There is something about the combination of chocolate and peanut butter that is quintessentially perfect don't you think?



It's that sweet/salty thing I am sure. The rich sweetness of the chocolate going so very well with the creamy saltiness of the peanut butter . . .



It doesn't seem to matter to me if it is dark chocolate or milk chocolate, or something in between. Chocolate and peanut butter are just plain good, no matter which way you work it together. Reeses has made a fortune on that premise . . .



A divine combination that is bliss, pure bliss, and never more so than when baked into a buttery cookie, chock full to the brim with smooth and tasty semi sweet chocolate chips and topped with a rich, crumbly, peanutty streusal topping.



Scrummy never tasted so good! (Not a favourite of Todd's of course, but that's his fault for not liking chocolate. It just ain't natural!)




*Chocolate Peanut Crumble Cookies*
Makes about 15
Printable Recipe

Deep, dark and delicious chocolate cookies, filled with chocolate chips, topped with a scrummy peanut topping and drizzled with white chocolate as a crowning touch.

9 TBS of butter, softened
115g of caster sugar (1/2 cup plus 1 TBS)
1 heaped TBS of creamy peanut butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 large free range egg, beaten
150g plain flour (1 slightly heaped cup)
30g of cocoa powder (8 TBS)
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
100g of semi sweet chocolate chips (1 cup)

For the crumble topping:
30g salted butter (2 1/2 TBS)
40g plain flour (1/4 cup heaped)
30g of caster sugar (1/4 cup)
60g of unsalted peanuts (1/2 cup),
half of them coarsely chopped and half of them left whole

For the drizzle:
50g of white chocolate, chopped (1/2 cup)

Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/gas mark 5. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

Make the crumble topping by whisking together the flour and sugar. Rub in the butter until crumbly and then stir in the nuts. Set aside.

Cream together the butter and sugar for the cookies, along with the peanut butter, until smooth and fluffy. Beat in the egg. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder and baking soda. Stir this into the creamed mixture, mixing it in completely. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Shape into 15 gold ball sized balls. Place well apart on the baking sheets. Press down lightly with a spoon, making a slight indentation in the middles. Sprinkle heaped TBS of the topping in the middles. (This will be messy, and some will fall off, but do the best you can do. You will not need all of the crumble topping, but it freezes well for another time and trust me, when you taste these little gems, there will be another time). Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the cookies are well set and the topping is golden. Remove from the oven and allow to sit for 5 to 10 minutes before scooping off to finish cooling on a wire rack.

Melt the chocolate in a bowl in the microwave for about 60 seconds. Stir until smooth. Drizzle decoratively over the tops of the cookies, across the streusel. Allow to set before storing in an airtight container.

Any guesses on what my absolute favourite cookie of all time is??? No, it's not custard creams, oreos, chocolate chip or even shortbreads . . .



It's the humble, peanut butter filled, peanut butter flavoured oat cookie called . . . "Pirate Cookies!" I just love that wholesome crisp oatmeal cookie (slightly peanut butter flavoured) and that yummy peanut buttercream filling. Oh, nothing on earth tastes better with a glass of milk.



I like to pull them apart and lick up the frosting and then eat the biscuits.



I like to dip them in milk and let them get soft and then eat that scrummy milk soaked goodness . . .



I like to eat them just as they come . . . two crispy layers . . . soft filling . . . Nom Nom!
I love to eat them anyway I can get them . . . only problem being . . . there is no such thing as a Pirate Cookie here in the UK . . . there is not even any biscuit that it close to being a Pirate Cookie.



My waistline is completely ok with that fact . . . but oh boy . . . you never know just how much you are going to miss something until it's way beyond your reach. I have been missing Pirate Cookies for nigh onto 12 years now . . . that's a long time to miss something.



Ok . . . so I do have had the occasional fix when I happen to fly home for holidays, about once every three years . . . but it's not near enough, truly. I love them that much. I've tried bringing some home with me in my baggage . . . but they get all crushed . . . not near as satisfying as crunching down your own biccies!



This week I decided to try to make my own . . . I baked oatmeal cookies largely based on an old recipe . . . I substituted some of the butter with peanut butter. It worked. I had some lovely peanut butter flavoured oatmeal cookies.I created a peanut butter flavoured buttercream filling.
I sandwiched that yummo peanut butter flavoured buttercream filling betwixt two of those scrummy oat cookies.



I fell in love. Mr Christie . . . you DO make good cookies . . . but these are better.

The end.



*Homemade Pirate Cookies*
Makes 18
Printable Recipe

Something which I have always missed from home . . . now I don't have to miss them anymore.

