Easter is the time for celebration, togetherness and of course many many delicious Easter desserts. If you’re looking for some cracking ideas, you’ve come to the right place. From mini eggs Easter cakes, Easter nests, carrot cake cupcakes, blueberry lemon drizzle bars, hot cross buns …
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 …
No bake peanut butter bars. So so yummy. Salty sweet bars crammed full of peanut butter, nuts and chia seeds and then topped with a delicious layer of dark chocolate. (Milk chocolate if you prefer).
I just love recipes that don’t require too much putting together. This is made in one bowl (minimising washing up) and it’s just a case of throwing all the ingredients in, giving them a stir and popping in the fridge. So simple. These are so truly delicious too, it almost feels wrong that they’re so amazing when we know how easy they are to prepare. Oh well, we deserve this.
These are super versatile too and can easily be made vegan. In fact, they are pretty much there already, just sub out the chocolate for a vegan friendly alternative and you’re there. They can easily be made gluten free too, just use a gluten free friendly brand of oats. (Quaker oats make a great GF range) I love recipes that are so inclusive like that; no one misses out on the good stuff.
No bake peanut butter bars
Recipe
1 cup porridge oats
2 tbsp chia seeds
¾ cup smooth peanut butter
5 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch salt (⅛ tsp)
¾ cup peanuts (¼ chopped peanuts for the bars and extra ½ cup of whole salted peanuts for the topping)
Approx 40g dark chocolate (I really like Lindt for baking, such a rich cocoa flavour)
Makes 8 rectangle bars, or 16 if you make smaller squares.
Method
This is such a simple recipe to put together. Simply add all of the ingredients into a large mixing bowl (excluding the chocolate) and stir to combine. (Just add the ¼ cup of chopped peanuts and 4 tbsp of maple syrup at this stage and leave the rest for the topping)
Once the mix comes together and comes away from the bowl you can form them into bars. The easiest way to do this is to line a 1lb loaf tin. Then gently press the mixture into the pan, making it all flat. Add the final tbsp of maple syrup and spread it evenly over the top of the bars. Then press the whole peanuts on top. The maple syrup will help them to stick well.
Refrigerate for at least two hours, overnight is best to let the ingredients firm up and set well before cutting into bars.
If the top is a little sticky from the syrup, just dab it with a paper towel before cutting into bars. I like thin rectangles but you can also cut into squares.
Let’s get the topping ready
Chop the chocolate finely. Save ¼ back. Melt the remaining chocolate in a microwave safe bowl, in short bursts of 30 secs each until it is just melted. Then add the remaining chocolate and keep stirring until it is silky and completely melted. This is a simple, cheats way to temper chocolate.
Drizzle the chocolate over the bars in whatever way you want. Let your creative side take over.
These are best stored in the fridge to help them stay nice and firm. They’ll last for a good week. Ready whenever you fancy a bit of a pick me up.
Salted caramel chocolate truffles; a seriously indulgent homemade treat. Amazing for homemade gifts and fab for special occasions. Everyone will go crazy for these delicious bites. Soft, caramel scented chocolate truffles coated in a gorgeous chocolate shell. Seriously show stopping treats. There are a few …
Nutella mince pies, now this is a delightful way to shake up your festive routine. In our house, we always make a batch or two of mince pies, often on Christmas Eve, and they’re such a comforting nostalgic bake that I can’t see this changing …
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 festive too. Cranberries and apples go so well together and with the orange and cinnamon it is a real holiday treat.
Made in minutes, it’s a brilliant way to use up leftover cranberries you’ve got lying around, particularly if you’re like me and buy too many for your cranberry sauce and then aren’t quite sure what to do with the rest. Plus they’re only in season so fleetingly it’s lovely to be able to celebrate their jewel bright colour and gorgeously zesty flavour like this. Have it on toast, a cheeky slice of panettone, lovingly spooned onto breakfast muffins or scones, stirred into a steaming bowl of porridge or use like your would lemon curd in baking. So many choices. They would make a beautiful and unique homemade gift this time of year too.
