*50 odd Lamington squares (I made more than 55, but, a few got eaten here and there, lol)
*5 dozen biscuits (Smartie Cookie et al, 4 types in all - in half size though!)
*40 Brownie Squares
*2 dozen Caramel Cups (in cupcake size)
*20 Cherry Ripe Cups (in tiny size)
*2 dozen Banana & White Chocolate Muffins
Not bad for last minute notice and it really didn't take all that long in the kitchen. Certainly no late or all-night baking benders, lol.
The Brownies are always a huge hit. They are one of the only special requests I get from my 7 year old when it comes to my baking, and even Kyla stops chowing down on toilet paper to have at least one piece, so in the book of 'best recipes' they are a sure-fire winner. I'm yet to find someone who doesn't like them!
Best of all, this recipe costs me under $2.50 to make!!
Recipe 1
Brownies
Ingredients
150g Butter, softened
1 Cup Brown Sugar, firmly packed
2 Eggs
1/2 Cup Plain Flour
1/2 Cup Cocoa Powder
Preheat your oven to 160 degrees and grease and line a slice or baking tray. This mixture does a 27ish cm x 30ish cm tray that I have perfectly, but it is too thick in my 26cm Springform tin. It still bakes of course, just takes a little longer!
First, beat together the butter, brown sugar and cocoa until nice and creamy in texture. Add the eggs and beat in slowly
You'll note in the photo above that my mixture has no cocoa in it. When I was making this batch, it was the last thing on my 'to bake' list for the evening and I figured I'd throw caution to the wind and start BUI - Baking Under the Influence. I'm a lightweight in the liquor department these days, thats all I'll say. Thankfully not a catastrophic error, this makes no difference to the end result once baked, but, even after the right amount of mixing, it looks grainier.
Anyway, add the Plain Flour, mix well
then spread evenly into your lined tray. Aim for a depth around 2.5cm - 3cm to get the height in the top photo. This is not a recipe that will rise dramatically, just keep that in mind.
After baking for 25 - 35 minutes, the top should feel similar to a baked cake.
Allow to cool completely before slicing and dusting with Icing Sugar.
Recipe 2
Banana & White Chocolate Muffins
Ingredients
125g Butter, softened
2 Eggs
3 small overripe Bananas
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract/Essence
1 teaspoon Bicarbonate Soda
50ml Milk
1/2 Cup White Sugar
1 & 1/2 Cups Self Raising Flour
200g White Chocolate, chopped roughly (you can also use white chocolate chips, or white chocolate melts)
Beat together the butter, sugar and vanilla until creamy
Add the eggs and beat well for a further 1-2 minutes. Mash the bananas and add to the mixture.
Dissolve the Bicarb soda in the 50ml of milk, I find giving it a vigorous stir for about 10 seconds does the trick, then add the milk and flour gradually while mixing on low speed until all ingredients are well combined.
Add your chopped white chocolate or white choc chips, or, if you're like me, a combination of the white chocolates you have in your pantry.
Stir the white chocolate through the mixture
then spoon into muffin cases and bake at 180 degrees for approximately 20 minutes, or until the muffins are a deep golden colour, and spring back when touched gently in the centre.
I made up a half quantity of Buttercream frosting, added a teaspoon of Banana Essence, then piped a small amount into the centre of each muffin. Just to finish it off all fancy like.
A Banana Chip to top it all off and I was done.
I made these muffins in the slightly larger sized Multix Muffin Liners. I find these an utter PITA. They are just that little bit too small for my cupcake baking trays, and as you can see from the muffin I'm touching in the photo, half the time the cases crinkle inward slighly either during filling, baking or any other godforsaken time you touch the bloody things.
Recipe 3
Muesli Bars
Ingredients
150g Butter
1/2 Cup Plain Flour (I used Wholemeal Plain Flour this time, wanted to see how it would go but I normally just use regular Plain Flour for this recipe)
2/3 Cup Brown Sugar
1 & 1/2 Cups Rice Bubbles
1 Cup Rolled Oats
1 Cup Sultanas/Dried Fruit/Apricots (I used my favourite mix for this recipe - 2/3 cup Currants, 1/3 cup Dried Apricots)
1/2 Cup Choc Chips (any type, can be omitted easily if you want to be a bit healthier)
2 Tablespoons Honey
1/2 Cup Dessicated Coconut
I didn't take this recipe to the Bake Sale, its one I whip up all the time at home, its one of my favourite slices, and tonight I made another batch so figured I could take my bloodied stone and kill a third bird this evening and put it up on the blog to share.
Preheat the oven to 150 degrees, and grease and line a slice tray. I like to have the muesli in thicker squares, so have a small square baking dish, approx 20cm by 20cm that serves this purpose nicely. If you want thinner, longer traditional style Muesli Bars, just opt for a larger tray.
In a large bowl, combine the Rice Bubbles, oats, flour, choc chips, chopped dried fruit and coconut and mix together well by hand.
Place the butter, sugar and honey in a small saucepan over low heat and stir continuously until the sugar has dissolved.
Pour over the combined dry ingredients and mix together well until all dry ingredients are coated thoroughly with the wet mixture.
Spoon into your lined tray and spread out (I find a metal spoon best for this part) evenly, ensuring you get mixture in all the corners.
Bake for about 40 minutes, or until golden brown and just slightly crisping at the edges.
Allow to cool before slicing into squares. Refrigerate to harden for an hour. You can either keep them in an air tight container at room temperature or keep them in the fridge for a really crunchy slice.
I'm slowly working on the 'Recipe Vault'. At present it just directs you straight back to the main page, but once I have some free time over this weekend I will start getting stuck into a one-stop shop in effect for all the recipes, with instructions more akin to what you'd find in a real cookbook!
Happy Baking :)
