Playful yummy bakes for modern home bakers
Halloween sandwich cookies. These cheeky monsters are more cute than creepy but with their bright colours and googly eyes are perfect for a spooky treat. Rich dark chocolate biscuits sandwiched with buttercream. A simple biscuit to make but a gorgeous little show stopper for a …
White chocolate Halloween fudge is so simple to make. With just a handful of ingredients you’ve got a super colourful treat that everyone will love. This is also an easy-peasy cheats fudge. No need for sugar thermometers, which really takes the stress out of things …
Chocoholics, the time has come to try these gorgeous beasts. Honestly this chocolate peanut butter fudge is an easy peasy recipe I come back to way too much because it tastes just sooooo good. So simple, no sugar thermometers in sight and just a handful of ingredients. You have to give this one a go. You can’t ignore the indomitable combo that is peanut butter and chocolate; all that salty sweet goodness.
These are naturally gluten free which is always handy having a few GF treats up your sleeve and the even better news is that it’s so easy to make this vegan and dairy free friendly too; love an inclusive bake, or a no-bake in this case. Woop!
These beauties were actually inspired by Nigella’s pistachio fudge, which I make a lot, particularly around Christmas time and just had to adapt here.
350g dark chocolate (or vegan friendly dark chocolate)
1 tin condensed milk (or vegan friendly alternative – I use Carnation for both)
1 tsp ground coffee powder
2 tsp vanilla
100g peanuts (roughly chopped) plus a few extra for topping later
10 tsp (approx) blobs of smooth peanut butter (this really doesn’t need to be exact, just enough to top and swirl over the fudge before it sets)
Chop the chocolate and add to a saucepan. Pour in the condensed milk and add the coffee and vanilla.
On a low heat gradually melt and combine all of the ingredients together.
Take the pan off the heat just before the last pieces of chocolate have melted and stir until everything is lovely and smooth. (I find that it is best to gently combine everything otherwise the mixture can get a little greasy looking if overheated, so just be patient with it)
Add in the chopped peanuts and stir to combine.
Add to a 2lb loaf tin and use a spoon to evenly cover the whole tin and make it as smooth as possible.
Then blob in the peanut butter across the fudge.
Using a bamboo skewer/toothpick or knife, gently swirl the peanut butter into the fudge, adding a little more after the first swirl if you really want to accentuate that beautiful contrast between the chocolate and peanut butter.
Top with a few extra peanuts and pop in the fridge to chill for a few hours or you can leave overnight.
Cut the fudge into pieces.
This is best stored in an airtight container in a cool dry place or cupboard and it will keep for about a week.
Want other simple chocolate recipe ideas? Check out my Chocolate Banana bread muffins or Chocolate truffle no churn ice cream or even my Chocolate nutella muffins – with a crunchie topping delicious!
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 …
I don’t know about you but bowl and spoon bakes are honestly the most liberating and delicious things you can make. No fancy gadgets required. Let’s face it, with everything else going on in life, if we can cancel out a bit of stress, let’s …
Growing up, millionaires shortbread was my FAVOURITE party food and my Mum would make it for special occasions. What is not to like about this; crumbly and rich shortbread, unctuously thick dulce de leche and chocolate. AMAZING. I was mooching around the kitchen a while ago and had just ordered some novelty Easter egg cutters (you really can buy anything now) and I thought these Easter Egg millionaires shortbread would make a really fun twist on this classic for the celebrations. These cookies make a beautiful showstopper and let’s be frank, any excuse to use mini eggs around Easter and I’m all in.
Let me know what you think.
150g plain flour
100g unsalted butter
50g caster sugar
pinch of salt
397g tin of dulce de leche
100g dark or milk chocolate
50g white chocolate
1 regular sized bag of mini eggs for decoration
Makes approx 6-8 sandwich cookies (you can easily double the recipe if you are cooking for a crowd)
Preheat the oven to 170°C or GM3.
Using a food mixer, combine the butter and sugar together until the mixture is light, pale and fluffy.
Then gradually add in the sifted flour and pinch of salt to the mixture. With the mixer on low, gently mix in the flour until it just begins to clump together. You do not want to overmix the dough here, this will make the shortbread more like a biscuit and you want it to be short and crumbly when it cooks and just melt in the mouth.
Gently flour a worktop and rolling pin and roll out the dough to about ¼ inch thick and cut out rounds of dough using an egg shape cutter. Make sure to cut out an even number as they will be sandwiched together at the end.
Transfer all of the cut pieces of dough to a baking tray and place in the fridge for 20-30 minutes to chill down before cooking.
Cook in the middle of the oven for about 15 minutes until pale and lightly golden brown around the edges.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Take half of the shortbread and smooth out approx 1 tsp of dulce de leche to the middle of the cookie. Don’t spread it to the edge of the cookie, the weight of the top cookie will nudge the filling out and you don’t want it to drip over too much.
Put the filled cookies into the fridge for about 15 minutes while you prepare the toppings.