If you pop it in a sterilised jar it’ll keep for months, or pop it in the fridge and use within a few weeks. Or, batch some up and pop in the freezer for when you fancy it. So versatile.
This curd has some texture even after you blitz it, but if you want it smoother, sieve the puree before adding the eggs and butter. It’s delicious either way, but I quite like the texture, it gives a real sense of what is in the curd, and it is homemade after all, that’s part of its charm. (Less washing up too) Fab-yule-ous.
Give the cranberries a good wash and add them to a large saucepan.
Chop the cooking apple into small pieces and add to the cranberries then zest the oranges on top.
In a jug, juice the oranges (this should give you about 130 ml and then top it off with cold water to reach 200ml in total) Pour this into the saucepan too, alongside the cinnamon and salt.
Cook the cranberries on a medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until they have popped, the apples have softened and cooked and some of the liquid has evaporated and thickened. Off the heat, use a stick blender to make a puree. Remove approximately 100ml of the puree and leave to one side to cool. Leave the remaining batch of puree to cool too for about 10 minutes before the next stage.
Separate 3 egg yolks (you can save the whites for meringues) and gently whisk in a bowl. Once the puree has cooled, add the 100ml into the eggs, gently stirring them all together. (This is called tempering the eggs, which basically means, gradually warming them up, so they don’t curdle, which really isn’t what you want here).
Then add the mixture into the rest of the puree and stir gently to combine on a very low heat. (You don’t want the eggs to scramble if the heat is too high).
Once the mixture begins to thicken, gradually add cubes of butter and stir. When you have added all the butter and it has melted and combined into the curd it’s ready. Turn off the heat and spoon into prepared jars.
Mince pie Christmas cupcakes. Oh festive baking; in my mind there really isn’t anything better and complete to make me feel all cosy and Christmassy. Mince pies are such a classic staple in the UK, but I have to admit I’ve never been the biggest …
Mars Bar cupcakes, what a joyous trio we have here. These cupcakes make me so happy. Chocolate and caramel is a mighty combo, so delicious. Soft and fluffy vanilla cupcakes, filled with dulce de leche and topped with not one by two flavours and buttercream, …
Biscoff caramel ice cream. This is great all year round but with the salted caramel and warming spices running through it, mixing with the cosiness of the biscoff spread, this is actually pretty amazing in the autumn and winter, as the seasons are changing. I mean, who says that ice cream is just for summer? It would also be brilliant as a side to a hot apple pie or any comforting pudding really. Lots of choices with this baby. Good news, this is a no churn ice cream which means no fancy equipment needed. No fuss, all the flavour. Simply whip all of the ingredients together, pop in the freezer and away you go.
Biscoff caramel ice cream
Recipe
300ml double cream
½ tin dulce de leche
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp salt
5 tbsp biscoff spread
2 tbsp Baileys (if you don’t want to use alcohol, substitute this for 1 tbsp liquid glucose)
Biscoff biscuits to crumble on top (optional)
Method
Measure out all of the ingredients (apart from the Biscoff biscuits) and add to a large mixing bowl.
Whip all the ingredients together until they begin to hold their shape. This should take a few minutes at high speed. Be careful not to overmix as the cream can get a little grainy if you do.
When the cream is fully whisked, add the mix to a container and crumble some biscoff biscuits on top.
Cover with some cling film and pop in a zip lock bag. This helps the ice cream to stay nice and smooth and not create any ice crystals in the mix while it’s in the freezer.
Pop the ice cream in the freezer to chill for at least 6 hours.
The biscoff caramel ice cream is a pretty soft serve treat, so you won’t need to leave it out of the freezer for long before it’s ready to scoop into a cone or make into one epic ice cream sundae.
This is a great treat that will keep well in the freezer for a month or so.
A delicious, no fuss recipe that does quite literally what it says on the tin. Raspberry jam and shortbread; a combo of sweet perfection (if you ask me). Raspberry shortbread crumble bars; sweet and tart jam (with extra fresh raspberries for added zing) with comforting …