zingy coconut and lime macaroons

Zingy coconut and lime macaroons on a platter.

There are many coconut macaroon recipes on the Internet, and here I am, adding one more to the fray. These coconut and lime macaroons came about because I wanted to make something that feels light in both texture and taste, something that's not too sweet. Something that may, perhaps, surprise you with its charm.

Lime juice and lime zest in coconut macaroons makes them nice and tangy!

I use unsweetened shredded coconut along with a modest amount of sugar, and incorporate lime juice and lime zest to give the coconut macaroons some extra zing. I also bind the shredded coconut with a fairly minimal amount of egg white. This did make them slightly challenging to assemble, and I was wondering if the mixture would come together at all, but the resulting bite-sized lime and coconut macaroons stayed intact in their construction, though you do need to handle them with care, as they might be a little fragile. They are also crisp and tangy, and pretty delicious, too!

Shape your lime and coconut macaroons into cute little domes, and bake them till they're golden brown and crunchy.

zingy coconut-lime macaroons
(makes approximately 22 dainty macaroons)

1 egg white
1/4 cup caster sugar / superfine sugar
2 teaspoons lime juice
1 teaspoon lime zest
1 pinch of salt
1 cup shredded coconut (unsweetened)

Whisk egg white, sugar, lime juice, lime zest and salt until the sugar completely dissolves and the mixture is foamy. Stir in shredded coconut and thoroughly mix everything together.

Set the oven to 140°C / 285°F fan-forced or 160°C / 320°F conventional.

Line baking sheets with baking paper. Stir the mixture thoroughly again, then drop heaped teaspoonfuls of the coconut mixture onto the baking sheet and shape each dollop into little domes.
(These coconut macaroons don't spread so you don't have to leave much space in between, though some space helps when you're shaping each portion on the baking sheet. I left about 2 - 3 centimetres or 1 inch space in between each macaroon.)
Bake the macaroons for 15 - 20 minutes or until they develop a crisp, golden appearance and the bottoms are dry.
Allow your coconut and lime macaroons to cool completely before storing them. They should keep in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator for at least a few days.

These coconut and lime macaroons taste so light, they'll be all gone before you know it!

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matcha green tea shortbread with raspberry sugar

Green tea shortbread with raspberry sugar.

Season's greetings! It seems that it has become a bit of a blog tradition for me to put up a colourful recipe at the end of each year to match the celebratory Christmas atmosphere. (Click here and here for the creations from the last two Decembers.)

This year is no exception. Behold, my happy, glorious green tea cookies, made in a shortbread style, with lashings of matcha powder and raspberry sugar for that festive appearance.

Did I also mention that they are delicious? The earthy, mellow bitterness of matcha, the sweet crunch of sugar on top with just a hint of salt, the buttery texture that crumbles and melts in the mouth. I made this green tea shortbread a few months ago, for a friend's party, and I was so filled with joy when I got not one, not two, but three expressions of interest for the recipe, even from those who don't normally bake. To these lovely people I apologise, as I have only now posted this recipe, after finally trying it again to make sure it works properly. Better late than never, eh?

Naturally colourful green tea cookies for Christmas! Or anytime, really.

For the green tea / matcha shortbread:

210g flour (1.5 cups)
8g matcha / green tea powder (5 teaspoons)
pinch of salt
150g salted butter (5 oz)
55g icing sugar / confectioner's sugar / powdered sugar (1/2 cup)
1 egg yolk

For the raspberry sugar topping (optional):

1 egg white, beaten (you'll use much less than this, save the rest to make something else)
raspberry sugar, or raw sugar stained with raspberry juice
fancy flavoured salt or fleur de sel, if you have it

- - -

Mix flour, matcha and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

Vigorously beat butter and sugar together till they combine and take on a lighter, fluffier appearance. (If, like me, you take the manual approach and beat it by hand with a wooden spoon, feel free to sing "Beat It" for additional entertainment.) Add egg yolk, and gently beat again until mixed together.

Add the flour mix. Start off kneading it with the wooden spoon, but eventually move on to using your hands. It'll be quite a moist dough. Lovingly roll the dough into cylinders / logs of about 3.5cm (1.4 inch) diameter. Due to the fragility of the dough, I made 4 logs, as smaller logs are less likely to break.

Carefully wrap the dough logs with plastic wrap, and place in the freezer for 30 minutes.
Once the dough has done its time, retrieve from the freezer. Slice the logs into rounds of about 0.6cm (1/4 inch) thickness, and place on a tray lined with baking paper or foil.

Pre-heat the oven to 140°C / 285°F fan-forced (160°C / 320°F conventional).

If you would like to decorate your cookies as I have, brush the surface with a thin layer of egg white. Then scatter each piece of shortbread with just a few grains of fancy salt, if using (I allocated 3 - 5 grains of vanilla salt for each piece), and then a more generous sprinkling of raspberry sugar, or whatever pretty sugar you want to use. I bought my raspberry sugar, but you could perhaps try making your own, by rubbing a bit of raspberry juice through some sugar.

Place the tray of shortbread into the oven and let it bake for 16 - 18 minutes.

