Showing posts with label Scrummy Snacks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Scrummy Snacks. Show all posts
I really, really like muffins. I really, really, REALLY like chocolate chip muffins, and not the double chocolate chip muffins, but the yellow buttery cake type of chocolate chip muffins.
This is an EXCELLENT recipe for those. It might look like a very basic muffin, and it is. Simple ingredients.
Simple to put together . . . but that is where simple ends because this muffin is anything but simple when it comes to taste.
Moist and buttery and stogged full of chocolate chips, this is the most delicious chocolate chip muffin you could ever want to eat.
So delicious its dangerous, but no worries there because it only makes six muffins.
Just enough for a small family like us, just the two of us.
You can double it if you wish, but if you are looking for a small batch recipe, that only makes a half a dozen muffins and is tremendously delicious . . . this IS the one for you!
I can't believe I am telling you this, but . . . true confessions here. I baked them this morning and have eaten two already.
These are dangerously good and now you know why I only bake six at a time. I cannot be trusted with any more than that. The simple truth.
*Small Batch Chocolate Chip Muffins*
Makes 6 medium muffins
(or 12 mini muffins)
Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Line a six cup muffin tray with paper liners, or butter really well. Set aside.
Cream
together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg
and vanilla. Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder. Add to
the creamed mixture alternately with the sour cream,mixing just to
combine. Stir in the chocolate chips. Divide the batter between the
muffin cups, filling 2/3 full.
Bake for 15 to 18 minutes
until well risen and golden brown. (9 to 12 minutes for mini muffins)
Remove to a wire rack and cool. Delicious served fresh and slightly
warm.
If you don't run right into the kitchen today and bake these I am warning you, you will be missing out on something really, really special. Bon appetit!
Do you love shortbread biscuits as much as I love shortbread biscuits? Who doesn't! I think that shortbread biscuits have to be just about everyone's favourite cookie! I make whipped ones every Christmas which are as simple as beating them together and dropping them on a baking sheet. I make rolled and cut outs in a variety of flavours.
All are gorgeous. When I saw this recipe for Peanut Butter ones, I knew I just had to bake them. Peanut Butter and shortbreads . . . two of my favourite things together in one!
I adapted the recipe from one of my favourite baking books, One Bowl Baking by Yvonne Ruperti. If you don't have it, you should. It's a fabulous baking book. Everything I have ever baked from it has been a winner!
These are lovely shortbreads. The smell of peanut butter which fills the air when they are baking is enough to get your tastebuds tingling in overtime!
With the cross-hatching they look very similar to other peanut butter cookies, but that is where every similarity ends.
These are short and crumbly . . . and not too sweet. Everything a perfect shortbread biscuit should be.
Filled with lots of lovely chopped peanuts, I would go so far as to call them moreish. They are not chewy, or crisp . . . just short and deliciously buttery peanut buttery crumbly.
They positively beg to be enjoyed with a nice hot drink. These are grownup peanut butter biscuits, that bring out the child in you.
*Chunky Peanut Peanut Butter Shortbreads*
Makes 2 dozen
340g creamy peanut butter (1 1/3 cups)
1 large free range egg
Divide
the dough into 24 equal pieces, and roll into balls. Place evenly
spaced on the baking sheets. Using a fork, cross hatch into each
cookie, pressing them down to about 1 inch thick.
Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through the cooking time, until golden brown and set.
If you are fond of shortbreads and like peanut butter, you will quite simply adore these lovely biscuits. In fact . . . I might go so far as to say you will feel like you have died and gone to heaven. Bon Appetite!
My husband is a real fan of this fruit loaf we can buy in the shops over here, it's low in fat and kind of squidgy. I forget what it is called. I buy it because I recognize the packaging. I think it is called Malt Loaf and I believe it is an acquired taste.
Myself, I am not too, too fond of it, but he loves it, especially cut and spread with butter. This recipe today is one that I had been eyeing up in a baking book of mine for a very long time now.
The book is a little chunky food book by Murdoch books entitled Sweet Food, and it's filled with lots of lovely bakes, including this lovely Apricot &Raisin Bran Loaf.
Its actually a really easy loaf to make. There is no fat in it at all . . . no butter, no eggs, so its also low cholesterol . . .
It's got sugar in it, which isn't great, but . . . you got to have something bad I guess. Loads of dried apricots and raisins, which I love . . .
Lots of fibre from bran cereal and whole wheat flour, so they kind of outweigh the bad a bit . . . but look at all that lovely, dried fruit. My husband fell in love with it . . .