Melt the dark or milk chocolate. The best way to easily temper chocolate is to use the microwave. Finely chop all the chocolate. Add half to a bowl and gently melt in the microwave in short 20-30 second bursts. Check the chocolate each time and when just melted remove and stir in the remaining chocolate. The residual heat from the melted chocolate will melt the remaining and then you will be ready to gently spread the chocolate across the top of each cookie.
Once you have covered all of the cookies, place them back in the fridge while you prepare the white chocolate and mini egg decoration.
Melt the white chocolate in the same way that you did with the dark/milk and when ready pour into a small piping bag to drizzle on your decoration. You can decorate the Easter egg cookies how you like and if you don’t have a piping bag, simply use a spoon to drizzle on patterns and add crushed mini eggs as you like.
These will keep in an airtight tin in the fridge for a few days but are best eaten on the day that they are made.
Looking for other Easter treats to make? Try our Easter Nest Doughnuts or perhaps for something different Mini egg ice-cream
On the hunt for fun Easter gifts? Check out our Fun Easter gifts for kids – Easter gift guide or for those that don’t fancy chocolate – Unique Easter gifts – for people that have had enough of chocolate (whatt??)
Everyone has their favourites, even if they don’t always admit it, and scones are definitely some of mine. Comforting carby hugs, truly versatile little things, great for breakfast, dress them up for company for a fancy afternoon tea or make them savoury and have for …
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 …
Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
Reindeer Christmas chocolates ARE Christmas to me. Little bites of festive joy. Really, it seems a little meanspirited to eat them but goodness, they make the party table so jolly! Gorgeous double chocolate, velvety smooth truffles covered in even more chocolate and the cutest Rudolph red nose and eyes with pretzel antlers to add the final holiday flourish. Once you’ve made these I’m confident that they’ll become a permanent feature of your festive routine.
500g chocolate (I divide this between 300g of dark chocolate and 200g of milk chocolate)
200ml double cream
¼ tsp salt
3 tbsp freshly brewed strong coffee
½ tsp vanilla extract
300g chocolate (150g dark chocolate and 150g milk chocolate)
Edible red large sprinkles
Royal icing eyes
Approx 50g salted pretzels, broken into pieces
This will make about 30 truffles. Once made, they will keep for about 2 weeks in the fridge.
Make a cup of strongly brewed coffee and leave to one side to cool slightly.
Finely chop the chocolate. Add to a glass or metal bowl (something that is heat proof).
Add the double cream to the bowl. Place the bowl on top of a pan with gently simmering water on a low heat. This will melt the chocolate gently and is a good way to avoid the mixture getting too hot and splitting or burning. (A sad end to a promising food adventure).
Stir the chocolate and cream occasionally. If it looks like the bowl is getting too hot, lift it out of the saucepan and stir the mixture. Then return to the heat until the chocolate has completely melted into the cream. It will look luxuriously smooth and glossy. It should take about 10 minutes.
Add the vanilla extract, salt and coffee to the chocolate ganache and stir to combine.
Dampen a sheet of parchment paper, scrunch and remove excess water. Place the paper right on top of the ganache. This will help the mixture not to form a firm layer when refrigerated.
Place in the fridge and cool for about 1-2 hours.
Take the truffles out of the fridge and using a melon baller or teaspoon, take small amounts of the chilled ganache and gently roll into a ball and place on a lined baking sheet. (This is a bit messy, so keep a bowl of soapy water and towel nearby).
Put the truffles into the fridge to set a little. Approx. 10-15 minutes.
While this is happening, melt the chocolate for the coating. The easiest way to temper chocolate without a thermometer is to use the microwave. Break the chocolate into small chunks. Put about 2/3 of the chocolate into a heat-proof bowl and melt the chocolate in short bursts. Every 30 secs check the mixture and stir occasionally.
When the chocolate has just melted, add in the remaining 1/3 of the chocolate and stir to combine until the chocolate pieces melt into the rest of the mixture. By doing this it will reduce the temperature of the chocolate and make it better to work with.
Prepare a sheet pan/or wire rack with some non-stick parchment paper on the top. Take the truffles out of the fridge.
One by one, balance a truffle on a fork and with your other hand spoon some of the melted chocolate over the truffle, ensuring that you cover the whole thing. Tap off the excess chocolate and place on the parchment paper. Repeat.
The chocolate dries very quickly, so do a few then add the red nose, eyes and pretzel antlers to each of the truffles to make the reindeers come to life.
Want more simple Christmas bake ideas? Try my Mince pie muffins or my Quality Street chocolate cupcakes – both incredibly festive and easy to make.
Looking for gift ideas this festive season? Try my Christmas gift box – give someone a cosy night in this festive season with our chocolate gift experience – everything to send someone some love this holiday.
Sometimes only chocolate will do and when you’re in that mood, more is definitely more, so what you really want is chocolate…on chocolate on more chocolate. Bring on my chocolate nutella muffins. This recipe is a chocolate lover’s dream and something kiddies and adults will …