M&M Cookies

Today I made M&M Cookies

Want something yummy but don't fancy just any cookie. This recipe is super easy and perfect to help you use up the extra candy that might be hanging around after Halloween. I don't know what it is but I always seem to have an abundance of M&M's after Halloween even if I didn't buy any they just appear in my house. My Nieces and Nephews always love these Cookies. They're very colourful and really soft and chewy and that contrasted with the crunch of the shell of the candy. If you eat them warm the Chocolate inside the shell is still melted so it's like little pockets of chocolate sauce within the cookie. These cookies act as perfect wafer for ice-cream also. A scoop of Vanilla ice-cream in between two Cookies makes a perfect dessert.

I like to use the regular M&M's in this recipe but I have used the Peanut M&M's in the past and I plan on using the Crispy ones in the future. I always pick M&M's over smarties for recipes like this. I feel the Chocolate melts better and the colours don't seem to run as much during baking. These Cookies use my basic Soft and Chewy Cookie Recipe. I use more Golden Sugar than White Sugar in this recipe. Golden Sugar gives the cookie a much softer, chewier and moist consistency while the White Sugar induces spreadying so the Cookie will end up both soft and thick as well as being big in size. It's important to use both Sugars in today's recipe. I plan on using White Chocolate Chips the next time I make these. 

Ingredients:

(Makes 12 Large) 

• 170g Unsalted Butter
• 150g Golden Sugar
• 50g Granulated Sugar
• 1 Large Egg - At room temperature
• 2 Teaspoons Vanilla Essence 
• 250g All purpose Flour
• 2 Teaspoons Cornstarch
• 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
• 200g M&M's 

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Line two baking trays with baking parchment or silicone baking 

mats.

2. In a large bowl cream the butter and Golden and Granulated Sugar together, you can do this by hand with a spatula or whisk or with a hand held mixer until light and fluffy. Mix in the egg and vanilla and mix again until fully incorporated.

3. Scrape down the sides of the bowl when needed. When the egg and vanilla are incorporated you can start to add in the Flour, Baking Soda and Cornstarch . I like to put all the dry goods into a sieve together so everything gets incorporated evenly. 

4. Stir in the M&M's and mix through so that they are evenly dispersed throughout the Cookie Dough. 

5. Chill the dough in the fridge for at least half an hour, I normally leave it for an hour as the longer you leave the dough the better the texture of the Cookies. The dough can also be chilled for up to three days or in the freezer for three months. 

6. When the dough is chilled, take out of the fridge. Take up two Tablespoons of the mixture and roll into a ball in your hands. Place the balls of dough on the baking trays with a 2 inch gap in between them.

7. Bake for 8-9 minutes, until the cookies are just starting to go golden brown around the edges. I really recommend not cooking any longer than 9 minutes. The cookies may seem slightly underdone but they will continue to bake on the baking sheet for a few minutes.

8. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire wrack.

"Chocolate is nature’s way of making up for Mondays."

Walnut and Chocolate Chunk Brownies

Today I made Walnut and Milk Chocolate Chunk Brownies

This is one of my newer Brownie recipes and is quickly growing to be one of my favourites. These Brownies are packed full with Walnuts and large Chocolate Chunks. The mixture is a basic enough brownie recipe with a tonne of add-ins. Some people seem to have problems with Brownies, getting the texture right or getting the right consistency of the mixture or using too little or too much add-ins. The Walnuts not only add a great nutty flavour but also a fantastic texture. The slight crunch is a great contrast to the super soft and squishy texture of the brownie. These are best served warm not long out of the oven but can keep in an air tight container for 3-4 days, if they last in the house that long.

I don't use any Cocoa Powder in this recipe, all the gooey Chocolate-y goodness comes from the melted Chocolate. This keeps the recipe nice and light as there is only a small amount of flour involved. Some Brownies have a tendency to be very dense and stodgy or dry and flaky. These Brownies are rich, moist and packed full of Chocolate-y and nutty flavour. Melting the Butter and Chocolate together and beating the Eggs and Sugar together means there's more Liquid ingredients than Dry Ingredients, this allows the Brownies to stay super moist and just melt in your mouth. You can use any type of nut in this recipe: Hazelnuts, Peanuts or Pecans work well in this recipe also.

Ingredients:

(Makes 12)

• 150g Butter
• 2 Eggs
• 100g Plain Flour
• 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
• 170g Milk Chocolate
• 150g Golden Sugar
• 55g Walnuts

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven 160°C. Lightly Oil a 20" square baking tray.  

2. In a large bowl whisk together the Eggs and the Golden Sugar until light and fluffy. It will start to look airy and will lighten in colour.

3. In another bowl melt the butter and 3/4 of the Chocolate in the microwave. I always use the microwave to melt Chocolate as if you do it on the oven you have to do it oven a pan of boiling water which gives off a lot of steam and during the melting process if any moisture gets into the Chocolate it could ruin the whole batch. 

4. Add the melted Butter and Chocolate into the Eggs and Sugar and mix fully. Then sift the Flour and Baking Powder into the Liquid Ingredients and mix till fully combined. 

