These biscuits are very easy to make, and can simply be mixed by hand.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Crunchy Peanut Butter (preferably without added salt and sugar)
• 1 cup Brown Sugar
• ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
• &frac14 teaspoon Salt
• 1 Egg, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Method

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
2. Shape mixture into 24 balls onto baking trays, allowing room for these to spread. Press flat with a fork.
3. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 180°C (350°F) in a pre-heated oven.
4. Let biscuits cool for 5 minutes on the baking tray before transferring them to a rack to completely cool.

These should be stored at room temperature in an airtight container.

Tips

1. I use baking paper to line the trays. The biscuits don't stick, and transfering them to the cooling racks is easier. The clean-up is easier too.
2. Spray your measurting cup with oil to make it easier to get the right amount of peanut butter.
3. Flour your fork to prevent it sticking when pressing these.

A pandowdy is a pie that focuses on the juicy, flavoursome fruit filling, not the pastry. It's basically a scruffy pie oozing with juicy goodness. Think of The Lady and the Tramp. The pandowdy is the loveable Tramp in the pie world.

To add to the scruffiness factor, during cooking, you cut into the pastry, letting the filling bubble over it. Some people cut the pastry before covering the filling, similar to a cobbler.

Ingredients (Filling)

• 450g (1lb) ripe fruit (Plums are great for the colour. I used apple and peach for the one in the photo)
• ¼ cup packed brown sugar
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon (Different fruit will benefit from a different mix of spices.)
• zest from 1 lemon (optional)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice (Substitute ½ tablespoon of cider vinegar if necessary. It help prevent the fruit discolouring.)
• pinch of salt
• ⅛ cup flour

Ingredients (Pie Topping)

• Cream Cheese Pie Crust (or other sweet pastry for the pie topping)
• Melted butter (for brushing on top)
• Cinnamon sugar (3 teaspoons sugar mixed with ¼ teaspoon cinnamon)

Method

1. Chop the fruit into bite-sized chunks, making sure you don't lose any of the juice. Depending on the fruit you may need to peel it. (I peeled the peaches but left the skin on the apples in the photo.)
2. Mix in the sugar, spices, zest, and juice.
3. Stir in the flour and salt.
4. Taste, adding any additional spices you need.
5. Pour into baking dish. (Works great in a cast-iron skillet. The pyrex dish I used is a bit too deep to show this off at its best.
6. Roll out pie crust and settle it over the fruit. Tuck the edges into the pan around the fruit.
7. Bruch top with melted butter and sprinkle it with the cinnamon sugar. Poke a few holes in the pastry to let stream escape.
8. Start by baking it for 30 minutes, then use a sharp knife to dowdy the crust into several parge pieces. Bake for another 20-30 minutes, until the crust is golden and the fruit juices are bubbling through the crust.
9. Allow to cool for about 20 minutes before serving

Serve with cream, ice-cream, or your favourite fruit pudding condiment.

is a very easy recipe, but do allow for chilling time. As with most pastries, ingredients should be very cold, and worked with quickly to prevent your hands warming the pastry up.

Ingredients

• 1¼ cups flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1½ teaspoons sugar (omit if making a savoury pie)
• 4oz (113g) cold butter
• 4oz (113g) cold cream cheese (I put it in the freezer for half an hour before using)
• 1 teaspoon cider vinegar (You won't taste this, it helps keep the crust tender.)
• 1-2 teaspoons cold (iced) water

Method

1. Combine the flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor
2. Cut the cream cheese and butter into large pieces and sprinkle into the flour mix.
3. Give the mixture 8-12 one-second pulses. The mixture should look like shaggy breadcrumbs.
4. Sprinkle the vinegar and some of the water over the dough. Process continuously until you see the dough starting to come together, about 3-5 seconds. It will still look crumbly with visible bits of butter and cream cheese. It should hold together when you pinch some in your hand. If it doesn't then add another teaspoon of water and process until it does come together.
5. Press dough into a flat 1 inch (2-3cm) disk or square roughly the shape (not size) of your pie dish.
6. Wrap dough in cling film and chill for at least 30 minutes.
7. Roll out your dough between sheets of cooking parchment until it is 3-6mm (⅛-¼ inches) thick.
8. Carefully place pastry over pie, pinching any broken bits together.
9. Chill pie for 30-60 minutes before baking. This step is not essential but helps make a better crust.
10. Bake in a moderately hot oven 40-60 minutes, depending on the filling.

I discovered this recipe at my local Cypriot cheese maker. The key is the base and you can always substitute your favourite fresh salsa as the topping. The photo shows just half the recipe.

Ingredients

• 250g Cream Cheese
• 250g Sour Cream
• 1 Red Onion, finely chopped
• 2 Tomatoes, finely chopped
• ½ Avocado, diced
• ½ Red Capsicum, finely diced
• ½ Yellow Capsicum, finely diced
• ½ cup Sweet Chilli Sauce
• 1 bunch Fresh Coriander, roughly chopped

Method

1. Mix cream cheese and sour cream together. Spread on platter.
2. Layer the red onion, tomatoes, capsicums, and avocado over the cream cheese and sour cream mixture.
3. Grind fresh pepper over the top
4. Drizzle the sweet chilli sauce over the top.
5. Sprinkle with the coriander and serve.

This dip is firm enough that you could serve it on a cake platter for great effect.
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