Matcha and Pistachio Cookies

Today February 19 is Chinese New Year. Happy New Year to all my readers who are celebrating. May this year of the Goat or Sheep bring you lots of happiness, health and prosperity. I decided to make some cookies for the occasion as I am going out for a celebratory meal with some friends so I wanted to make little gift bags. These are not traditional chinese new year cookies but I thought they would suit the occasion. It's a recipe that I saw online and I was intrigued by the flavour combination of matcha and pistachio. I also wanted something that was easy to transport and give as gifts. 

I love this recipe as it's so quick and easy to make and the results are fantastic. It's a mix all in one recipe (with a food processor) and you can keep the dough in the fridge until you are ready to bake. You can also freeze the dough and bake cookies when needed. I added a sprinkling of sesame seeds for aesthetic reasons and was really pleased with how it turned out. I also experimented with chia seeds but the sesame seeds looked better. 

The cookies are really buttery and crunchy and the predominant flavour is of the matcha powder. The pistachio complements the green tea flavour well and added a layer of texture to the cookie. The cookies are not sweet at all which helps the green tea flavour shine through. 

I'm sending this to Foodie Friday hosted by Helen from Casa Costello.

#FoodYearLinkup hosted by Charlotte from My Recipe Book. The link up is open to any foodie posts related to events in the Food Bloggers Calendar for February. These are for Chinese New Year. 

 plain flour, icing sugar, matcha powder , pistachips, butter, egg 

 dough wrapped in cling film. It should be a square shape but mine is quite uneven! 

 Optional toppings - sesame seeds or chia seeds 

 I love the vibrant green colour of the dough 

 I love how the sesame seeds look 

 little gift bags 

Makes 40-45 cookies depending on the size of your cookies

350g plain flour

15g Japanese matcha powder

250g unsalted butter, cut in cubes

150g icing sugar, sifted

1 egg, lightly beaten

50g pistachios nuts, lighty toasted - I'd suggest increasing the amount if you want a nuttier bake

Optional - sesame seeds or chia seeds 

• In a food processor, mix the flour, matcha powder, icing sugar and butter until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. 
• Add in the egg slowly and continue mixing. 
• Finally add in the pistachio nuts and blitx until a smooth dough forms.
• Roll the dough in a log or square shape and wrap in cling film.
• Refrigerate for a few hours or preferably overnight to allow the flavours to develop. 
• When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 200C.
• Slice the dough and arrange on a lined baking tray.
• Sprinkle with sesame seeds if using.
• Bake for approximately 13-15 minutes or until just brown.
• Allow to cool on the tray for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Nigella Christmas Cornflake Wreaths

This is a Nigella recipe which is simple yet effective. It's a fun project to do with the kids and they will absolutely love these as it's sweet and crunchy and cute! The Christmas sprinkles add a lovely festive touch. It's a no bake recipe that can be made up to a week ahead. It will also keep in the freezer for 3 months.  

I'm entering this to a few challenges this month

AlphaBakes which I am hosting this month and co host with Caroline from Caroline Makes. The letter this month is X for Xmas Cornflake Wreaths.

Tea Time Treats hosted by Kate from What Kate Baked and co-hosted by Karen from Lavender and Lovage. The theme this month is Festive Food Gifts.

Calendar Cakes hosted by Rachel from Dolly Bakes and co-hosted by Laura from Laura loves Cakes. The theme this month is Jingle Bell Rock.

Treat Petite hosted by Stuart from Cakeyboi and co-hosted by Kat from the Baking Explorer. The theme this month is Happy Holidays.

Four Seasons Food hosted by Anneli from Delicieux and Louisa from Eat your Veg. The theme this month is Party Food.

Let's Cook Christmas Party Food hosted by Nayna from Simply Food.

Biscuit Barrel Challenge hosted by Laura from I'd Much Rather Bake Than... The theme this month is Quick and Easy. These are not technically biscuits but they'd easily fit in a biscuit barrel :) 

Family Fodies hosted by Louisa from Eat Your Veg and Vanesther from Bangers & Mash. The theme this month is Kids Christmas and I'm sure most kids love cornflakes. They will also have fun making these with you.

Dead Easy Desserts hosted by Sarah from Maison Cupcake. This can definitely be prepared in under 30 minutes, excluding chilling time.

Secret Recipe Club Holiday Treats Party 

 cornflakes, mini marshmallows, vanilla extract, butter, sesame seeds, christmas sprinkles 

 Melt butter, then add marshmallows 

 add in crushed cornflakes and sesame seeds 

 shape into wreaths and add some christmas sprinkles 

Recipe is taken from Nigella Christmas page 210. If you do a google search for Nigella Christmas Cornflake wreaths, you can find the recipe online. 

Hamburger Cupcakes

This month's AlphaBakes hosted by Caroline from Caroline Makes is the letter 'H". If you don't already know, AlphaBakes is a monthly baking blogging challenge where we bake from a random letter each month. So far we have had L, M and B. For each of these letters, I could immediately think of a few things to bake but not this month! I came up with 2 ideas but wanted to challenge myself and make something slightly different. So I present you with H for Hamburger Cupcakes! Yes they look like hamburgers but are actually made from cake! Pretty cool, huh? 

I made a vanilla sponge for my 'burger buns' and a chocolate sponge for my 'burger meat'. I then coloured some leftover buttercream icing (from making my Jubilee mini cakes) red to look like ketchup and coloured dessicated coconut green to resemble lettuce. You can also make cheese and mustard if you like. 

 Vanilla cupcakes, chocolate cupcakes, green dessicated coconut, red buttercream icing, toasted sesame seeds. 

 Slice each vanilla cupcake in half horizontally

 Slice the chocolate cupcakes horizontally and place one piece of top of the vanilla cupcake

 Add a blob of "ketchup" (red buttercream icing)

 add your "lettuce" (green dessicated coconut)

 Top with your "burger bun" (sliced vanilla cupcake) Lightly brush the tops with water and sprinkle sesame seeds on top

 What do you think? Is it  hamburger? Is it a cake? It's a hamburger cupcake!! 

As mentioned in my previous post, Homemade by Fleur is running a Blogging Baking Jubilee Competition until 3rd June 2012.  There is an awesome prize of £100 Amazon vouchers kindly provided by Appliances Online.  I think these mini hamburger cupcakes are perfect for any party especially a Jubilee street party so I'm entering these to the competition. I couldn't resist getting my little flags out to make them look more Jubilee themed :) 

I used my favourite vanilla cupcake recipe to make the buns. I decided to use Nigella's Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake for the "burger meat" as my favourite chocolate cupcake recipe involved separating the eggs and beating the whites separately. I was quite short on time and had enough washing up to do so I looked for another recipe. It's a really simple all in one recipe and as Nigella says "If you're going to get started, this is the cake you should begin with" It was a really moist and delicious chocolate cake - I'm glad I had extra to munch on :) As it's a Nigella recipe, I'm also entering this to Forever Nigella #15  as the theme this month is The Jubilee. Forever Nigella is run by Sarah from Maison Cupcake and hosted this month by Nelly's Cupcakes.