5. Chop up the Walnuts and remaining Chocolate and add into the mixture. Stir the add-ins carefully. I normally hold back a small handful of the Walnuts for the top of the mixture.

6. Pour the mixture into your Oiled baking tray and smooth out the top to make sure it's even.  Sprinkle the remaining Walnuts on top of the mixture.

7. Place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. You know the Brownies are baked when the top has set and a cake tester or toothpick comes out with few crumbs on it an not liquid. Leave to cool slightly and cut into 12 even pieces. I normally sprinkle some Icing Sugar on mine to finish.

"Forget Love... I'd Rather Fall In Chocolate"

Fererro Rocher Cupcakes with Nutella Frosting

Today I made Ferrero Rocher Cupcakes with Nutella Frosting

These cupcakes are definitely one of the most luscious and impressive looking out of the catalog of cupcakes I make. A fudge-y chocolate brownie cupcake and then the frosting, oh my the frosting - be still my little heart, smooth, creamy Nutella-y frosting - yes I said Nutella-y, it's so good I needed to create a new word for it. The cupcakes are then topped with Milk, White and Dark Chocolate Ferrero Rocher. The frosting I use in this recipe is the frosting recipe I normally used then I add in a healthy amount of Nutella and blended Hazelnuts. The frosting by itself taste so like Ferrero Rocher you wouldn't really need anything else but  because I'm a sucker for Cupcake toppers I just have to put a Ferrero Rocher on top of each Cupcake.


I like to talk about good food combinations a lot and this is definitely one of them. I use the key elements of Ferrero Rocher to really give the cupcake a Ferrero Rocher-y feel. The smooth Hazelnut center of the sweet is really easily replicated by Nutella, The crispy, nuttiness of the outside is replicated by the blitzed Hazelnuts in the frosting. I debated for a while whether to use a vanilla cupcake or chocolate cupcake for this creation. When I thought about how intense the top of the cupcake was I thought no point in holding back now and went for a brownie cupcake base. I also bake these little beauties in metallic gold cases so they look like the gold wrapping of the sweets.

Ingredients:  

(Makes 12)

For the Cupcakes:

• 115g Unsalted Butter - Room Temperature
• 170g Light Brown Sugar
• 150g Cocoa Powder
• 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
• 2 Large Eggs
• 150g Plain Flour
• 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
• 12 Ferrero Rocher

 

For the Frosting: 

• 170g Unsalted Butter
• 250g Icing Sugar
• 150g Nutella
• 100g Hazelnuts 

Instructions: 

 

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C and line the cupcake tin with your cases of choice. 

 

2. Put the butter into a microwave friendly bowl and heat for increments of 30 seconds until the butter is melted. Take out and stir in the sugar, put back in the microwave for a further 30 seconds and then stir again. 

 

3.  Add in the two eggs and Vanilla Extract and whisk till fully incorporated. At this stage you can sift in the Flour, Cocoa Powder and Baking Powder stir till just mixed - make sure not to over mix the cake batter.

 

 

4. Fill up the cupcake cases half an inch from the top. I normally use an ice-cream scooper as it gives the perfect amount to fill each of the cases.  

 

 

 

5. Bake the cupcakes for 12/15 minutes. Until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes on a wire rack until fully cooled.

 

6.  For the frosting - place the Butter into a large bowl and whisk till it looks light in colour, add in the Icing Sugar and whisk till full incorporated. At this point you can whisk in the Nutella - (perfect spooning licking opportunity). 

 

 

 

7. Blitz the Hazelnuts in a handheld blender. Add into the frosting and mix through. When the cupcakes are cool you can then frost them. Fill an icing bag with the frosting and cut off the tip and frost each cupcake.

 

 

8. When all the cupcakes are frosted you can place a Ferrero Rocher on top of each one. These can be eaten straight away or you can chill them in the fridge for half an hour to firm up the frosting.

"Little Balls of Heaven - Ferrero Rocher"

White Chocolate and Forest Fruits Bread and Butter Pudding.

Today I made White Chocolate and Forest Fruit Bread and Butter Pudding 


I remember the very first thing I made by myself when I was 8 was Bread and Butter Pudding. I saw some chef make it on tv and decided to make it from memory. I'm pretty sure that was the day I fell in love with baking. I'll never forget the look on my fathers face as he ate this dessert his child just made, and so began my love of feeding people. Even to this day I have very fond memories of making this dish. My recipe has developed over the years, I now have about twelve different Bread and Butter Pudding Recipes that I chop and change depending on who I'm making it for and for what occasion. The one I made today is probably my favourite, well definitely in my top three.

