Rumons - Rum & Lemon Cookies

People don't believe me that I love baking but don't have a sweet tooth. So whenever I think up a recipe or simply bake away, I have to make sure it is something that I can give away as a present or have as a standby for visitors. The other day I looked in my fruit basket (not my brain my dear) and saw that I had a lemon that needed to be used soon. A rumble through the pantry resulted in an open rum bottle. Two ideas were created in my head. One was of course a cocktail but since it was 10am, I opted for the second idea - Rum & Lemon cookies. The result was a nice light biscuit with a lemon drizzle. But what to call it??? Didn't want to call it Rum & Lemon Cookies..... but thanks to Facebook and Tracey who voted to call these little beauties 'Rumons' - so here they are.... my rumons....

The recipe below makes between 30 and 40 cookies, depending on size.

Rumons

• 125g unsalted butter, room temperature
• 100g caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 125g plain flour
• 125g cornflour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp white rum
• 100g icing sugar
• 1-2 tbsp lemon juice
• zest of one lemon

Preheat your oven to 180C

Beat the butter and sugar until creamy, add the eggs and continue to whisk until well combined. Sift the flour, cornflour and baking powder into the butter mix with the rum and stir with a wooden spoon until it comes together. Using your hands, knead until combined. 

Place a sheet of baking paper on a baking sheet and using your hands take small, walnut size pieces of the dough and roll them into a small ball. You will need to flour your hands for this. Place on the baking sheet and press down a bit. Not too much - you still want a heap on the dough. Continue with the remainder of the dough. 

Place the baking sheet in the middle of the oven and bake for about 12-18 mins until just turning golden. You don't want them overbaked as they are nice and fluffy when just done. 

Place on a wired rack to cool down. In the meantime, combined the sieved icing sugar with 1 tbsp lemon juice and a bit of hot water to create a smooth but thick icing (you might need to add more lemon juice. The hot water gives the icing the shine but don't use too much, you want the lemon flavour rather than the watery one). Drizzle over the cooled cookies and let stand until the icing has set. 

Goes very nicely with a nice cuppa tea and the afternoon paper :-) 

Bon Appetit

Chocoholic cookies

Mr T defending HIS cookies

 Cookies are a great standby for when you are feeling peckish, one of your nieces/nephews/kid's friends etc are calling over or if you have like me a Mr T living with you who is always asking 'do I smell chocolate?'... 

These cookies are dead easy to make, need a bit of chilling time and you can even invite any of the above to help you. Kids will love rolling the dough in the icing sugar and will love the look when they come out with their crackled top. A word of warning tho - these cookies are addictive to any chocoholic and have to be hidden..... Mr T even counted them in the tin so that I couldn't give any away. 40 cookies lasted not even 2 days. So you have been warned :-) These cookies taste great when they are still slightly warm, they will be soft and almost gooey but will harden to a nice crunch when cooled.

 Chocolate cookies

• 200g plain chocolate
• 90g Unsalted butter
• 115g caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1tsp vanilla essence
• 215g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 25 g grated plain chocolate
• Icing sugar for rolling

Melt the chocolate and butter over a low heat in a saucepan. Keep stirring until smooth.

Remove from heat. Stir in the sugar and keep stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Add the eggs - one by one - stirring well between each egg. Add the vanilla essence.

Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl, add the finely grated chocolate. Gradually add the melted chocolate mixture, in batches until well combined.

Cover the bowl with cling film and chill for at least an hour.

Preheat oven to 160c

Cover 2 baking sheets with baking paper.

Put the icing sugar into a bowl. Using a spoon, scoop out walnut size pieces of dough a roll into a ball. Toss in the icing sugar, tap off excess icing sugar and place on a baking sheet. Space apart as the cookies will spread. Continue with the rest and bake  for about 15 mins until the top of the cookies is slightly set but still soft.

Remove carefully onto wired rack and leave to cool.

Makes about 40

Peanut Butter Cookies

The cold evenings are inviting to sit down with a hot chocolate and a plate full of cookies. I came home on a Friday afternoon and scrambled through the cupboards. I had everything for a basic cookie but also found a jar of crunchy peanut butter that I bought ages ago from Aldi - never sure what to do with it (I made chocolate candy from smooth peanut butter before but got the wrong jar that time). So I simply mixed it into the basic cookie dough and this is the result - Mr T thinks, we should go into business, selling these little beauties

 

Peanut Butter Cookies

 

• 115g Unsalted butter, room temperature
• 115g light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 150g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 150g peanut butter (I used crunchy peanut butter) Icing sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 190C.

In a bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg. Add the flour and baking powder and combine well. Now add the peanut butter and stir until well mixed.

Using a teaspoon, place heaped teaspoons of the mixture on a baking sheet covered with baking paper. Space them a bit apart as they will spread. Bake for about 20 mins. They should still be soft to the touch. Leave on the baking sheet for a few minutes and transfer them carefully onto a wired rack to cool completely. When cooled, dust with the icing sugar.

Cookie of the Week

Cookies are always a great standby for dark evenings to have with your cup of tea. Every tea (and coffee) tastes so much better with a cookie or 2.

I love eating them warm, fresh from the oven - but cookies keep very well in an airtight tin (this is where the selection boxes come in handy). This cookie is soft in the middle and the chocolate chips give a nice bite.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 125g softened unsalted butter
• 90g caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• few drops of vanilla essence
• 175g selfraising flour
• 100ml milk
• 100g chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 160C. 

Cream together the butter and sugar. Make sure that the mixture is fluffy and pale in colour. 

Add the egg, yolk, vanilla, flour, milk and half amount of chocolate chips. Mix it all very well together. Using a spoon place drops of the dough on a baking sheet, divide the remaining chips between the cookies and bake until lightly golden and baked. 

Enjoy