1 tablespoon golden syrup
2 tablespoons boiling water
1 teaspoon bi-carbonate soda
200g (1 cup) sugar
125g (1 cup) plain flour
90g (1 cup) rolled oats
90g (1 cup) coconut

Preheat oven to 150degC. Grease a couple of baking trays or line them with non-stick baking paper.
Melt the butter in a small pan, add the syrup, water and soda – it will bubble up. In a mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Pour the butter mixture over the dry ingredients and mix well to combine.
Dollop spoonfuls of the mixture, about 4cm apart, on a greased baking tray, flattening them slightly. Bake for about 20 minutes. Makes about 20 biscuits.

Tip: Use shredded or flaked coconut for a biscuit with more texture. In a recipe from 1917, the rolled oats are omitted while in another from 1945, the dough is kneaded like bread and called parkin or cocky’s joy, so there are endless variations you can make to the basic mixture.