A little dash of rum...

There are so many lovely recipe websites out there, but none so good as my favourite BBCGoodFood. They have lots of simple, yet gorgeous recipes that I love. I found this particular recipe when I was looking for Mexican Wedding Cookies. I certainly didn't need any encouragement to even try this recipe as it included RUM.

I simply couldn't keep my hands off the dough. I pinched away at it and it of course, found its merry way into my mouth! The flavour of rum is strongest before the actual baking (ahem... hence my pinching) and very mild in the finished biscuit. Perhaps an extra tablespoon of rum the next time I try this recipe? Let's see. The Toad loved them, so I just might make some more tomorrow... with the extra dose. Cheers!

Little Almond Cookies (or Rum Biscuits as I personally like to call them)

Adapted from BBCGoodFood

50g almond nibs, toasted

100g butter, softened

2 tablespoons castor sugar

1 tablespoon dark rum

140g - 175g plain flour

Vanilla seeds, scrapped from 1 vanilla pod

Icing sugar, to coat

1. Preheat the oven at 140 Celsius. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. Cream butter, sugar, vanilla seeds and rum about 1 minute with an electric mixer.
3. Gently fold in the flour until mixed through. (I only needed 140g of plain flour)
4. Gently fold in the toasted almond nibs.
5. Bring it together into a soft dough.
6. Roll dough between sheets of plastic to about 4 - 5mm thick.
7. Using a biscuit cutter, cut out small circles and place onto the lined baking tray.
8. Bake at 150 Celsius for about 20 - 25 minutes until the biscuit is just set with a tiny bit of browning along the edges. Remove from the oven.
9. While still hot, coat in icing sugar. Let them cool completely on wire racks. Once cool, coat in icing sugar again.
10. Store in an air-tight container or wrapped up individually in tissue/glass paper for a more fancy look.

Lime Meltaways

They're beautiful aren't they these snow-dusted lovelies? Reminds me of Christmas. The flavour is all at once sweet, slightly mouth-puckeringly-sour from the lime juice and melts in your mouth. I've made them more than a few times over the years. So here's the recipe and a big thanks to Martha Stewart for it!

Note: I've changed the original cup measurements to metric as I prefer to weigh my ingredients for consistent results.

Lime Meltaways

Adapted from Martha Stewart

180g butter, softened

100g icing sugar, sifted

225g plain flour, sifted

15g cornflour, sifted

1/4 teaspoon salt

Zest from 3 limes

2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lime juice

1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence

1/2 teaspoon sweetened lime paste (optional)

Green food colouring (optional)

Icing sugar, to coat

1. Cream salt, butter and icing sugar about 2 minutes with electric mixer.
2. Add in lime zest, vanilla, lime paste and juice. Mix about 1 minute.
3. Gently fold in by hand the plain flour and cornflour.
4. Add tiny drops of green food colouring into the dough  mixing gently until you achieve the intensity of colour you like, then stop.
5. Divide the dough and roll in two separate pieces of baking paper. Twist the ends close and leave it in the fridge for 2 hours or overnight.
6. Preheat oven to 150 Celsius. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
7. Remove a roll from the fridge and cut  into slices with a sharp knife. Place slices on the lined baking tray, leaving some space in between each one as they will expand a bit. (Leave the remaining roll in the fridge for the time being)
8. Put the baking tray into the oven and bake for about 20 - 30  minutes until the edges of the biscuits just turn a little brown. Remove from the oven and let it cool on wire racks.
9. Continue with the remaining roll in the fridge or leave it for a biscuit craving later in the week.
10. Once cool, coat in icing sugar on all sides, place in paper cases and store in an air-tight container.