Unseasonal fun and cinnadoodles

My most used Chef's Toolbox purchase has been the gingerbread house mold. I don't know when gingerbread houses became a Christmassy tradition in Australia, they certainly weren't when I was a child, but they are a must for our Christmas build up. I offered to make one for Kristy and Jack but there was no time before they went away so we flew in the face of recent tradition and made one on Wednesday.

Bethany and Jack, though not the same age, play together very well and put their lolly expertise to good use. They were particularly strong on quality control, making sure the smarties and freckles were of the best quality throughout the process.

I wielded the piping bag while Kristy manned the camera. It is a messy job, at least it is when I do it.

Ta da! I especially like the hat on the gingerbread lady and the wig on the pine (not Christmas) tree.

Of course, we had to have something for morning tea before we undertook the strenuous job of assembly and decoration. So, we had cinnadoodles. They are, apparently, snickerdoodles with cinnamon chips. I didn't know what a snickerdoodle was, it sounds like a cross between a Snickers bar and a poodle (people are crossing poodles with everything these days) but it is just a biscuit.

There is no cinnamon in the biscuit mixture itself, which caused a moment of concern until I opened the packet of cinnamon chips - whoa they're powerfully cinnamon.

I reduced the amount of sugar (they were still very, very sweet) but otherwise followed this recipe exactly. They are awfully nice. Crunchy and chewy and very cinnamony, a little bit like a macaroon - not a macaron, I'll be tackling those soon.....