ANZAC COOKIES

This is a recipe I got from the Martha Stewart website years ago. These cookies have become really popular at a bakery here in town (Sweetie Pies), so I have resurrected it.  They really are chewy and wonderful. I haven't tried them with vegan butter... but they don't have any eggs in them, so that's a plus.

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups rolled oats

2 cups sugar

1 cup flaked coconut (whirled around in a food processor to make in finer)

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

2 tablespoons Lyle's Golden Syrup (You can find it at World Market, or you can order it online)

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup boiling water

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper, and set aside. 

In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, sugar, and coconut. Set aside.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter with syrup. Dissolve baking soda in boiling water, and add to butter mixture. Stir to combine. (Be careful; if the butter is hot, it will bubble up considerably.)

 

Add butter mixture to dry ingredients, and stir to combine. 

Using a 1 1/2-inch ice-cream scoop, drop onto prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart (They will spread out a lot, so make room)

Bake until golden brown and firm but not hard, about 15 minutes. Pull them off the sheet pans with the parchment paper and onto the counter so they don't sit on the hot sheet pans and overcook.

A marriage made in heaven... Lyle's Golden Syrup and Howard the Gnome...

BUNCH OF BANANAS BREAD

I used the word "Bunch" in the name because this recipe takes 2-1/3 cups of mashed bananas, which is about 5 small to medium bananas... and when I have enough bananas that are too ripe to eat, and too many to just throw out, I like to make banana bread. I just don't bother for one or two bananas. (Don't tell my Grandma Warner, she never would let anything go to waste... She lived through the Great Depression, and would can 2 little jars of peaches before letting a few go bad. She also always sent you home with something she had just made. It would always be put in a sour cream container, or a recycled frozen dinner plate. It wasn't just food that didn't go to waste.)

I don't know how I ended up with this many bananas... in three stages. The ones on the bottom are still edible, though barely. The ones on the top will last a couple more days and are still good for smoothies, or freezing for ice cream (recipe to come in another post). But the bananas to the left were just too ripe, so they have been peeled and mashed for banana bread.

Ingredients:
2 cups flour

1 teas. Baking Soda

1 teas. salt

¾ cup brown sugar

½ cup oil

2-1/3 cups mashed ripe banana

½ teas. Cinnamon

1 teas. Vanilla

2 eggs (or egg substitute)

(Sugar in the Raw, or sanding sugar for topping)

Preheat over to 350°F. Mix ingredients together.

I cram the bananas into the measuring cup to get the right amount, but let the mixer actually mash them, then add the rest of the ingredients and mix together.

Oil and flour a 5”x9” loaf pan. I use the Pam for Baking because it has the oil and flour already mixed together and you just spray it on.

Spray the pan over the sink, otherwise you will be getting a sticky mess all over your counter, or floor, etc. The sink is easy to clean.

TIP: Wipe the cooking spray off the handles and sides of the pan, after you put the batter in but before you put it in the oven... it will bake on there and stick like glue to your pan... and Aunt Kathy won't be there with a razor blade to scrape it off for you... unless you take something to her in the pan and forget it at her house... then the pan will return to you spotless. 

After you pour the batter into your loaf pan and clean it up. Sprinkle sugar on top. I like the Sugar in the Raw, or Sanding Sugar, because it is big and crunchy.

Bake for 60 minutes or until stick comes out clean.