Date & Banana Biscotti

I was in the mood for a crisp, crunchy biscuit to munch on and I soon realised that the obvious choice was biscotti. I hunted in my cupboards searching for flavour inspiration and found a bag of dried banana chips that I bought a few weeks back. I decided they would be perfect, as not only would they add a nice banana flavour but were also already dried meaning they would keep indefinitely. Hmmm what goes well with banana?.... ah yes of course, dates! And so my biscotti was made.

The shards of banana chips added a great crunch to the biscotti and a nice subtle banana flavour, while the dates resulted in little pockets of chewy treacleyness which I loved. The dough is quite soft and sticky to work with but results in a light and crunchy biscotti yet are still soft enough to eat on their own without fear of breaking your teeth. I found they were also delicious dipped into hot custard, what can I say, I wanted something to eat with my custard.

The nature of biscotti means they keep very well, making them ideal treats to send through the post to friends and relatives. I also love how adaptable they are, meaning you can make them to what you have on hand or to what suits the recipients taste. Be warned through, they can be quite addictive…munch munch.

Date & Banana Biscotti
Ingredients
50g butter
120g caster sugar
2 eggs
100g dates
50g dried banana chips
1 tsp vanilla extract
300g plain flour
1½ baking powder

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a large baking tray with greaseproof paper and set to one side.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one.
Chop the dates into small pieces and roughly brake up the banana chips using your fingers. Mix into the butter mixture along with the vanilla.
Sift over the flour and baking powder and work together until well incorporated.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface (it will be quite soft and sticky). Dust your hands with flour and divide the dough in half and shape each half into a log shape.
Place onto the baking tray and bake for 25 minutes, until lightly golden brown and slightly puffed.
Remove the logs from the oven and reduce the temperature to 150C.
Spray the tops of the logs with a thin shower of water and allow them to cool for 10 minutes. (Spraying them with water helps keep the tops soft and gives a cleaner cut).
Cut the logs into 1cm slices, on a slight diagonal. Lay the slices onto the baking tray and return to the oven for 10 minutes.
Then flip the slices over and bake for a further 10 minutes.
Once lightly golden and crisp, transfer the biscotti to a wire wrack to cool. Repeat the process with any left over biscotti slices.
They will keep for several weeks if stored in an airtight container.
Makes around 40 biscotti.

Hazelnut Shortbread Stars

Every Christmas I like to make an assortment of cookies, truffles, preserves and cakes to give away as gifts. Among the usual suspects of biscotti, oat cookies, coffee truffles and peanut butter balls I decided I wanted to include a nutty cookie. I found a recipe for walnut shortbread that I though sounded perfect, but as always, I tweaked it to fit my own preferences. I chose to use hazelnuts in place of the walnuts, a nut I am getting more and more fond of. I also decided to toast the ground hazelnut to enhance their nuttiness. A small dash of cinnamon added a warming note and as it was Christmas, I cut the shortbreads into stars instead of circles.

The dough for these shortbreads was a little tricky to work with, as it was very crumbly. I ended up adding a few teaspoons of water to help it stick together, to no ill effect. I was a little surprised at the suggested baking time, but they do need this long as the oven temperature is quite cool meaning they bake and turn crisp without turned too brown.

I was really pleased how the cookies turned out. They were just as shortbread should be, buttery without being greasy; crumbly in texture and just firm enough so they didn’t disintegrate when you take a bite and yet still melt in your mouth. The toasted hazelnut flavour really came through and added a nutty crunch and speckled appearance which I loved. These shortbreads ended up being my favourite cookie this Christmas, I will definitely be making these again.

Hazelnut & Cinnamon Shortbread Stars
Recipe adapted from Delia Smith
Ingredients
50g hazelnuts (whole or pre-ground)
110g butter
50g caster sugar
175g plain flour
50g rice flour or cornflour
½ tsp cinnamon
4 tsp water (only use if mix too dry)

Method
Preheat the oven to 150C and grease a large baking sheet.
Pulse the hazelnuts in a food processor until finely ground (or use pre-ground)
Scatter the ground hazelnuts over a tray (not the greased one) and place into the oven to turn lightly golden, only 2-3 minutes. Keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t burn. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Cream and butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add all the other ingredients and work the mixture together until it forms a smooth, yet still crumbly dough. Add the water, a teaspoon at a time, if the dough is so crumbly that it won’t stick together.
Wrap the dough in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
After chilling, cut the dough in half and roll out on a lightly floured surface until 4mm thick. It will still be crumbly, but after rolling the dough just smooth any cracks with your hands.
Cut out stars, or other shapes, using a cutter and place onto the greased baking tray.
Repeat with the remaining dough.
Bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes until lightly golden brown and crisp.
Transfer the shortbreads to a wire wrack to cool.
Makes around 35 stars.

Date & Ginger Flapjack

Sorry for not updating for a few days but I have spent the week working at another site in a different part of the country which means I have been without my computer for 5 days. I really enjoyed seeing how the different site operated and I got to stay in a nice hotel, travel around in taxies and order room service for the first time in my life which was quite fun and made me feel rather important, however I really missed reading my collection food blogs that I check daily. I have come home and feel so out of touch with what everyone’s been up to.

