Walnut Shortbread

If you thought I was done making biscuits so was I, but on a quiet weekend at home we got hungry so I just had to make some more. No experiments this time though, this baking session was just for eating! We decided we wanted shortbread recipe but this time with a nutty twist. Here is my recipe for Walnut Shortbread;

Ingredients

• 125g of Butter
• 55g of Caster Sugar
• 180g of Flour
• 75g of Crushed Walnuts

 

Walnut Shortbread

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190
2. Mix the butter and sugar in a bowl until the mixture is smooth
3. Begin to stir in the flour in stages through a sive and contiune to mix together thoroughly
4. At this stage the mixture turns from a paste to a crumbly mixture
5. Then add the crushed walnuts to the mixture
6. Use your hands to create a ball with the mixture
7. Dust a dry and clean surface with flour and roll the mixture out to 1cm thick
8. Cut out your shapes and place on baking paper on a baking tray (you may have mixture left over, keeping rolling our until you use all of the mixture for the shapes)
9. Put the shapes into the fridge for 20 minutes
10. Put into the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes until golden
11. Leave to cool for 45 minutes

Satisfaction is always guaranteed with this recipe for Walnut Shortbread, the biscuits themselves are just delicious and the addition of walnuts is perfect. I think you could try this recipe out adding any type of nuts or sweet treats to the recipe before baking!

If you use this recipe with any other twists I would love to hear what!

Almond Rolled Biscuits

My final biscuit recipe, which makes me sad as I had so much fun experimenting and then sharing them with you, but I am sure I will be baking again soon! This time a recipe for Almond Rolled Biscuits;

Ingredients

• 250g of Butter
• 140g of Caster Sugar
• 1 Egg Yolk
• 2tsp of Vanilla Extract
• 300g of Plain Flour
• 100g of Flaked Almonds

 

Almond Rolled Biscuits

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 150C
2. Cream the butter and caster sugar in a large bowl until smooth
3. Add the egg yolk and vanilla extract and beat to combine
4. Sift the flour into the mixture in stages whilst working it into the mix
5. At this point using your fingers is best to bring the mixture together
6. Roll the mixture into a tube
7. Then roll in the almonds so that they cover all over
8. Cover with cling film and put in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes
9. Once chilled cut width ways in 1cm thick strips and lay the biscuits onto a baking sheet
10. Place in oven for 15-16 minutes watching carefully until the biscuits are golden
11. Bring out of the oven and allow to cool

These Almond Rolled Biscuits combined 2 of my great loves, biscuits and almonds, I would literally have almonds with everything and what is better than that? Nothing that is what, the biscuits were chewy and moist whilst the crisp almonds gave off a delicious flavour and crunchy texture, I will definitely be making these more often!

Cinnamon Swirl Biscuits

As promised another day another biscuit experiment using the butter biscuit recipe I gave you last time! I found experimenting with making biscuits was so much fun especially when my inspiration was looking round my kitchen and thinking ‘this could work’. This time out my recipe for Cinnamon Swirl Biscuits;

Ingredients

• 250g of Butter
• 140g of Caster Sugar
• 1 Egg Yolk
• 2tsp of Vanilla Extract
• 300g of Plain Flour
• 3tbsp of Cinnamon Powder

 

Cinnamon Swirl Biscuits

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 150C
2. Cream the butter and caster sugar in a large bowl until smooth
3. Add the egg yolk and vanilla extract and beat to combine
4. Sift the flour into the mixture in stages whilst working it into the mix
5. At this point using your fingers is best to bring the mixture together
6. Roll out 1cm thick on a dusted surface into a rectangle 4cm wide by as long as it will go remaining 1cm thick
7. Then spread the cinnamon all over one side of the mixture
8. Then starting from the short side roll the mixture up to create the swirl
9. Place the cylinder in the fridge for 30 minutes to cool
10. Once chilled cut width ways in 1cm thick strips and lay the biscuits onto a baking sheet
11. Place in oven for 15-16 minutes watching carefully until the biscuits are golden
12. Bring out of the oven and allow to cool

