Playful yummy bakes for modern home bakers
Lemon and honey crepes, so zesty, fresh and light. A delicious springtime dessert or brunch. I love crepes and although there is plenty of room in my life for thick American style pancakes, sometimes, particularly around pancake day, it’s so special to stick with the …
Lemon drizzle baked doughnuts are full of spring time flavours. If you love a lemon drizzle you’ll love this playful and delicious bake. This is a light baked doughnut full of lemon and topped with a zingy lemon icing and drizzle topping. Light, fresh and …
A giant mini eggs pop tart, now this says treat day Easter breakfast to me! So yummy and a completely indulgent, over the top fun brunch treat to celebrate the season. If there was every an occasion for chocolate for breakfast it’s Easter. In my book you can’t have Easter without mini eggs or a truck load of chocolate so this is basically my dream way to start the day.
Vanilla pastry, loaded with nutella, topped with chocolate icing, mini eggs and white chocolate drizzle. A total chocoholic dream. The pastries keep really well in an airtight container and I mean you can make individual pop tarts but a giant one, says party to me.
Give it a go and let me know what you think.
345g plain flour
2 large eggs
175g unsalted butter (fridge cold)
25g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
250g nutella
175g icing sugar
1 tbsp nutella
3 tbsp water from recently boiled kettle
Pinch of salt
1 ½ tbsp cocoa powder
½ tsp instant coffee powder
80g mini eggs
25g white chocolate
This makes 1 giant mini eggs pop tart, cut into 8 portions.
First, let’s make the pastry.
This is really simple. Pop the flour, salt, cold butter and icing sugar in a food processor. Blitz for a few seconds until you have a mixture that looks like fine breadcrumbs. The butter should be in very small pieces, distributed amongst the flour mix.
Then crack in 2 eggs and add in the vanilla extract. Blitz until the pastry begins to come together in one large ball.
Remove the dough, divide into 2 equal balls. Then wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for about 30 mins.
Preheat the oven to 190°C alongside a baking tray the same size that you’ll use to bake the giant mini egg pop tart. This will help them cook evenly and give you a lovely crispy base.
Take each piece of dough then on a floured work surface, thinly roll out the pastry into a large rectangle. I did 21 by 28 cm but roughly that size is fine. Trim the pastry so that you have pretty straight edges. Take the bottom piece and pop onto a lined baking tray.
Do the same for the other piece of dough. I aimed for the pastry top to be a little larger than the bottom so that it will help with the crimping.
You’ll probably have extra pastry, so you can always make yourself a chocolate poptart with the leftovers. The cook’s perk.
Heat the nutella up a little in the microwave to loosen it and make it easier to spread. Pour it onto the bottom of the pop tart and spread evenly across, leaving a few cm border, so that the nutella doesn’t come out when you add the pastry lid.
Get a mug of water and, using your finger, wet the sides of the pastry. Then take the pastry lid and place on top, pressing down the sides to make sure no nutella escapes.
Take a fork, and seal the edges of the pastry. Take a sharp knife and add score marks in the centre of the pastry, to help any steam escape in the oven.
Brush the top of the tart with milk or egg wash then bake. The lovely thing about this recipe is you can do all this the night before then bake them fresh in the morning if you like. They’ll sit very happily in the fridge.
Bake for about 20 minutes with the pop tart covered with a piece of greased tin foil. This will help the bottom cook through before the top browns too much. After this time, remove the foil and cook uncovered for another 15 minutes until the pop tart is cooked well underneath and is a lovely golden brown.
Once cooked, leave to completely cool on the baking tray. It is really important to make sure it is completely cold before you move it and ice it, otherwise the pastry will crack when you try to move it. (I did this the first time and trust me even warm pastry is too delicate and you don’t want to ruin all the effort you put in, just for it to break apart when it’s all baked).
To make the icing, put the icing sugar, cocoa powder, nutella, salt and coffee powder into a bowl then gradually add the hot water until you get a pouring but not too runny consistency. Stir together. Add the water gradually a tbsp at a time to help get the right consistency but if it does get a bit too runny, you can just add more icing sugar.