Anyway, back to flapjacks. These flapjacks were last weeks work treat. They only took 10 minutes preparation work and then they were in the oven and baked in under an hour, making them perfect for when you are short of time and want a sweet treat. Flapjacks are very versatile and take well to a wide assortment of additions, but are also great left au natural. I chose to add dates and ginger to mine, two flavours I always associate with this time of year. The ginger added a lovely warmth and the dates resulted in little pockets of sticky treacley fruitiness that worked really well. I chose to use a mixture of jumbo and regular oats as I like the more wholesome texture they give, but using just rolled oats is fine.

I like my flapjack with a crisp surface and a soft sticky centre, but if you prefer very crisp flapjack then just increase the baking time by 12-16 minutes. They went down very well at work and have the added bonus of being gluten free. They could also easily be made Vegan or dairy free, meaning they are ideal for almost everyone.

Date & Ginger Flapjack
Ingredients
110g light soft brown sugar
110g butter
1 tbsp golden syrup
75g jumbo porridge oats
100g rolled porridge oats
½ tsp ground ginger
60g dates

Method
Grease and line the base of an 8inch/20cm circular cake tin and set to one side. Preheat the oven to 150C.
Chop the dates into smallish pieces and place into a saucepan along with the sugar, butter, golden syrup and ground ginger.
Heat gently until the butter has melted, the sugar has dissolved and everything has become smooth and well combined.
Immediately tip the oats into the pan and stir so that the oats get evenly coated in the sticky mixture.
Quickly press the flapjack mixture into the prepared cake tin, pressing down so the surface is even.
Bake for 40-45 minutes until lightly golden.
The flapjack will be soft when you remove it from the oven but firms up on cooling.
Leave for 10 minutes before running a knife around the edge of the tin to prevent it from sticking to the sides and mark the flapjack into triangles.
Leave to cool completely before removing from the tin and cutting into the scored segments.
Makes 8 – 12 pieces depending on size.

Chocolate Soft Centers

These are yummy, rich, chocolaty cookies that comprise of a light soft dough encasing a morsel of chocolate. When still warm from the oven, the chocolate in the centre is molten, gooey and gorgeous. After cooling, the chocolate turns truffly rather than returning to its solid state, meaning you have a wonderfully indulgent cookie whatever state they are eaten.

I decided to make these for the Monday Munchers at work as it had been a while since I had given them anything chocolaty. They were very much enjoyed, especially when they discovered that the chocolate returned to molten gooeyness when heated gently in the microwave for a few seconds.

You can make them with either white, milk or dark chocolate, although I personally think that dark or milk chocolate works best. I have also used a small blob of marzipan in the centers before, which give a fantastic chocolate almond flavour. However, although the centers were soft, they were not quite as indulgent as chocolate.

Chocolate Soft Centers
Ingredients
200g butter
200g light soft brown sugar
1 egg
350g plain flour
3 tbsp cocoa powder
100g block milk or dark chocolate, between 35% - 60% depending on your taste.

Method
Preheat the oven to 190C and line two baking trays with greaseproof paper and set to one side.
Put the butter and sugar into a large bowl and beat together until light and fluffy.
Add the egg and beat well until incorporated.
Sift over the flour and cocoa powder and mix together using a spatula until the mixture begins to form a dough. Then use your hands to form a ball.
Wrap the dough in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for 20-30minutes to firm up.
Divide the dough roughly in half, making one half slightly bigger than the other.
Dust a work surface with flour and roll out the smaller half of the dough until 4mm thick and cut out 4cm rounds.
Place the rounds on the prepared baking sheets.
Cut the dark chocolate into small pieces and place a piece of chocolate onto the top of each dough circle.
Roll out the larger half of the dough and cut out 5cm rounds. Place the bigger dough circles on top of the chocolate bottoms and press the edges together to form a mould encasing the chocolate.
Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes until slightly crackled and firm.
Allow to cool on the baking trays for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire wrack to cool.
Eat whilst still warm for a rich melting gooey chocolate center or allow to cool for a more truffly center.
Makes around 30 cookies

Spooky Halloween Gingerbread

Woooooooo! It’s Halloween.

Despite not ever really celebrating Halloween I do enjoy the chance it gives me to get creative and make some spooky themed treats. Last year I decorated some gingerbread men to look like skeletons for my family and I had such fun drawing on their bones with royal icing that I decided to do the same this year for the Monday Munchers at work.

After cutting out a few gingerbread men I began wondering what else I could do to fit in with the Halloween theme. They only other cutters I had were round but I cut out some circles and decided I could always draw/pipe spooky characters on top of them once baked. This worked well and I ended up with:
Skeletons











Zombies

Pumpkins, ghosts and spiders

The biscuits have a lovely autumnal warming smell and taste, as not only do they contain ginger but also cinnamon and a pinch of cayenne pepper to add a lingering warmth. They are crisp and a little brittle once baked but after a few hours they soften to a give a firm and slightly chewy biscuit. They were a huge success at work. At first people thought they were ordinary gingerbread men but they got very excited when they realised they were skeletons and pumpkins.

This poor zombie looks rather startled to have lost his leg.