The one I made today doesn't actually use bread, so it's kinda of like my cheat bread and butter pudding like another recipe of mine using Brioche. This recipe uses Croissants as a substitute for the bread. The Croissants give you a light and almost fluffy pudding, which really lightens a normally stodgy, filling dessert. The normal add-in in a Bread and Butter Pudding are raisins or more recently dried apricot. I like to go another way with this dessert in particular and pimp it out with creamy White Chocolate and Forest Fruits. The White Chocolate melts into the custard creating an irresistible sweet and creamy sauce while the mixed berries pack a tangy punch,

Ingredients:

• 6/8 Croissants
• 50g Butter
• 3 Egg Yolks
• 150g Caster Sugar
• 100g White Chocolate
• 100g Mixed Berries
• 400mls Milk
• 40g Granulated Sugar - To Sprinkle

Instructions:

To Make The Custard:

1. Pour the milk into a saucepan and heat at a medium temperature until it's just below boiling point. 

2.  Separate the three eggs and put the egg yolks into a glass bowl - You can save the Egg Whites to make meringues or an Egg White Omelet. Whisk in the Caster Sugar until it's all incorporated.

3. When the milk is heated pour half of it into the Egg and Sugar mixture while stirring constantly. When the Milk is stirred through you can them pour the Sugar and Egg mixture into the other half of the milk in the pan and stir constantly for 3-4 minutes it will start to look frothy on top - that's how you know it's ready.

For the Pudding:

4. Cut all the Croissants in half and lightly butter each half, line them up in a oven proof dish, I normally line them up crust side up as it looks prettier.

5. Cut up the White Chocolate into chunks, I like to leave the pieces quite large so they melt and you get little pockets of White Chocolate Sauce within the pudding. 

6. Sprinkle the White Chocolate Chunks all over the Croissants, I normally push a few of the chunks down to the bottom so they're all evenly dispersed. 

7. Then add on your mixed berries of choice. I like to use Forest Fruits as it's a great combination of Raspberries, Cherries, Strawberries and Blueberries.

8. When you have all your White Chocolate and Forest Fruits added in you can then pour in the Custard you've made, the custard should fill up to top. You can leave the croissants sit in the custard for some time so they soak up all the custard-y goodness. I normally make this dessert before I start making dinner so it has plenty of time to soak up. 

9. Put the Oven proof dish into a baking tray and fill the baking tray with some boiling water, this steam helps to cook and set the bottom of the custard. Before you place in the oven sprinkle the top of the pudding with Granulated Sugar. 

10. Cook in the oven for 20-25 minutes at 180°C until the top of the Pudding is golden brown and crispy and the custard has set. I normally serve this dish with a scoop of Vanilla Ice-cream  and dusted with Icing Sugar.

“Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside.” 

Nutella-Stuffed Sugar and Cinnamon Cupcakes

Today I made Nutella-Stuffed Sugar and Cinnamon Cupcakes

Do you love Doughnuts? Do you love Nutella? Do you love Cinnamon? Then you are going to love these. These little cakes taste like a cross between a doughnut and a cinnamon swirl. I used to make these cakes with just the sugar and cinnamon crust then one day I wanted to give them a quirky edge, that's where the Nutella came in. They are such a comforting treat with a cup of tea or cold glass of milk. Perfect for breakfast, as a dessert, as a lunchbox filler or as a naughty midnight snack. They are perfect for any occasion those all too well known chocolate/sugar cravings hit. Making these muffins is so easy. It only takes about 30 minutes from bowl to belly

.This is one of my favourite kind of recipes as all the ingredients are all mixed in one bowl. Any recipe that reduces the amount of dishes that have to be washed are favoured in my house. When you have these beauties waiting for you the last thing you want to do is face a sink full of dirty dishes. The texture of these cupcakes are so similar to that of a doughnut I often have people questioning are they really cupcakes. The Sugar and Cinnamon not only makes them look pretty but adds a crunch that really contrasts the softness of the cupcake.

Ingredients:

(Makes 6 large)

For The Cupcakes:

• 80g Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
• 100g Granulated Sugar
• 1 Large Egg
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 120mls Milk
• 200g All Purpose Flour
• 1 1/2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1/4 Teaspoon Nutella
• 8 Teaspoons Nutella

For The Topping:

• 1/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
• 2 Teaspoons Cinnamon
• 4 Tablespoons Melted Butter

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to  180°C. Spray muffin tin with an oil spray and set aside.

2. In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Mix in the Eggs,    Vanilla Extract and milk. Gently fold in the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg.    Don't over mix, just stir together until everything is combined. 

3. Half fill each tin with the mixture. Layer with 1 tablespoon of Nutella in the center then top with another heaped teaspoon of batter on top. You can fill the cupcake tins right up to the top they won't overflow. I normally get 6 out of this mixture but can be easily doubled.

4. If you are using a 12 tin cupcake tin, I normally fill one of the empty tins with water to create some steam during cooking. This helps the cupcakes have really soft texture and even baking.

5. Bake at  180°C for five minutes. Reduce the oven to 160°C bake for a further 15 minutes until the cupcakes are golden brown. Allow to cool for five minutes.

6. While the cupcakes are cooling you can make the sugar cinnamon topping. Melt the butter in the microwave. In a separate small bowl stir together the sugar and cinnamon.

7. I normally use a pastry brush to brush the top of each cupcake with the melted butter then dip the top of each in the sugar and cinnamon mix. I normally swirl it around to ensure I get a nice thick coating.

“I love you like a fat kid loves cake!”