Spread the icing on top, letting it fall down the sides a bit as it sets. Roughly chop the mini eggs and sprinkle over alongside the melted white chocolate in any pattern you fancy.
Leave for about 30 minutes for the icing to set a little. Enjoy.
These are best eaten on the day that they’re baked, but will last a few days stored in an airtight container.
You could also freeze un-iced pastries by tightly wrapping in cling film, which will keep for about 3 months. Then you could defrost in the fridge overnight and decorate when needed. Alternatively you can flash freeze unbaked pastries, store in a bag and then bake for an extra 10 minutes whenever you want one.
Looking for other chocolate recipes? Try our Double Chocolate Baked Doughnuts, Easter hot chocolate, Ruby chocolate rocky road
Love mini eggs and want more ideas for how to make fun desserts with them? Try our Mini egg ice-cream or Easter Nest Doughnuts
If cheese is your thing, my goodness you will love this recipe. French toast grilled cheese, I mean this is a pretty special, indulgent and delicious treat. Perfect for breakfast or a tasty lunch. I remember Nigella making parmesan french toast once and it was …
Breakfast is my favourite meal of the day but it can often feel the most rushed and least satisfying when you’re preparing for a busy day. Chocolate orange nutella pop tarts add a much needed burst of excitement for my morning routine. They’re such a …
Cranberry pop tarts. These are such a fun and completely delicious treat, particularly in the winter when cranberries are in season. It’s a great recipe for when you’ve got leftover cranberry sauce that you don’t know what to do with. The tart and zingy cranberry sauce is so yummy with the sweet icing.
Breakfast is my favourite meal of the day, so if I can find fun ways to shake up the routine I will. These are definitely a perfect, breakfast in bed, lazy morning treat.
The best thing is, you can make them in advance the night before and then bake fresh in the morning. No stress, just a beautiful way to treat yourself to start the day off right.
340g plain flour
2 large eggs
170g unsalted butter (fridge cold)
60g icing sugar
Zest 2 oranges
Pinch of salt
Approx 9 tbsp cranberry sauce (I used my sloe gin cranberry sauce recipe but you can use store bought too if you’re short on time)
200g icing sugar
Zest 1 orange
5-6 tbsp water from recently boiled kettle (keep adding gradually and add extra if needed)
Chopped dried cranberries (optional) sprinkled on top
Makes 8 pop tarts
(You can easily ½ the quantities if you don’t want such a big batch)
First, let’s make the pastry.
This is really simple. Pop the flour, salt, cold butter, icing sugar and orange zest in a food processor. Blitz for a few seconds until you have a mixture that looks like fine breadcrumbs. The butter should be in very small pieces, distributed amongst the flour mix.
Then crack in 2 eggs and blitz until the pastry begins to come together in one large ball.
Remove the dough, divide into 2 and then wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for about 30 mins.
Preheat the oven to 190°C alongside a baking tray the same size that you’ll use to bake the pop tarts. This will help them cook evenly and give you a lovely crispy base.
Take each piece of dough then on a floured work surface, thinly roll out the pastry into a large rectangle. Trim the pastry so that you have pretty straight edges and then divide the dough into even rectangles. Do the same for the other piece of dough. If you have any offcuts, save them and repeat this process until you’ve got everything ready.
Make sure that you have an even number of rectangles – enough for tops and bottoms of the pop tarts.
Take about a tbsp of cranberry sauce and spread it onto the middle of your pastry. Get a mug of water and, using your finger, wet the sides of the pastry. Then take another rectangle and place on top, pressing down the sides to make sure no sauce escapes when you bake them.
Take a fork, and seal the edges of the pastry. Take a sharp knife and add three score marks in the centre of the pastry, to help any steam escape in the oven.
Put the pastry onto a lined baking tray. Repeat for the rest of the tarts.
Brush the tops of the tarts with milk or egg wash then bake. The lovely thing about this recipe is you can do all this the night before then bake them fresh in the morning if you like. They’ll sit very happily in the fridge.
Bake for about 15-17 minutes until the pop tarts are cooked well underneath and are a lovely lightly golden brown.