Another treat I had intended to make but never got round to was dead mans finger cookies. These involve making the same vanilla dough hat is used to make vanilla crescent cookies, only this time you shape them into individual finger shapes and insert a slivered almond into the tip to look like a fingernail. You can also add knuckle detail using a fine skewer or cocktail and once baked you have pale, soft finger cookies. Imagine being offered one of those with your coffee, creepy.

However you choose to celebrate Halloween I hope you have a good time.

Spooky Halloween Gingerbread
Ingredients
400g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
2½ tsp ground ginger
1tsp cinnamon
Pinch cayenne pepper
160g butter
130g caster sugar
3 tbsp golden syrup
1 egg

Method
Sift the flour, baking powder and spices into a large bowl. Chop the butter into cubes and add to the flour along with the caster sugar.
Rub everything together using the tips of your fingers, as if you were making crumbles, until no large clumps of butter are left and everything is well mixed.
Mix in the egg and the golden syrup with a butter knife and then work it into a ball using your hands.
Warp in cling film and place ion the fridge to firm up for at least 30 minutes.
Meanwhile preheat the oven to 180C and line a large baking tray with greaseproof paper.
Cut the dough in half (just because it’s easier to work with) and roll out until around 5mm thick.
Cut out your shapes of choice, place on the baking tray and bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown. Transfer to a wire wrack to cool and continue cutting and baking more biscuits with the rest of the dough.
Once cool, decorate in your style of choice using either royal icing or melted chocolate. Allow the icing to set before storing in an airtight container.
I made 24 spooky biscuits.


Just for fun I played around with one of my photos and managed to make the background go black. This made the icing on the biscuits really stand out and made the skeletons look REALLY spooky.

P.S. I emailed my pics to work and came in early - thankfully they uploaded - Yay!

Mums ‘Foolproof’ Shortbread Biscuits

Apologies for not having posted for a while. This week I was hit by that nasty flu/cold virus that appears around this time of year. I’ve had lot of soup and hot drinks and am now feeling almost ‘normal’ again.

A few days ago I received an email from Luisa who asked me if I had any recipes for shortbread that could be made into mince pies. I think it’s a little early to start making mince pies but by a freaky coincidence I had chosen to make shortbread biscuits for works Monday Munchers.

The recipe is from my Mum and one that she got off the back of a packet of Stork margarine when at university. They are so quick to make and I have memories of her baking them when she was expecting friends round for morning coffee. They are called foolproof as they always produce nice crispy biscuits even if you over handle the dough a bit. However, I’m sure you could use butter instead for a more authentic shortbread.

The dough comes together in your hands in under 10minutes and is easy to roll out and stamp biscuits from. The dough resembles pastry in its qualities and I’m certain it would lend itself very well to little pies or tarts. It produces a crisp, crunchy biscuit with a slightly crumbly texture. It also takes well to the addition of choc chips, currants or vanilla.

So Luisa, give this recipe a try and let me know what you think. If you were wanting more of a soft, crumbly shortbread for your mince pies I have found some other recipes that look promising and have attached the links at the bottom of the page.

Mums ‘Foolproof’ Shortbread Biscuits
Ingredients
4oz (105g) Stork margarine
6oz (175g) plain flour
2 oz (55g) caster sugar
Add choc chips or currants if desired.

Method
Preheat the oven to 150C.
Place all the ingredients into a bowl and rub them together using your fingers.
When mostly combined and clumps start to form, work/kneed the dough into a ball.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to around 5mm thick, and cut out rounds, re-rolling any excess dough.
Place on baking sheet and scatter over a little extra caster sugar.
Bake for 30 - 40 minutes until ever so lightly golden at the edges.
Transfer to a wire wrack to cool.
Makes 12-14 biscuits.

Cranberry Mince Pies by Gordon Ramsay:

Mini Mince Pies made using ground almonds in the pastry by Waitrose Magazine:

Shortbread Pastry by Heston Blumenthal from The Guardian Newspaper:

Shortbread Pastry Banana Tarts from Organic Milk Suppliers Cooperative:

Peanut Butter & Cranberry Cookies

Now you may read that title and think “Urgh, what a weird combination is that?” but please bear with me. I was reading through one of my new favourite cookbooks (The Professional Pastry Chef by Bo Friberg) when I came to a recipe for peanut butter, raisin and dark chocolate cookies. I pondered the recipe for a while and decided to remove the dark chocolate as I wanted a pure peanutty taste. However I then didn’t fancy the idea of the raisins with the peanut butter and so I decided to replace them with dried cranberries instead. My thoughts behind this was that the cranberries would be sweet, jammy and slightly sharp and so would add a fun twist of the famous American combination of peanut butter and jelly.

The cookies themselves have a wonderful light buttery texture and the peanut flavour really comes through. I used crunchy peanut butter for extra crunch and depth of flavour. The cranberries nestle among the dough and work wonderfully with the peanut flavour, adding little bursts of fruitiness with every bite. People at work were a little skeptical of the combination at first but they were loved after the first bite.

The cookies have a crisp outer edge immediately after baking but this softens within a couple of hours to give a moist, soft and slightly chewy cookie.

I made the cookies quite small by using a teaspoon to measure out the dough but I expect they would be just as good made into normal sized cookies or even mega cookies.