For the cookies:
75g of plain flour (3/4 cup)
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
8 TBS unsalted butter, at room temperature
90g of creamy peanut butter (1/2 cup)
96g of caster sugar (1/2 cup)
100g of soft light brown sugar (1/2 cup packed)
1 large free range egg, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
81g of quick cooking oats (1 cup)

For the filling:
3 TBS unsalted butter
90g of creamy peanut butter (1/2 cup)
130g of icing sugar, sifted (1 cup)
3 TBS heavy cream



Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk togethet the flour, soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Cream together the butter, peanut butter and both sugars, until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Mix in the flour mixture and then stir in the oats, beating briefly to combine. Scoop out using a small cookie scoop (approximately 1 heaped TBS) and drop onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches in between each for spreading. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the cookies are golden brown and the edgese are set. Allow to cool on the baking sheets for five minutes before removing to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Make the filling by beating together the butter, peanut butter and icing sugar at medium speed until smooth. Add the cream and beat until fluffy. Put together the cookies into pairs with some of this filling in between. Press the filling to the edges. Store in an airtight container.



Oh yes . . . I will still be induging my fill when I am home in July . . . but it's nice to know that I can still create a fabulous substitute in between trips!

June is the month of strawberries here . . . or at least one of the months when they are at the very best . . . think Wimbleton . . . Pims . . . fresh strawberries and cream.  

My local Tesco shop had punnets of home ripening plums on special last weekend for £1 a punnet. Normally I don't buy things like that. Mostly because it takes too long for them to ripen and most of the time they don't ripen at all but go bad anyways . . .



I had in mind this plum cake that I wanted to make though and for that I needed really firm plums.



This is a very unusual cake. You make a crumble mixture in the food processor that you use in the base, filling and topping.



Some of the crumbs get pressed into a baking tin and baked into a lovely buttery crust.



Then you make a frangipane mixture with more of the crumb mixture by beating in some eggs and stuff. This you spread over the buttery baked base. Top with some sliced plums and you bake it some more.



The plums get all soft and sweet and the frangipane mixture bakes up around them. Then you add a final topping of the last of the crumbs which you have mixed with some flaked almonds and you bake it a little longer til golden brown.



It's all you can do to wait until it cools to dig in . . . but wait. It's worth it. Trust me on this. It tastes so much better lukewarm than it does hot. (And it tastes pretty good hot!!)



It is kind of like a tart, but also a cake, and a crumble.



It's all three rolled into one scrummy, moreish bake! Oh my but this is some good!



*Plum and Almond Crumble Cake*
Makes 16 servings
Printable Recipe

It's a Crumble! It's a Cake! It's a Crumble Cake! (Pretty scrummy too!)

250g COLD butter
8 ounces castor sugar, plus a bit extra for sprinkling
10 ounces ground almonds
5 ounces plain flour, plus 1 ounce extra flour
2 large eggs
1 tsp ground cinnamon, plus extra to sprinkle on top
1 tsp baking powder
6 firm plums, stone and cut into sixths
2 ounces flaked almonds

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/Gar 4. Butter an 8 by 12 inch baking tin and line the bottom with parchment paper.

Place the butter, sugar and ground almonds in a food processor. Pulse them together until the mixture resembles a rough crumble. Remove half of this mixture to a bowl and set aside. To the remaining mixture in the processor, add the 5 ounces of flour and whiz this together until it forms a dough. Tip this into the prepared baking tin and press it out evenly, pressing it down well. Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

To make the filling, tip the remaining crumble mixture back into the food processor. Add the remaining 1 ounce of flour, the baking powder, the eggs, and the cinnamon. Whiz until it forms a soft batter. Spread this batter over the cooled base.

Top the batter with the prepared plums and sprinkle with a little extra sugar and cinnamon. Bake for 20 minutes.

Mix the remaining crumbs with the flaked almonds. Sprinkle this over top of the baked plums and return to the oven to bake for a further 20 minutes, until golden brown and the batter and plums are thoroughly cooked. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before cutting into slices to serve.

I had some bananas here in the house that were just about to the point where they needed to be tossed . . . I hate wasting good, ripe banana . . . it's such a necessity when it comes to making banana cakes and such . . . in fact I always purposely hide a few . . . just so I can have some to bake with.



The Toddster is a banana nut . . . if I didn't hide some of the bananas . . . we'd never get banana baked anything, as he eats them up as fast as I get them in . . .



So I have to be a bit devious . . . you know. It's not really a bad thing . . . as he just as equally enjoys what I have made with them! (I am sure we all have our little secrets that we keep from the old man . . . ahem . . .)



Like these scrummy Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins! They're soooo delish . . . the addition of yogurt helps to make them so moreishly moist . . .



Then there are the milk chocolate chips . . . and lets not forget the toasted pecans! (I couldn't resist breaking one open while it was still very warm . . . just look at all that goooey scrumminess!!)