Once cooked, leave to cool on a wire rack while you make the icing.
Put the icing sugar into a bowl then gradually add the hot water until you get a pouring but not too runny consistency. Add the orange zest and stir together.
When the pop tarts are cool enough spread a little of the icing on top of each, letting it fall down the sides a bit as it sets. Roughly chop a handful of dried cranberries and sprinkle over the tops of the pastry.
Leave for about 30 minutes for the icing to set a little. Enjoy.
These are best eaten on the day that they’re baked, but will last a few days stored in an airtight container.
You could also freeze un-iced pastries by tightly wrapping in cling film, which will keep for about 3 months. Then you could defrost in the fridge overnight and decorate when needed. Alternatively you can flash freeze unbaked pastries, store in a bag and then bake for an extra 10 minutes whenever you want one.
Want more inspiration to use up cranberry sauce after Christmas? Try our White chocolate and cranberry cupcakes
If you have extra cranberries to use, give our Cranberry and apple curd a try, it’s delicious for breakfast.
On the look out for other breakfast treats? Try our Get up and go granola – homemade breakfast ideas or Chocolate pancakes, delicious
Cranberry and apple curd. Goodness, this is a special, no fuss seasonal joy of a recipe. It’s the sort of make ahead recipe, similar to chutneys, that you can serve with so many things and it just makes everything taste that much better and more …
Chocolate pancakes; two magic words for the best start to your day. I’m not saying this is an everyday kinda breakfast, but as a treat these are gorgeous. Rich and chocolatey and topped with berries, whipped cream, all the major food groups. I’ve also had …
Apple pie muffins. I don’t know about you but baking (and eating) really come into their own in the Autumn! The days get darker and heavier, everywhere changes colour and you just know instinctively that the best thing to do is to snuggle down and eat something cosy and warming. These apple pie muffins do exactly that; filled with sweet apples and spices these are a simple bake that is just amazing for breakfast or a teatime treat.
250g self rising flour
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp bicarb
1 tsp baking powder
150g stewed apples (or apple sauce)
1 apple (I like granny smiths for this)
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 orange
50g caster sugar
60g light brown sugar
75g melted unsalted butter
2 large eggs
125ml milk
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp ground cloves
2 tsp vanilla extract
Makes 10 muffins
Demerara sugar to drizzle on the top before baking (optional)
First make the buttermilk. Measure out the milk and then add 1 tbsp of lemon juice to it and leave for 10-15 mins.
Cut the apple into thin slices and then into quarters, so you have pretty diamond shapes. I left out 2-3 pieces to add to the tops of the muffins before baking. Then finely chop the rest. Put the apples in a bowl and coat in the remaining lemon juice to stop them from going brown.
Zest the lemon and orange and leave to one side.
Sift the dry ingredients together. (The flour, salt, bicarb, baking powder and spices)
In a separate bowl, add the melted butter, sugars, vanilla, eggs, buttermilk and mix to combine. Add in the lemon and orange zest and the stewed apples and apple pieces.
Gently fold in the flour and spice mixture until just combined.
As soon as the mix comes together, don’t worry about lumps, then you can leave in the fridge for about 30 mins, or cook straight away.
Preheat the oven to 190 C.
Using an ice cream scoop or spoon, divide the muffin batter into muffin cases, about ¾ full.
Add the apple slices to the tops of each muffin along with a sprinkle of demerara sugar.
Cook for 18-20 mins until lightly golden. The tops of the muffins should spring back when cooked and if you insert a cake tester, it should come out clean.
Once cooked, leave to cool on a baking rack.
Muffins are best eaten on the day they’re made, but as these are packed with apples, it helps keep them nice and moist, so they will keep in an airtight tin for 3-4 days.
Looking for other cosy recipes? Try our Pumpkin spiced pancakes with orange maple syrup and toasted pecans. or our Jam doughnut muffins – both absolutely gorgeous and super simple to put together.
Breakfast is undoubtedly my favourite time of day and smoothies for breakfast are super speedy and give you an instant hit of that all important 5 a day burst of vibrant colour, all things to start the day off right. This strawberry sunrise smoothie is …