Peanut Butter & Cranberry Cookies
(Recipe adapted from The Professional Pastry Chef by Bo Friberg)
Ingredients
115g butter
115g caster sugar
70g soft light brown sugar
115g crunchy peanut butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
180g strong plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
50g dried cranberries

Method
Preheat the oven to 185C and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
Cream together the butter, both sugars and peanut butter in a bowl until smooth.
Add the egg and the vanilla and beat until well incorporated.
Sift over the flour and baking powder and add the dried cranberries.
Beat together for as short a time as possible, until the flour has been incorporated.
Using a teaspoon, place little mounds of the dough onto the baking tray, leaving an inch gap between them. (I got 15 on one tray). Flatten the dough slightly using your fingertips.
Bake in the oven for 9-12 minutes until lightly golden brown.
Allow to cool and firm up on the tray for 3 minutes, before transferring to a wire wrack.
Repeat with the remaining cookie dough.
Makes 40 cookies.

Fig Filled Oaty Squares

Apologies for not updating for so long, things had been a little hectic and stressful recently but I think things are all sorted out now.

These oaty squares are very quick and simple to make. They are not much to look at but the texture and flavour make up for their less than photogenic properties. They basically involve a sticky, chunky fig puree sandwiched between two oaty layers.

The oaty layers are firm and crumbly, slightly reminiscent of shortbread and they are the perfect carrier for the sticky fig centre. The figs themselves are dried figs which mean they add a lovely sticky sweetness and a great texture and crunch from the tiny seeds contained within them.

They have a healthy yet satisfying feel to them. The perfect snack for beating the morning munchies, full of fibre and slow release energy while still being sweet enough to feel like a treat. They were the treat of choice for the Monday Munchers this week and were indeed munched on happily.

Other dried fruit fillings work well, as long as they are sticky. Dried peaches, apricots or prunes would be perfect. They are traditionally made with dates and are then known as Memorial Bars (although I’m not sure why).

Fig Filled Oaty Squares
Ingredients
250g ready to eat dried figs
200ml water
1 tsp vanilla extract
160g rolled oats
120g plain flour
115g soft brown sugar
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp cinnamon
120g butter

Method
Grease and base and sides of an 8inch/20cm square cake tin (loose bottom preferably) and line completely with greaseproof paper.
Preheat the oven to 170C.
Chop the figs into small pieces using a pair of scissors. Place into a saucepan along with the water and vanilla and bring to the boil.
Allow to bubble for around 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until most of the water has evaporated and the mixture has become sticky, thick and pureed.
Remove from the heat and set to one side.
Place the oats, flour, sugar, baking powder and cinnamon into a large mixing bowl.
Chop the butter into squares and rub through the dry mixture, using your fingers, until well incorporated. The mixture should be starting to stick together in small clumps.
Press half of this oaty mixture into the base of the tin and press down firmly.
Spread the cooled fig mixture over the surface and of the oaty layer before scattering over the remainder of the oat mixture and gently pressing down until firm.
Place into the oven for 30-35 minutes until firm and turning lightly golden brown.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for half an hour before un moulding. Then allow to cool completely for a couple of hours before slicing, as this will help prevent the bars from crumbling.
Cut into 16 squares and store in an airtight container.

Cranberry & Blueberry Biscotti

I made these recently to send home to my grandmother for her Birthday. Biscotti are the ideal biscuits to send through the post as they are fairly sturdy meaning the receiver doesn’t open the parcel to reveal a heap of crumbs. The other bonus to biscotti is that there are numerous variations meaning you can always adapt it to the recipients taste.

The biscotti were very easy to make. The most time consuming thing is the double baking. For this variation, I decided to use dried cranberries and blueberries which added a lovely scattering of colour against the biscotti’s pale background. They also added a nice chew and the vanilla flavour complemented them well too. They turned out crisp, but not teeth-breakingly brittle. They are great to munch on as they are or dipped into a hot drink, creamy dessert or sweet desert wine.

Cranberry & Blueberry Biscotti
Ingredients
60g butter
150g caster sugar
2 eggs
40g dried cranberries
40g dried blueberries
1 tsp vanilla extract
300g plain flour
1½ tsp baking powder

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a large baking tray with greaseproof paper and set to one side.
Place the butter and sugar together in a bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well until well incorporated.
Stir in the cranberries, blueberries and vanilla.
Scatter the flour and baking powder over the surface of the mixture and beat it in until no flour streaks remain.
Dust the top of a work surface well with flour and turn the dough out. (It will probably be quite soft and sticky).
Dust you hands with flour and divide the dough in half. Shape each half into a log-like shape and place onto the baking tray.
Bake in the oven for 25 minutes until slightly puffed up and golden brown on top. Reduce the oven temperature to 150C.
Allow to cool for 10 minutes before slicing into 1cm slices. (If sliced at a slight angle you get more decoratively shaped biscotti)
Lay cut side down back on the baking tray, you will probably have to do one log at a time.
Return to the oven for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven and flip the biscotti over so that the other cut side is no facing upwards. Place back in the oven for a further 10 minutes.
Once, lightly browned and crisp, transfer to a wire wrack to cool and bake the second batch.
Once completely cooled they will keep well if stored in an airtight container.