It's a somewhat stodgy heavy loaf, but that isn't a problem really because it slices like a dream . . . and the secret to its deliciousness comes when you slice it, toast it and then spread it with butter . . .
That is when the real magic happens. You won't want to miss out on this. It's gorgeous! Simple, delicious and gorgeous. I think that's what you call a Hat-Trick!
*Apricot and Raisin Bran Loaf*
Makes one loaf
Serves 6 to 8
it is very similar to pumpkin spice.)
Measure
the dried fruits, bran cereal and brown sugar into a bowl. Add the
warm milk and stir. Leave to set for half an hour. Most of the liquid
will have been absorbed.
Whisk
together the flours and mixed spice to aerate somewhat. Stir into the
wet mixture to combine. You will have a wet, stiff mixture. Spread
into the prepared pan, leveling off the top.
Bake in
the preheated oven for 50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the
centre comes out clean. If you think it is browning too quickly, cover
lightly with some foil.
Leave in the tin for 10 minutes to cool, then tip out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
Cut into thick slices to serve with a nice hot cuppa. It's ever so lovely toasted and buttered.
Store in an airtight container. It will keep for quite a few days.
Bon Appetit!
I have no idea at all why this is called Spanish Cake. There doesn't seem to be anything particularly Spanish about it.
I only know that it has always been called Spanish Cake. It is flavoured with lots of cinnamon and topped with a Maple Icing.
You would think that it should be called Canada cake, but its not. Its quite simply Spanish cake.
Its a rather old recipe which has been kicking about in my Big Blue
Binder for a very long time. That means that this is a tried and true,
and a favourite recipe.
I probably picked up somewhere along my travels across
Canada. Possibly from one of my friends, but it was so long ago that I can no longer
remember where or when. I only know that its delicious.
It is buttery and moist. It has a lovely cinnamon flavour, but it is not a large cake. It is a very moreish cake, which more than makes up for its lack of size.
This is a cake you will find yourself wanting to cut a slice from again and again . . . and maybe even again. I once cooked it three times in one week. (Don't judge me, lol)
It's a single 8 inch square layer . . . topped with a maple sugar frosting that you pour over the cake while the icing is slightly warm. You do it when it is warm so that it spreads out easily across the cake.
You could use soft light brown sugar if you cannot find maple sugar. I am partial to the flavour of maple myself.
I did manage to buy it in a shop here in the UK. I think it was Asda, but I can't remember for sure. You can also buy it on Amazon.
My sister sent me over a kilo of it a while back. I treat it like gold. But it is always worth using it for this delicious cake. I like to top the finished cake with toasted walnuts . . . maple and walnuts go together like peas and carrots.
*Spanish Cake*
Makes one 8-inch cake
A lovely little cake flavoured with cinnamon and topped with a lucious maple cream icing.
For the cake:
140g of plain flour (1 cup)
1tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
120g of butter, at room temperature (1/2 cup)
190g of sugar (1 cup)
2 large free range eggs, separated
120ml milk (1/2 cup)
For the icing:
60g butter (1/4 cup)
80g of maple sugar (1/2 cup, can use 1/2 cup loosely packed brown sugar)
2 TBS milk
130g of icing sugar (1 cup)
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter an 8 inch square baking tin and line with baking paper. Set aside.
Beat the egg WHITES until stiff and set aside.
Sift
the flour, baking powder and cinnamon into a bowl. Set aside. Cream
together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg
YOLKS one at a time. Beat in the flour along with the milk making
alternate additions. (3 dry and two wet) Mix well.
Fold in the egg
whites. Spread the batter in the prepared baking tin. Bake in the
heated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top bounces back when
lightly touched and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
The cake should also have begun to pull away from the sides a bit.
Remove from the oven. Cool in the pan for five minutes then lift out
onto a wire rack to finish cooling completely.
Place
the butter for the icing in a saucepan and melt. Add the maple sugar
and heat gently over low heat for 2 minutes, until the sugar has
melted. Add the milk. Bring to the boil, then remove from the stove
and let cool. Beat in the icing sugar and spread onto the cooled cake.
Note - I like to sprinkle chopped toasted walnuts on top, but that is the Canadian in me liking the flavour of maple walnut.
I hope you will make this cake. When you do I think you will agree that Spanish or not, its one very delicious cake.
I hope you will make this cake. When you do I think you will agree that Spanish or not, its one very delicious cake.
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I have always made my own convenience mixes for things . . . . biscuit/scone mix, cookie mix, muffin mix, etc. One of my favourite convenience mixes to have to hand is my Brownie Mix. It comes in very handy and so easy to make and to store. It does make a lot, but you can always cut the recipe in half to make less. Today I used it to make these delicious Easter Basket Brownies!
