White choc-chip and peanut butter brownies

 One of my favourite things to do is experiment in the kitchen. I love being able to chuck random ingredients that sound right into a bowl and wait to see whether the results will be (mainly edible but also) yummy. I was watching Cider With Rosie's YouTube channel yesterday evening, and she made some brownies which were from a recipe by Nigella Lawson; in this recipe instead of using a ton of chocolate bars to create luxuriously rich brownies, she used cocoa powder. This inspired me, and I thought that a little baking would be an ideal break from philosophy revision, and alas my white choc-chip peanut butter brownies were made. I've only tried these once (today) but they were super yummy and I really wanted to note them down in order to be able to recreate them,  because the only thing you may not have in your cupboard would be white chocolate, meaning they are super easy to make and you won't need to go out for a £50 shop in order to make them! 

These can of course be made without peanut butter, but I'm a massive peanut butter lover and love the saltiness with the chocolate, but for those unfortunate people who have an allergy, they can be made without. I'm super chuffed that these worked, and I hope if anyone was to make them, you would find them just as yummy (and that they work!). 

INGREDIENTS:

- 100g self-raising flour
- 40g cocoa powder
- 75g butter
- 120g sugar
- 1 egg
- 100g white chocolate chopped
- 2 tbsp milk
- pinch salt
- a few teaspoons peanut butter (optional)
-dusting of icing sugar (optional)

METHOD:

1. Pre-heat oven to gas mark 4 or equivalent

2. Measure out in a large bowl your flour and cocoa powder with your salt and mix to combine.

3. In a small saucepan melt the butter and sugar together until they are melted (obviously), and take it off the heat as soon as it is combined and melted.

4. As long as the butter isn't too hot, pour it into the flour mix and mix until all combined.

5. Crack in your egg - I found this bit tricky, just keep stirring and you'll be fine!

6. Pour in your milk and stir

7. Sprinkle over your white chocolate chunks, you can make the chunks quite big if you like them that way!

8.  Pour it into a lined tin (lined so the edges protrude from the tin so you can take it out with ease), and spread so even.

9. Dollop some teaspoons of peanut butter on top and swirl around to create a marble effect.

10. Put it in the oven for around 15-20 mins or until a knife comes out clean.

11. Cut it up and dust over some icing sugar to make it look pretty.

And there you have it! I hope you enjoy these as much as I currently am, and I very much hope that this wasn't just a fluke, I shall soon find out however, as I'm sure another batch will be requested soon!
Thank you for reading,

Fran x

Friday Bakes: Classic Cookies

 Normally on Friday's I like to do my Tea Time Talks, bringing together all the happenings of the week into a nice little bundle of words. But because this week has been a standard school, work (I started Wednesday) and an overall not-very-interesting week, I thought I would save you from the repetition and do a recipe post instead (much more interesting, if I do say so myself!).
These cookies are possibly one of my all time favourite treats. I've made them once before and was told they tasted a bit like the waitrose cookies, which is a massive compliment (I think) because I adore waitrose and anything they produce! They're really simple little cookies which don't require much ingredients or much time, making them perfect for if you have a sudden sweet craving or feel the need to whip up a batch of cookies for whatever reason. Furthermore, they solidify very well, making them great for tea dunking - which of course is what everyone worries about when they make cookies! They don't involve any chocolate or any overly unhealthy ingredients, but I would definitely not class these as healthy, mainly due to the fact that after one you will most likely be working your way through the rest of them!
These are such a safe option to go with for a little gift or if you have guests, with just a vanilla flavour and being so buttery and delicious, the majority of  people will love them.
So here we go...

INGREDIENTS:

• 140g Caster Sugar 
• 250g butter 
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 1 egg yolk 
• 300g plain flour 

METHOD:

1. Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4/180 degrees celcius
2. Blend the Caster sugar and butter together until combined and fluffy 
3. Pour in the egg yolk and vanilla extract, then stir. 
4. Next, sift in the flour to the mixture and combine to form a dough 
5. Line your baking tray with baking paper
6. Place dessert spoon sized portions of the dough onto the tray, and gently push down with a fork 
7. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, making sure they do not turn golden brown, but are relatively firm yet still a little squidgy. 
8. Take them out and let them cool for about 5 minutes, then enjoy! 

Left: Before oven Right:After oven

I hope you all have tremendous weeks that are filled with happiness and cookies (one in the same, really) and thank you for reading my post!

Fran x

Chewy, Oaty, Raisiny Cookies!

So I'm finally going to upload the recipe for the cookies I made over a week ago! These were delicious cookies which were chewy and had plenty of flavour, I also felt that they were healthier because they had raisins and oats in, but to be honest, they most likely weren't much healthier than normal choc-chip cookies! Nonetheless, here is the recipe! I'd  highly recommend making them, they don't take too long and they're such a lovely treat:

• 255 grams flour (I ran out of plain and used some self-raising which worked, but I didn't include baking powder)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 340 grams butter (melted)
• 220 grams packed brown sugar 
• 100 grams white granulated sugar 
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (mixed spice also works- we didn't have cinnamon)
• 1 egg 
• 1 egg yolk 
• 130 grams oats 
• 90 grams raisins 

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 3 or 170 degrees celcius. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. 
2. Melt the butter and let it cool a little.
3. Mix the flour, baking soda and salt, the set it aside. 
4. In a medium bowl cream the butter and both sugars  until well blended. Then beat in the cinnamon, vanilla, egg and egg yolk until light and creamy. 
5. Mix in the flour mixture to the wet mix until just combined. Then add the oats and raisins, mix again until just combined. 
6. Place a palmfuls of the mixture onto the baking tray and compress slightly. 
7. Bake in the oven for 14-16 minutes, try not to overbake them! The edges should be brown and the middle still a little soft.
8. Let the cookies cool on the side for a little while, but do try one when they are still warm, they're delicious! 

You can also add some pecans or walnuts if you like.

 I hope you like this recipe, the cookies I made were really yummy and went perfectly with a cup of green tea!

Fran x