Makes around 31 biscotti.

Double Ginger - Gingerbread Cookies

These cookies were this weeks offering to the Monday Munchers at work. I don’t know what persuaded me to make ginger cookies this week, as although I like gingerbread and cake I’m not really a fan of ginger cookies.

I adapted this recipe from one of my favourite blogs ‘Culinary in the Desert’ and I think it was reading about their description of the cookies that made me decide to give them a go. I am so glad I did as these cookies are absolutely divine! To give them my own touch I added in some mixed spice and used black treacle in place of the molasses, as well as reducing the sugar content. I also used an ice cream scoop to measure out the cookies and as I result I ended up with 14 thick, soft, chewy, cake like cookies. Very different to the 40!!! stated in the original recipe.

The cookies themselves have a crisp edge to them when first baked which yields to a soft, slightly chewy middle that has the texture of gingerbread, helped no doubt my their thickness. Overnight these cookies loose their crispy edge, turning them more cake than cookie but in some respects this made them even better. They have a wonderful gingery spicy flavour and the black treacle lends a lovely richness and moistness too. The little nuggets of crystallized ginger buried within the cookie adds an extra burst of flavour every time you bite into one. The surface of the cookies has a lovely crackled appearance, making them even more appealing. Their smell, taste and texture is just amazing and they were instantly devoured at work (even before lunchtime). I urge you to make them, so simple and yet so delicious. Many thanks to Joe at ‘Culinary in the Desert’ for the original recipe.

Double Ginger - Gingerbread Cookies
Recipe adapted from ‘Culinary in the Desert’ blog
Ingredients
250g plain flour
2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp mixed spice

150g butter or margarine
180g granulated sugar

1 egg

45g / 1 tbsp black treacle

60g crystallized ginger

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a large baking tray with greaseproof paper and set to one side.In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar together using an electric hand mixer until fluffy.
Beat in the egg until well incorporated. Chop the crystallized ginger into small pieces using a pair of scissors and stir through the batter along with the black treacle.
Scatter the flour, baking powder, ground ginger and mixed spice over the batter and beat together until just combined.
Using an old fashioned ice cream scoop, or a tablespoon, take equal amounts of the cookie batter and place onto the baking tray about 2inch/5cm apart. (Form the dough into balls first if using a tbsp).
Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes until puffy and golden brown on top.
Allow to cool for a few minutes and then transfer to a cooling wrack.
Bake more cookies using the rest of the dough on a fresh piece of greaseproof paper.
Allow to cool completely before storing in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Makes 14 very thick cookies.

Granola Bars

These have got to be my favourite oaty flapjack style bars. They have a crisp golden surface with a soft, moist and slightly chewy underneath. They look and taste very wholesome thanks to the addition of the nuts, seeds and fruit all held together with oats and honey making them taste wonderful. They are also wheat free (and possibly gluten free too depending on whether you consider oats to contain gluten or not). As long as you stick to the quantities of fruit, nuts or seeds used, you can very the type of e.g. fruit, to suit your own tastes (or just use what needs using up in the cupboard like I did).

Depending on the variety of honey you use, you can end up with boldly fragrant or delicate tasting bars. I used two different types of oats to add a bit of texture and the cinnamon helps bring all the flavours together without being too obvious.

The mixture is very sticky before baking and can be quite hard to smooth out evenly. After experimenting with a wooden spoon, fingers and a potato masher I found the back of a large metal spoon, that had been wiped with oil, the easiest method. These are great for a mid afternoon snack or a breakfast on the run as the honey and oats will provide you with a prolonged release of energy. I made these to take into work for the Monday Munchers where they were happily devoured.

Granola Bars

Ingredients
150g butter or margarine
150g honey
200g soft brown sugar
350g rolled oats (I used a mixture of porridge and jumbo oats)
1 tsp cinnamon
40g whole almonds with skin on
30g hazelnuts
50g dried cranberries
75g dried apricots
50g prunes
50g raisins
30g pumpkin seeds
30g sunflower seeds
50g ground almonds

Method
Preheat the oven to 190C. Line a 20cm x 30cm and 2cm deep baking tray with foil. Then brush the foil with vegetable oil and set to one side.
It is best to prepare all of the ingredients before you begin. Weight out the oats, ground almonds and cinnamon into a bowl. Roughly chop the nuts so they are still in fairly big pieces and add to the oats along with the seeds.
Weigh out the dried fruits and chop into raisin sized pieces using a pair of scissors and add to the bowl
Put the butter, honey and sugar into a large saucepan and heat gently until the butter has melted. Stir everything together until smooth.
Increase the heat and bring the mixture to the boil for two minutes, stirring all the time. (It will bubble up so be careful)
Remove from the heat and quickly add all the other ingredients and stir together in a folding motion, making sure everything gets evenly distributed and covered in the caramel.
Tip onto the baking tray and smooth out into an even layer.
Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes until nicely golden brown. You may need to turn your tray around half way through depending on your oven.
Remove from the oven, it will still be very soft as this stage but it firms up a lot on cooling.
Allow to cool completely before inverting onto a board, removing the foil and slicing into bars or squares.
I cut mine into 5cm x 7cm pieces and I got 28 bars.
Keep in an airtight container with clingfilm between each layer to prevent them sticking together.