Have you ever had a day when you really didn't feel like cooking at all, or even doing much of anything??? It doesn't happen to me very often, but yesterday was one of those days. I was having a horrible no good rotten day. Nothing that I could put my finger on . . . I just felt a bit blah. Not sick . . . just a bit tired, run down . . . and frustrated by nothing in particular . . . yet frustrated with everything, at the same time. Grumpy. Out of sorts.
For lunch I rifled through the fridge and put together a pizza. There was a few bits of cheese that needed using up, some leftover cooked sausages that needed to be used, and some spring onions and black olives left from the other day when I made some Mexican dip. They all ended up on top of the pizza . . .
and it was good . . . but it didn't chase the blues away. I still felt out of sorts. Then I remembered those lovely herbal teas I was sent the other day. They looked and smelled delicious . . . so why not. A hot drink is often a nice pick me up.
We are having a special broadcast of the First Presidency's Christmas Message at our chapel on Sunday evening with a "Munch and Jingle" afterwards. I thought these Peanut Butter Balls would be the perfect thing to take. Everyone always loves these. They aren't low sugar for sure, but I won't be the person eating them so it's all good. It just more for those who can eat them.
I decided to play with one of my favourite Pumpkin Muffin recipes the other day to see if I could replace the sugar in it with a sugar substitute suitable for baking, and replace the regular cooking oil with coconut oil, which is better for you.
I really love hummus. Shop bought hummus is really convenient, readily available and really convenient to use. But how much better is homemade . . . I adore homemade hummus. It's quite easy to make nd not very time consuming and boy, is it ever delicious. I enjoy serving and eating it with raw vegetable sticks and toasted pita's for a really healthy snack.
This is one of my absolute favourite slices to bake. I adore coconut and I adore pecans. I also love chocolate, but then again . . . it's only the very rare woman who doesn't love chocolate! These may look complicated, but I think you will be surprised when you find out just how easy and uncomplicated they are . . .
I don't know why it is but it's really difficult to photograph chocolate things and make them come out looking as delicious as they really are. I am sorely lacking in knowledge about these things and so these cookies here today only look half as delicious as they really, so please don't let the photo's turn you off. I promise you these are really, REALLY good!
Sausage rolls are very popular over here in the UK. You will see them for sale in all of the bake shops and cafes and of course at most pot lucks/parties, etc. there is usually the obligatory tray of sausage rolls to feast on.
People really like them. Myself, I am not overly fond of shop bought sausage rolls.
There's usually a too high pastry to sausage meat ration on them, and more often than not they seem to use cheap and nasty sausage meat in them. I can't abide cheap and nasty sausage meat! It's pasty and fatty and just ugh . . .
That's not a problem when you make your own Sausage Rolls however! You can make sure that there is more meat than pastry, and you can make sure that the meat used is quality!
I first had these at my friend Joy's about ten years ago when Todd and I popped down to South Wales for a weekend visit. Joy had made these for lunch and they were absolutely fabulous!
Delicious and meaty with just the right proportions of meat and pasty, they are also very easy to make.
Probably a lot easier than you think . . . especially if you use ready made puff pastry!
You simply mix raw sausage meat (removed from the casings) with some chopped onion, bread crumbs and an egg.
You will want to use a nice spicy sausage, or at least I do. Cumberland are my favourite!
Then once you have the meat mixed together, you just shape the mixture into logs, roll it up in the pastry, cut, glaze and bake in the oven. Easy peasy!
The egg glaze gives them a really lovely colour. They are great served warm or cold or at room temperature.
They are perfect for parties, or for picnics or even to pop into lunch boxes. They also freeze very well.
I hope you will give them a go!
If you want to really make sure you have a lovely flavoured sausage meat, why not make your own? I tell you how here. It's really simple.
*Joy's Sausage Rolls*
Makes a dozen 
Shape each third into a log the length of the strip
of pastry, by rolling it between your hands a bit. Place it down the
centre of the pastry strip. Brush one long edge of each pastry strip
with some of the remaining beaten egg.
Roll the pastry up over the meat
to cover, allowing it to overlap. Press gently closed, turn over and
flatten slightly with your hands. Cut each strip into four evenly sized
pieces.
Place them evenly spaced on the prepared baking sheet. Brush
the tops with the remaining beaten egg and then snip a couple of times
with a pair of kitchen scissors to vent.
Cook in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown and cooked through. Delicious!
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