Remove from oven, allow the shortbread to cool, and enjoy! Also, merry Christmas! :)

Note - matcha (green tea powder) can vary in their potency. I've found that with a strong matcha, 6-7 grams / 4 teaspoons can be sufficient for this recipe, while a weak one will require 9-10 grams / 6 teaspoons. Therefore, unless you're already very familiar with your matcha and how much to use in recipes, I suggest trying this shortbread recipe with the recommended 8 grams / 5 teaspoons to start with, and with subsequent batches you can fine-tune your ideal amount.

A close-up cross-section shot of the green tea matcha shortbread cookie.

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blood orange and olive oil shortbread (vegan)

Blood orange and olive oil shortbread.

Several weeks ago, I made blood orange cookies to bring to a friend's dinner. I was very pleased with my efforts - they were crunchy citrus bites of joy, and unexpectedly wonderful for a first attempt at a tentatively drafted recipe.

I felt there could still be improvement, however, so the next time I tweaked it a little - and as a result, I baked a delightfully gourmet tray of blood orange shortbread, zestier, softer and crumblier than my first batch of cookies. Simon and his housemates were my taste-testers, and this version was the clear winner - not only by way of verbal confirmation, but also in the telling manner of how they disappeared even more swiftly, one after another, in quick succession. Encouraged, I'm sharing this recipe with you.

But wait, there's more! This is not your typical shortbread. In addition to the sensuous blood orange, it is also made with extra virgin olive oil, which imparts a light, lilting elegance that sings and twinkles and kisses. Yes, it's a vegan shortbread! - and one so beguiling, you can bake it to impress vegans and non-vegans alike. Or enjoy, sneakily, quietly, just by yourself.

The lush, dramatic appearance of a sliced blood orange.

Blood orange and olive oil dough, ready to go into the oven.

Blood oranges have a short season, so if they are not available, feel free to use regular oranges instead. It'll still be delicious!

blood orange and olive oil shortbread

1/8 cup blood orange juice (30ml)
1 tablespoon blood orange zest
1/4 cup olive oil (60ml)
1/2 cup icing sugar (55g) aka powdered/confectioner's sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup flour (105g)
1/2 cup cornstarch (65g)

Combine blood orange juice, blood orange zest, olive oil, sugar, salt in a bowl. Whisk well.
Mix the flour and cornstarch together in a separate bowl.
Add in the flour mix to the liquid mix, and stir with a wooden spoon until you form a dough. Knead with your hands and divide into about 6 chunks. Roll each chunk into a ball, then into a log of about 3.5cm / 1.5" in diameter. This dough will be soft, oily and moist, making it quite difficult to shape - but do persevere!
Wrap up the logs in baking paper, and place them in the freezer for 45 minutes.
Retrieve the logs from the freezer and slice into pieces of about 0.6cm / 1/4" thickness.
Arrange the pieces on a baking tray lined with baking paper. They don't really spread out so you can put them close together, as long as you still allow for some breathing space.
Bake at 160C fan-forced (or 180C conventional) for 15 - 18 minutes, depending on how you like them. I am quite partial to a hint of toasty brown around the edges!

Good stuff... vegan blood orange shortbread, made with olive oil.

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much ado about matcha... weekend baking adventures

Kitchen disasters. We've all had them.

But oh, the joy when you salvage the mess and rise from the ruins!

I don't usually post my creations when I don't have a recipe to go along with it, but I'm a bit more relaxed these days. Plus, I was actually quite proud of how I saved the day, so here we go. My only regret is that I didn't take a picture of how awful the batter looked at the beginning, which would make the results here look all the more impressive. Hey, we can't have everything.

It all started with an idea. Gluten-free buckwheat matcha cookies.

gluten-free buckwheat hazelnut matcha cookies.

When I have an idea, I like to draft out a recipe and then adjust it in the real world, adding and subtracting as I mix, knead and taste.

In this instance, I had underestimated the amount of buckwheat flour I needed... and not only that, I didn't have any more of it left in the pantry. The batter was neither liquid nor solid, and it was crazy sticky. Shaping or cutting it into cookies was out of the question. I made a makeshift piping bag by cutting a hole in a plastic sandwich bag, and forced in the batter. Bad idea. The consistency wasn't good for piping either. And the batter was so gluey, I now had trouble getting it out of my makeshift piping bag.

My typically trusty spatula looked dirty, tired and helpless. SO I DECIDED TO USE MY HANDS. Desperate times call for desperate measures, or rather, they drive you to insanity... I know that now. Feeling wretched and with gummy green goo all over my hands, I imagined I looked not unlike a forlorn swamp monster.

I still refused to throw the lot away. Organic buckwheat flour ain't cheap, y'all.

Thinking hard, I remembered the hazelnut meal I bought a few weeks ago. Oh, come here, my pretties, and rescue me from the mire of despair! I finally had a workable batter, which I rolled into balls, then pressed down with a fork on the baking sheet. Fifteen minutes later, we have these babies. Not bad, really.

Cross-section of gluten-free buckwheat hazelnut matcha cookies.