Jammy Thumbprint Cookies

Last weekend, I had a few of the oaty orange and cranberry cookies I made for fathers’ day left over and so I took them into work on Monday. They were pounced on and much enjoyed by everyone and I was asked (rather jokingly) if I could bring cookies into work every Monday. Never being one to miss the opportunity to do some baking, I happily agreed. These thumbprint cookies were this weeks offering for the Monday Munchies.

This recipe is originally meant to be turned into small sandwich cookies but I decided to adapt it into thumbprint cookies instead. They are a kind of cookie/cake cross as they remain very soft and tender with quite a crumbly texture and a flavour that reminded me of shortbread. They are incredibly light and remain very pale after baking. The jam adds a boost of flavour and sweetness and adds a nice sticky texture with complements the crumbly/cakey base. I used two jams, an apple and blueberry jam I made last summer and the strawberry jam I made in the previous post.

They are not the most attractive cookies to look, with their slightly cracked surface and jammey splodges and I nearly didn’t take them into work at all, slightly ashamed at their messiness. However, there was no way I could eat the lot myself and so I decided to take them in anyway. I needn’t have worried, they were greeted with great approval and people even came back for seconds (always a good sign). Throughout the morning we kept getting people visiting our office with the words “I hear someone’s been baking.” They also brought back fond memories for one person who exclaimed “these are just like what my grandmother used to bake when I was a girl.” They soon disappeared and to me this only goes to show that despite the huge variety of biscuits and cookies available in the shops these days, nothing beats a bit of home baking. I think I’m going to have to make a bigger batch for next Monday.

Jammy Thumbprint Cookies
Recipe adapted from ‘Rachel’s favourite food’ at home by Rachel Allen
Ingredients
155g self raising flour
125g corn flour
50g icing sugar
225g butter or margarine
½ tsp vanilla
Jam of your choice

Method
Heat an oven to 160C.
Sift all the dry ingredients into a bowl and add the butter and vanilla.
Cream everything together until combined. At first it may seem too dry but work with it and it will suddenly start to come together. Use your hands to incorporate the last few scraps of flour.
Brake off walnut sized chunks of dough and roll into balls.
Place on an un-greased baking tray and press your thumb into the top of the dough ball to create a hollow.
Add ½ tsp of jam into each of the hollows, but don’t overfill.
Place in the oven and bake for 12-14 minutes, until slightly puffed up. They should remain very pale in colour.
Leave them to cool for only a minute or two before transferring them to a cooling wrack with the help of a palette knife.
They will firm up slightly on cooling but will remain very soft.
Makes 16 cookies.

Orange, Cranberry & Ginger Oaties

This is the recipe I made a few weeks back, with just a few alterations to give a different twist. I baked these to post off to my dad for Fathers Day. I wanted a biscuit that would travel well and not turn up as crumbs. I thought these thick, soft cookies would fit the bill perfectly, plus they are more ‘manly’ looking than some other types of biscuit.

Orange and cranberry is a classic combination and I decided to add some ground ginger to give an extra depth of flavour. When they were baking they gave off the most wonderful spiced fruity aroma that reminded me very strongly of Christmas. Not really appropriate for this time of year but lovely nonetheless. The smell permeated through the whole house and greeted me hours later, when I opened the front door, after going into town.

They turn a lovely golden colour and are light and fairy soft in texture, with a slight chew similar to flapjacks. Crisp and slightly crumbly on the outside with little pockets of sweet cranberries. The orange complements them and the ginger adds an extra warming flavour and ties everything together.

They are so quick and easy to make and I’m sure there are endless variations that would produce yummy cookies. The others that come to mind are dark chocolate and hazelnut, apricot and almond or lemon and blueberry. Basically whatever combination takes your fancy.

Orange, Cranberry & Ginger Oaties

Ingredients
150g butter
100g light soft brown sugar
100g caster sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
170g porridge oats
160g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
50g dried cranberries
Grated rind of 1 orange
1 tsp ground ginger

Method
Preheat oven to 190C and get two baking trays ready but leave them un-greased.
Cream the butter together with both the sugars until light and fluffy.
Add the egg and vanilla and beat until well combined.
Add the oats, flour, baking powder, ground ginger and grated rind of the orange into the bowl and beat together until all incorporated.
Fold in the cranberries.
Using an old fashioned ice cream scoop, or just a tablespoon, dollop level spoonfuls onto the baking trays, leaving around 4cm / 1.5inch gap between each one.
Gently press the tops down to form thick level discs.
Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.
Transfer to a rack immediately with the help of a palette knife.
Allow to cool before storing in an airtight container.
Makes 16 cookies

Substantial Cinnamon Oat Raisin Cookies

I was in a baking mood and fished out a recipe for oat raisin cookies that I had been meaning to try for simply ages. The recipe was originally Phoebe’s Fabulous Oatmeal Cookies from the Friends Recipe Book which I adapted to suit my own tastes. I reduced the butter and sugar content from the original, which seemed a little steep for my liking. I also decided to add a tsp of cinnamon to the mix to add an extra dimension. I used an old fashioned ice cream scoop to portion out the cookies and I was able to fit nine cookies on each baking tray.