Altogether . . . a winning banana muffin. Great for breakfast, brunch . . . elevensies and . . . dare I say it . . . a midnight snack!!! Bet you can't eat just one!!



Oh and if you want an extra special treat . . . slice one in half and grill it under the grill until it is golden brown and crisp on the edges . . . then spread it with cold butter. Sooooo hard to resist . . .

Just sayin' is all . . . (Ohhh . . . I am soooo bad . . . but in a very good way, don't you agree???)




*Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins*
Makes 12
Printable Recipe

Fabulous muffins. Moist and chock full of banana flavour, milk chocolate chips and toasted pecans!

115g of butter, softened (1/2 cup)
190g of caster sugar (1 cup)
2 large free range eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
150g of plain flour (1 1/2 cups)
3 medium over-ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
110g plain yogurt
60g of chopped toasted pecans (1/2 cup)
180g of milk chocolate chips (1 cup)

Pre-heat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Sift together the flour, soda and salt. Stir this into the creamed mixture. Fold in the banana and yogurt, along with the nuts and chocolate chips, only until combined. Spoon into the muffin cases.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until well risen and they spring back when lightly touched. Remove from the tins to cool completely before storing or eating.

 

Today I made  my "meat and potatoes" husband  really, really happy.  I cooked him meat and potatoes . . . coz he gets tired of salads and "girlie" type foods . . . sometimes this man just has to have hearty sustenance!  I am always happy to oblidge, coz . . . truth be told, I am a teensie bit "meat and potatoes" myself!!



I saw a similar recipe in a magazine that looked sort of good . . .  but it wasn't quite like I wanted it to be, and so I kinda twisted it around a bit to make it my own.  I completely changed the cooking method . . . and used completely different herbs . . . different flavours to make the gravy . . .



I trimmed and cut up pork loin into chunks, melted a bit of the fat that I had trimmed off, and then browned it until it was golden all over  . . . 



I used the traditional herbs that one would use to make stuffing . . . sage, parsley, nutmeg . . . salt and plenty of black pepper . . .  nice and savoury . . .



Celery and onion . . . and lovely chunks of apple, which goes so very well with pork . . .



I created a delicious gravy using vegetable stock and apple juice (or cider if you are so inclined) . . .

 

And then I baked it in the oven in a covered casserole until the pork was meltingly tender and the gravy thickened and lucious . . . having imparted the fullness of it's flavour into the pork . . .

 

Then I covered it with some buttered slices of a french baguette and topped it with some cheese and returned it to the oven until those slices of baguette got all toasty brown . . . crisp on the edges . . . and yet a bit like like dumplings underneath . . .

 

I serve it with piles of fluffy mashed potato and steamed fresh asparagus . . . some of the gravy spooned over the potatoes . . . just the way he likes it.
He was happy.  Very, very happy.



The end.



*Pork and Apple Bake with a Crispy Topping*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

A lovely oven stew made with lean pork, onions, apples and celery, seasoned and then baked until tender.  Once tender, it is topped with little cheddar and garlic toasts and baked until golden brown.  Delicious!

450g of lean pork loin steaks, trimmed of any visible fat and cut into 1/2 inch chunks (about 1 pound)
(Save the fat trimmings)
1 medium onion peeled and chopped
2 stick of celery, trimmed and chopped
1 medium eating apple, peeled, cored and chopped
1/2 tsp of dried parsley flakes
1/2 tsp of dried sage flakes
pinch nutmeg
sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper
3 TBS flour
250ml of hot vegetable stock (1 1/4 cup)
250ml of apple cider or apple juice (1 1/4 cup)

For the topping:
2 TBS softened butter
1 clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
200g of French stick, sliced (1 small baguette)
20g of strong cheddar cheese, grated (about 3 TBS)
(can use Parmesan cheesse if preferred)

Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. 

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat on top of the stove.  Add the pork fat scraps and render them down until you have about 1 TBS of rendered fat.  Remove and discard the scraps. Toss in the pork cubes and brown them all over.  Add the onion and celery.  Continue to cook and stir until they are softened. Add the herbs and seasonings.  Sprinkle with the flour and stir to coat.  Pour on the vegetable stock and the apple cider.  Stir in the apple cubes.  Bring to the boil, stir in the apples and then pour the whole mixture into a casserole with has a tight fitting lid.  Cover and place into the heated oven.  Bake for about an hour and a quarter.

While the pork is baking, stir together the garlic and the softened butter.  Spread onto the slices of bread.  Arrange these slices on top of the casserole at the end of the initial baking time and sprinkle evenly with the cheese.  Bake for an additonal 10 to 15 minutes  until golden brown. 

This goes wonderfully with mashed potatoes and a green vegetable.

Note:  if you desire you may add several chopped parnips and carrots to the stew mix before you put it into the oven.  This adds an additional depth of flavour and colour!