Playful yummy bakes for modern home bakers
What’s better than a gingerbread cookie at Christmas? That would be two gingerbread cookies. What could be even better than that? Well, that would be smothering them with nutella and making a cookie sandwich. You’re welcome. These gingerbread nutella sandwich cookies are delicious and a …
Hands up if cookies are your all time favourite treat! They’re absolutely one of mine. Oh my goodness, I just love how simple they are to make, fast to prepare, even faster to eat but nothing comes close to how deliciously comforting they are. These …
I am just in love with these iced party biscuits. If you’re anything like me, a burst of colour always puts me in a good mood, and these fellas are bright, bold and unapologetically beautiful. Everything you need to pop a smile on your face and party.
These biscuits are so versatile and easy to make. A simple shortbread cookie recipe, topped with bright buttercream and topped with sprinkles. Great for Birthday parties and the best thing is that they keep really well in the fridge so you can make them ahead of time and you can swap out the colours as you like. If you fancy chocolate, add some cocoa and away you go. We won’t be hemmed in by rules and these obliging little fellas can be adapted however we fancy. Love it!
The great thing about this recipe is that if you need more, it’s so simple to scale up to feed a crowd. So pleasing when things work out like that.
150g plain flour
100g unsalted putter
Pinch of salt
50g caster sugar
125g unsalted butter
250g icing sugar (sifted)
¼ tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1-2tsp milk (depending on the consistency of the icing)
Few drops of pink food colouring (or your choice of colours)
Sprinkles
Preheat the oven to 160 celsius. You want a coolish oven so the shortbread bakes well but doesn’t get too brown.
Mix the softened butter with the sugar until it goes light and fluffy.
Add in the flour and the salt and slowly mix together until the dough comes together in a ball.
Roll the dough out on a lightly floured board and make a rough circle about a few cm tall. You don’t want these to be too thick, as we’ll be adding a thick layer of buttercream later.
Use a circle cutter to cut the dough and then transfer to a baking tray lined with parchment paper. You can use whatever size cutters you want, but if you make mini ones, adjust the cooking time a bit, as they will cook quicker. I used a circle cutter, 8cm in diameter. This makes about 10 biscuits.
Bake for 15 mins so the cookies are set and are just started to brown on the edges.
Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool while you make the buttercream.
To make the icing, start to mix the soft butter in a bowl, using a food mixer or a hand held beater is best, to get it all nice and smooth and lighter in colour. Then gradually start adding in the sifted icing sugar. Mix until smooth and creamy.
Then add the salt, vanilla and food colouring and quickly mix again to combine.
Add in a few tsp milk if the buttercream looks too thick. You want the icing to be easily spreadable and soft, but not wet so that it will slide off the shortbread.
Take the cooled biscuits and using an offset spatula or a knife, spread and swirl the icing onto the biscuits and add the sprinkles.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge. These will keep well for a few days.
If you’re on the hunt for Birthday decorations to go alongside some beautiful food why not try Party Pieces, they’ve got some great stuff. Etsy is always a good shout for bespoke and personal ideas for gifts that are often so much more unique than what you find on the high street.
Mince pie cookies, a playful take on the classics. Mince pies are undoubtedly a Christmas staple; the taste, the aroma and the ritual all make for one of the most traditional seasonal bakes that has truly stood the test of time. There are 12 days …
Halloween splatter cookies. Trick or treat definitely comes to mind here. Splatter is the optimal word for these little terrors…the process rather than the product is the true demon here. To look at them you’d think, wow, Halloween chic; Jackson Pollock meets baking, fab but …
Monster cookie cups – more googly than gruesome, these monster cookies are certainly the friendly cousins to their sinister Halloween relatives. How could you not fall in love with their darling little faces?
The deeply dark chocolate cookie base is perfect with the intense flavours of the ghoulish trifecta of blackberry jam, lemon and lime and orange marmalades. Purple, green and orange, you can’t go far wrong with these colours at this time of year.
The endearing little eyes, zest and Halloween sprinkles make everything come to life; making these a perfect playful treat to celebrate the season.
160g plain flour
65g cocoa powder
100g caster sugar
150g softened butter
1 tbsp milk
1 ½ tsp coffee granules
½ tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp salt
Mix and match with 1 tsp of choice of fillings – blackberry jam, lime and orange marmalade
Sprinkles (for decoration)
Zest of one lime and ½ an orange for decoration
Makes approx. 15 cookie cups
Measure out and sieve the dry ingredients (plain flour, cocoa powder and salt). The coffee granules won’t really go through the sieve, so they can be added afterwards.
Using a food mixer or an electric hand mixer, mix the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. This should take about 3 minutes.
Lower the mixer speed and add in the milk and vanilla. Mixing to combine into a smooth mixture.
Then gradually add the flour mixture. As soon as this is combined turn the mixer off, to prevent working the gluten in the flour too much.
Cover the soft dough and put in the fridge for 1-2 hours to firm up a little.
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.
Grease 2 shallow tart tins. (I used low fat cooking spray).
Take the cookie dough out of the fridge. Break off a ball of dough about 30g in size. Then press the balls of dough into the tin, pressing down around each tart shape, so the sides are fairly even.
Spoon in the jam or marmalade, about a teaspoon in each. I made the same number of each flavour but you can mix and match how you like.
Bake for 18-20 mins. The biscuits will have set and the jam will be oozing and bubbly. (Don’t touch, it will be searingly hot.)
Almost immediately use a palette knife or dinner knife to loosen the cookies out from the tin and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Don’t wait too long to do this otherwise the cookies will set too much and it will be really hard to get them out.
Once the cookies have cooled a bit you can add the icing eyes, zest and sprinkles (and anything else you fancy) as decoration.
Tips
If you forget to leave your butter out to get to room temperature simply weigh out what you need and stick it in the microwave for 20 secs and that will soften it right up. Done.
Bake the cookies in the middle of the oven – if you put them too high, they will just brown too much before they are baked.
Try not to over-fill the cookie cups. Too much and the jam/marmalade will just ooze straight out.
Preheat a baking tray when you are heating the oven and put the tin straight on top when you bake. This will heat the bottom straight away and will help them cook more evenly.
Looking for other Halloween baking ideas? Try my Halloween cupcakes – matcha mash or Halloween splatter cookies or maybe even Devilishly dark chocolate liquorice truffles – perfect for Halloween they’re great for the grown ups.
On the look out for simple halloween decoration ideas? Take a look at house beautiful recommendations. Looking for kid friendly decorations? Hobbycraft have got some good ideas.
These PB&J thumbprint cookies are seriously good, well with such a classic pairing why would you doubt it. Peanut butter and jam (I just can’t say jelly, sorry) – are a great example of a simple partnership that is far greater together than apart. Salty …
I love a cookie. They’re playful, portable, simple to make, even easier to eat, excellent freeze-ers and just so adaptable. These Chocolate Brazil nut cookies are a brilliant twist on a classic. I’ll share some of my favs with you over the coming months, but for …