The batter was fairly sturdy, meaning they didn’t spread out too much during cooking. They stayed lovely and thick, unlike a lot of cookies I make, which usually spread out into thinner cookies. I really liked the fact these stayed so substantial. I was expecting them to be dense and sticky, a bit like flapjacks but I was pleasantly surprised at how light the texture was. Crisp and slightly crumbly on the outside with little pockets of chewy raisins and texture from the oats. The vanilla and cinnamon complimented each other wonderfully and the whole cookie was a joy to eat. They have a slightly craggily surface, with the raisins peeping through, giving them a very wholesome appearance. Utterly moorish, these are definitely on the ‘keepers’ list.

Substantial Cinnamon Oat Raisin Cookies
Ingredients
150g butter
120g light soft brown sugar
100g caster sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
170g porridge oats
160g plain flour
¾ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp baking soda
200g raisins
1 tsp cinnamon

Method
Preheat oven to 190C and get two baking trays ready but leave them un-greased.
Cream the butter together with both the sugars until light and fluffy.
Add the egg and vanilla and beat until well combined.
Add the oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon into the bowl and beat together until all incorporated.
Fold in the raisins.
Using an old fashioned ice cream scoop, dollop level spoonfuls onto the baking trays. (I’m sure a tablespoon would work just as well)
Gently press the tops down to form thick level discs.
Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.
Cool on sheet for only 1 minute before transferring to a rack with the help of a palette knife. Repeat with any leftover dough.
Allow to cool before storing in an airtight container.
Makes 21 cookies

Crackly Topped Chocolate Meringue Cookies

I went hunting for a recipe to use up 4 leftover egg whites and happened upon a recipe for chocolate meringue cookies on another bloggers site, which amazingly required 4 egg whites. I happily set to work, tweaking the recipe to incorporate the ingredients I had available to me.

The result is one of the most intriguing and yet addictive cookies I have ever made. When cooked, they have a very cracked sugary surface, which yields a dense, fudgey chocolate brownie like center, with the sticky chew of soft centered meringues. The little pockets of dark chocolate and nutty pecans add to the whole texture/flavour eating experience. If you have some egg whites left over, I strongly suggest you make these! Plus, they contain no flour making them gluten free.

Crackly Topped Chocolate Meringue Cookies
(Recipe adapted from ‘Anne’s Food’ Blog)

Ingredients
60g cocoa powder
300g icing sugar
Pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 large egg whites
50g pecans
35g dark chocolate

Method
Line two baking trays with greaseproof paper and preheat the oven to 175C.
Sieve the cocoa powder and icing sugar together into a small bowl.
Chop the pecans and dark chocolate into small pieces and set to one side.
Put the egg whites into a large bowl along with the salt and vanilla.
Whisk the egg whites until just before they start to form stiff peaks.
Then, whilst still whisking, add the cocoa powder, icing sugar mix a spoonful at a time until a glossy, thick batter has been achieved.
Stir through the pecans and chocolate.
Dollop smallish tablespoonfuls of batter onto the baking trays, allowing lots of room for them to spread during cooking. I only fitted 5 on each sheet and had to cook the cookies in two batches.
Bake for 12 minutes until they have a shiny appearance and a crazily cracked surface.
Drag the cookies, still on their greaseproof paper, onto cooling wracks and allow to completely cool before removing from the paper.
Makes around 17 fairly large cookies.

Cherry and Almond Biscotti

I decided to make these biscotti to use up some leftover marzipan I had from making the simnel cake a couple of weeks ago. I added cherries to the dough as I think these two flavours complement each other wonderfully. The cherries also add a lovely bright colour to what would otherwise be quite a bland dough.

The dough for these biscotti is quite soft, so you may need to flour your hands and work surface well when shaping them. The biscotti, while still crisp, also turned out slightly softer than some I have previously made, I assume this is down to the almonds in the marzipan. However, this makes them ideal for munching on their own as well as dipping them into your coffee or liquor. They had a wonderful aroma when cooking, almost that of a bakewell tart.

Cherry and Almond Biscotti
Ingredients
300g plain flour
1½ tsp baking powder
100g caster sugar
75 glace cherries
70g marzipan
3 drops almond essence
70g butter
½ tbsp milk
2 eggs

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C and line a baking tray with baking paper.
Sieve the flour and baking powder into a bowl. Add the sugar and stir together.
Chop up the glace cherries using a pair of scissors (I find this easiest) and finely dice the marzipan into little cubes. Add to the bowl.
Add the rest of the ingredients, making sure the butter if softened, and mix together into a dough using a wooden spoon.
Transfer out onto a lightly floured work surface and shape the dough into two long log shapes.
Place on the baking tray, leaving a 5-6cm gap between them.
Bake in the oven for 25 minutes until golden brown.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes as they will be quite soft at this stage.
When slightly cooled, slice the logs on a slight diagonal into 1 cm thick slices.
Place cut side down on the baking tray and return to the oven for a further 16-20minutes, flipping the biscuits over half way through.
Allow the biscotti to cool completely on a wire wrack before storing in an airtight container.Makes 35 – 40 biscotti

Biscuits for Mothers Day

I made these batches of biscuits to send home for my Mum for Mothers Day as I wanted to send her something homemade rather than sending a standard bunch of flowers.