But wait, there's more!

At some point during these calamitous proceedings (it's all a blur to me now), and before the hazelnuts came sprinkling at me with heroic exultation, I had, in a moment of resignation, decided to go with the flow, as you do, stirring more cream into a small portion of the batter, and pouring it into a cupcake/muffin case. Amidst the confusion, I nearly forgot about this little cake-in-waiting, but spied it in the nick of time and it went into the oven with the cookies.

And this was the result.

gluten-free buckwheat matcha cake.

It looked alright. It tasted even better. I mean, it tasted really, really good. The cookies were not bad, but this mini cake, soft, moist, and rich, was seriously luscious.

I didn't share it with anyone. It was only tiny, after all...

cross-section of gluten-free buckwheat matcha cake.

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mochi milk cookies / biscuits

mochi milk cookie

Mochi milk cookies? Why not! I recently found out about CSR Sugar's Bake a Difference donation drive from Jeroxie. (Click on the cupcake if you want to join in or find out more!) It really gave me a good push to get around to testing out this cookie idea that I had been toying with lately.

From the CSR Bake a Difference website:

Every year, the lives of thousands of disadvantaged Australians are transformed by the support of Mission Australia. This Christmas, please join with CSR Sugar to give others a fair go by baking gifts for your loved ones, friends and co-workers and donate the money saved from buying presents to Mission Australia. In return, CSR Sugar will match your donation, dollar for dollar, up to a total of $100,000.

I didn't know what I should call these cookies at first. Actually, we call them biscuits/bickies here, but I think many of my readers are from North America, and identify these as cookies. So cookies it shall be. Milk cookies? Shortbread cookies? Sugar cookies? I finally christened them mochi milk cookies, because that sounds like a cute and appealing name (to me, at least). They also happen to be gluten-free and egg-free!

mochi milk cookie dough

It all started with the glutinous rice flour I have left over from when I made my lavender tang yuan. Every time I opened the cupboard, I felt like it was imploring me to use it up. Alright then. I had not baked cookies in ages, so one fine Friday (my favourite day off work for my cooking adventures) I set about making my mochi milk cookies with that guilt-tripping glutinous rice flour. The eggless thing was not actually intentional; I was planning to make the cookies with eggs. But there was only one left in the fridge, and it belonged to Simon's housemate. I might have borrowed if there were still a few left, but it didn't feel right taking the last one. I couldn't be bothered leaving the house just to get eggs - an egg-free recipe was thus born!

I'm sure there is room for improvement, but for now, here is my simple gluten-free and egg-free mochi milk cookie recipe for a small test batch of approximately 20 cookies. P.S. - with Christmas just round the corner, I made them with angel and star cookie cutters to get into the festive spirit!

before baking

mochi milk cookies / biscuits

1/2 cup glutinous rice flour + 2 tablespoons
1/8 cup butter
1/4 cup full cream instant milk powder
1/4 cup caster sugar + 1.5 tablespoons
1/4 cup water
pinch of salt

- Set aside 1/2 cup glutinous rice flour in a bowl.

- Put 1/8 cup butter, 1/4 cup full cream instant milk powder, 1/4 cup caster sugar, 1/4 cup water and a pinch of salt in a saucepan. Bring to boil, then turn down to a simmer, stirring.

- When all ingredients have thoroughly dissolved, pour the thick golden liquid into the bowl with the glutinous rice flour. Mix it up with a wooden spoon.

- At this point, things may still be looking a bit gluggy. Not to worry, just add more of the dry ingredients. In my case, I combined 2 tablespoons of glutinous rice flour and 1 and a half tablespoons of caster sugar, and mixed that in.

- This should form a workable dough that is soft and moist with a hint of oiliness. You can chill it for awhile if you like but I didn't and they still turned out fine. Shhh, I'm breaking all the rules.

- Roll dough out on lightly floured surface. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters and place on lined trays.

- Bake at 180C/350F for about 10 minutes or until edges start to brown. Remove from oven.

- You can decorate these cookies if you like.

Note: Aim for a dough that is smooth, soft and workable - it doesn't matter if the ingredient amounts don't match up exactly with my recipe.

team crunchy...                                                                                                                                              or team chewy?

Since many people can be quite particular about how they like their cookies, I feel the need to note that the texture of these mochi cookies will probably be quite different to what most are used to, though those of you familiar with glutinous rice flour will have some idea of what you'll be getting into! However, you can play with baking times, temperatures and the thickness of the cookies to create rather different outcomes.

I baked them all together at the same time and temperature, but made the cookies in varying degrees of thickness. The thicker ones came out more mochi-like with a moist, dense and chewy texture. The thinner ones turned out hard, dry and crunchy like biscotti. Quite a contrast!

While I don't know if these cookies are for everyone, I am intrigued enough to experiment more with the concept, plus they were well-received by Simon and his housemates, which is always nice! I also found that I really liked them with English Breakfast tea. No need to add milk or sugar, just have the tea plain with these cookies! One bite of cookie, one sip of tea... mmmmmm, contentment.

sweet milk cookies + English breakfast tea = fabulous flavour match!

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