If you've been visiting me for a while you will know that at my bridal shower in March I received a treasure trove of goodies from my wonderfully generous family and friends. Possibly the most special of all the gifts was my grandma's recipe hand-written recipes which was started by her mother-in-law making the book at least 50 years old.
Isn't it wonderful? It's even got old-school crazy diet plans in the back and what I swear is the original lemon detox diet that cost you the same as a bag of lemons instead of those expensive juice mixes you can buy (not that I would try it anyway I like food way too much).
It seems my sweet tooth has been generations in the making because although there are lots of savoury recipes in there, they are rather outweighed by their sweet counterparts. Last week I dived straight in and made the first recipe I found that I had the ingredients for.
Seeing as my family was from the bush, a lot of the recipe use household staples making me love it even more. The name of these little biscuits sucked me in too, isn't it cute? They're nice and easy to whip up and the perfect afternoon snack. I saved a few for myself and sent the rest off to Uni with my sister for a group assignment meeting because everyone knows sugar helps your brain.
This is a very simple recipe to throw together so it would be a good one for the kiddies. Start by beating the butter and sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer.
Add the egg and beat it through too.
Then add the flour, coconut and cocoa and mix them through until the batter comes together.
Use about a level tablespoon of dough at a time and roll it into balls. Lay them out on a lined baking tray leaving a couple of centimeteres between each one then press them down with the back of a fork.
Bake the coconutties for 10-15 minutes at 175C fan-forced.
Leave them to rest on the oven tray for 5 minutes.
Then transfer them over to a wire rack to cool completely. I'm sure someone will be able to explain this to me - the cookies on the tray all came out with smooth tops while the ones that were on top of the silicone mat cracked on top. Anyone know the reason?
A glass of milk would be the perfect accompaniment to these lovely little biccies.
I didn't realise when I was taking the photos that it looks so much like I've layed out biscuits for Santa. I'm looking forward to Christmas but not quite that eager. Enjoy!
What about you? Have you been handed down family recipes? Was your family full of sweet tooths too?
Recipe
Ingredients
- 125 g butter softened
- ½ cup caster sugar
- 1 tablespoon cocoa
- 1 cup self-raising flour
- 1 cup desicated coconut
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 175C fan-forced and line two baking trays with paper
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar.
- Add the egg and mix it in.
- Add the coconut and sifted cocoa then the flour and mix until combined.
- Roll the dough into balls using about a level tablespoon of dough at a time.
- Place the balls on the baking trays leaving a few centimeters between each one.
- Press down the tops with a fork.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes.
- Leave to cool for 5 minutes on the trays and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
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The Café Sucré Farine says
Okay, the cookies look wonderful but I'm just flipping over your photos Miss Sweet Claire, you are getting so GOOD! Very, very pretty! What do you use for that cool lettering!?
Claire says
Aww thanks Chris! I just edit the photos the preview and I download a lot of pretty free fonts.
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella says
Didn't people have the most beautiful penmanship! Mine is terrible and I'm sure it doesn't really exist with all of the computers. I can imagine what a treasure gift that book would be! :D
Claire says
Oh I know! I wish I had beautiful writing.
Maureen | Orgasmic Chef says
I'd be in heaven with a cookbook like that. I have a few recipes from my mother and several from my dad and every time I use them I look at their handwriting and feel close. I have several cookbooks identical to the ones my mother had. When she died my sister got most of the stuff because it's just too expensive to ship out here.
I have no idea why the silicone does that to the cookies but I've seen it happen to me so I know it does. If you find out why, blog it.
Claire says
I am Maureen! Oh that's sad that you couldn't bring some out. I hope your sister is making the most of them!
Don't worry I will!
Kristin says
I do the same thing with my old recipes. I have beautiful aprons from my Great Aunt and Great Grandmother, so wearing those at the same time takes me to a whole new level of weird Christine!
Claire says
We're not weird! We're unique!
Hotly Spiced says
What perfect little cookies. They are so uniform in size. xx
Claire says
Thanks Charlie! Perfection isn't one of my strong points when it comes to baking so I always like it when something turns out close!
Christine @ Cooking Crusade says
mmm chocolate and coconut are such a good combination :) i love passed down recipes! you know they'll always be amazing and i really feel connected to my relatives and imagine being in a 1950s style kitchen writing it down and baking away (that could be me being slightly weird though. haha)
Claire says
Not at all Christine that's exactly what I'm like. It's like being transported!