Cinnamon & Spice Swirls
(Adapted from Rachel Allen in Good Food Magazine)
I invented these cinnamon & spice swirls as my Mum loves those cinnamon pastry swirls that you can buy from bakeries and I wanted to see if I could replicate them in biscuit form. I found a basic stable biscuit recipe and then rolled it out thinly before sprinkling over the flavours and rolling it up to form the swirls. I am pleased to say they turned out well, maybe not as strongly spiced as I would have liked but tasty nonetheless.

Ingredients
175g plain flour
110g butter or margarine
60g caster sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp mixed spice
2 tsp extra caster sugar

Method
Place the butter, sugar and flour into a mixing bowl and cream together until it starts to form crumbs.
Then bring the dough together using your hands.
Roll out the dough to 5mm thick between two sheets of cling film (it prevents it sticking to the work surface). Try to make it as square in shape as possible.
Remove the top sheet of cling film and sprinkle over the spices followed by the extra sugar.
Using the cling film to help you, roll up the dough as if you were making a swiss roll. You should end up with a long thin sausage shape.
Wrap in cling film and place on a tray in the fridge for 10 minutes to firm up.
Meanwhile, heat the oven to 180C.
Remove the dough from the fridge and carefully unwrap the cling film.
Using a sharp knife cut 5mm thick slices and place them flat onto a dry baking sheet.
Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until just turning golden.
Allow to cool on the tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling wrap.
They will still be a little soft, but they crisp up on cooling.

Makes 24 biscuits.

Simnel Marzipan Mounds
I created these biscuits in the hope of replicating a traditional simnel cake in a more post-able form. They have the same dried fruit mix and spices added to the biscuit dough as the cake and also have a small disc of marzipan baked into their centre. I used Rachel Allen’s basic biscuits recipe again for these biscuits, only this time I halved the recipe and added the dried fruit and spices to the dough. Adding the disc of marzipan can be a little fiddly and when they bake the marzipan can sometimes burst out of the top, making them not the most attractive biscuits to look at but the flavour is defiantly worth it. The marzipan stays soft and moist and the fruit really makes these biscuits taste like simnel cake. Yummy.

Ingredients
80g plain flour
55g butter or margarine
30g caster sugar
¼ tsp mixed spice
25g currants
25g dried apricots
15g glace cherries
55g marzipan

Method
Place the butter, sugar, mixed spice and flour into a mixing bowl and cream together until it starts to form crumbs.
Then finely chop the dried apricots and glace cherries and add to the crumb mixture along with the currants.
Using your hands, bring the mixture together and form into a ball.
Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and flatten each one into a rough round using the base of your hand.
Take a marble sized piece of marzipan and roll it into a small ball before flattering it slightly to form a disc.
Place this disc into the centre of the flattened dough and draw the edges of the dough up around the marzipan. Turn the dough over the flatten it gentle to close up the seams.
Place the doughy mound on a dry baking sheet and repeat with the leftover dough.
Bake the biscuits in the oven for 20 minutes until lightly golden brown.
Allow to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling wrack and leaving to cool.

Makes 12 mounds.

I then packaged the biscuits into cellophane bags and added little labels before posting them home. I was very pleased to hear that they survived the post very well.

Mini Double Choc Chip Cookies

These cookies are loosely based on the well known Tollhouse Cookies. They are soft in texture and caramely in flavour with lots of little chocolate chunks throughout.

When I say these are mini, I mean mini. If you look at the picture below that green disc is actually a plastic milk bottle top that I added to the picture to allow a size comparison. These cookies are bite size and were perfect for dipping into a chocolate fondue that I made on Valentines Day to share with my boyfriend (Chris). They would also be great for children’s parties or for when you fancy a little treat and don’t want to eat an entire cookie. You could of course make them bigger and bake them for longer to get regular sized cookies.

Mini Double Choc Chip Cookies
(Adapted from: The Great Big Cookie Book by Hilaire Walden)


Ingredients
55g unsalted butter/margarine
40g caster sugar
35g dark muscovado sugar
½ tbsp vegetable oil
100g plain flour
¼ tsp baking powder
25g dark chocolate
20g white chocolate

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C or Gas Mark 4. Have a large baking tray ready, but there is no need to line or grease it.
In a bowl, beat the butter/margarine until soft and then add in both of the sugars and beat until well combined.
Add the vegetable oil and beat until incorporated. Then work in the flour and baking powder. The mixture should come together into a soft smooth dough.
Finely chop the white and dark chocolate and gently kneed into the dough until evenly distributed.
Then, break off small marbles sized pieces of dough and roll them into little balls. Set them on the baking tray about 1inch/2.5cm apart. Flatten each dough ball slightly with your hand.
Bake them in the oven for 8-10 minutes until lightly golden and just firm. Leave them to cool for 10 minutes on the baking tray before removing them to a wire wrack to cool.
These keep very well stored in an airtight container. Makes around 24 mini cookies.

Note: The cookies will be quite greasy when they first come out of the oven, this is due to the oil. I found that placing them on a sheet of kitchen roll after they were cool this got rid of any unwanted grease.