This recipe for Cinnamon Swirl Biscuits was so much fun and would be great to make with kids, it also incorporates one of my favourite winter flavours, cinnamon, which is perfect when it is -5 outside (come on it is March) but if it gives me an excuse to make biscuits I can put up with the cold a little while longer! I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

Butter Biscuits

This will be the first of a few biscuit related posts coming up! The basic inspiration went as far as I have not made biscuits in a while and I got some new cutter for Christmas so I am going to make some. Then I happened to chance across a recipe for Butter Biscuits that was versatile for experimenting with different flavours and textures. Se here is the basic biscuit recipe.

Ingredients

• 250g of Butter
• 140g of Caster Sugar
• 1 Egg Yolk
• 2tsp of Vanilla Extract
• 300g of Plain Flour

Butter Biscuits

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 150C
2. Cream the butter and caster sugar in a large bowl until smooth
3. Add the egg yolk and vanilla extract and beat to combine
4. Sift the flour into the mixture in stages whilst working it into the mix
5. At this point using your fingers is best to bring the mixture together
6. Roll out 1cm thick on a dusted surface and cut out your desired shapes
7. Place onto a baking sheet
8. Chill for 30 minutes
9. Place in oven for 15-16 minutes watching carefully until the biscuits are golden
10. Bring out of the oven and allow to cool

I cannot deny that these Butter Biscuits tasted great but if the look like mine when your done you went wrong just as I did, I thought I could make them thinner and I couldn’t! These butter biscuits do spread whilst baking so they need to be thick to counter balance that, mine were a little too thin so had a snap to them, delicious all the same but not what I was going for. I also have to admit that I did not use my new cutters as this dough just would not let me sadly and that is why you see boring circular biscuits!

I will definitely be having a second attempt at this recipe and will be sure to keep you posted.

By the way look out for my next biscuit post in a few days!

American Style White Chocolate Chunk Cookie Recipe

Ever since we returned from Canada I have been craving cookies, they are just so much better in North America, big and chewy as opposed to the small biscuit like ones you get here – my American friend had pointed out to me “How do they call these American Style?”. So I decided that the only way to satisfy my craving was to make them myself but then I had to decide what flavour to make. The decision making did not last long before I decide on white chocolate and here is my recipe for American Style White Chocolate Chunk Cookies:

Ingredients

• 250g of Plain Flour
• 1/2 tsp of Bicarbonate of Soda
• 1/2 tsp of Salt
• 170g of Butter
• 200g of Brown Sugar
• 100g of Caster Sugar
• 1 tbsp of Vanillan Extract
• 1 Egg
• 1 Egg Yolk
• 325g of White Chocolate Chunks

American Style White Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Method 

1. Preheat the oven to 170C
2. Line a baking tray with baking paper
3. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt together and set aside
4. In a bowl cream together the butter, brown sugar and caster sugar
5. When smooth beat in the vanilla extract, egg and egg yolk until light and creamy
6. Mix if the flour mixture gradually and blend
7. Stir in the white chocolate chunks
8. Spoon dough onto the baking tray – around 2 large tablespoons for a large cookie – do not flatten
9. Make sure that each cookie is 8cm apart to allow for baking
10. Bake for around 13-15 minutes
11. Once cooked take out of the oven and leave on baking tray to cool
12. After 5 minutes cooling on the tray transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling before eating

Serving Suggestions

Can anything beat cookies and milk?

These were so so so good and completely satisfied my craving. This mix makes around 10 large cookies or up to 16 smaller ones I imagine so it is always a good recipe to have on hand if friends come over or if you want to make cookies to last all week (they might be too yummy for this though). Although I have to warn you when mixing by hand it is hard work and will certainly give your batwings an exercise session, although this could be seen as burning calories so you can have one more of these American Style White Chocolate Chunk Cookies!

Lemon Cream and Mixed Berry Compote

I once had this in a restaurant such a long time ago that I cannot even remember which restaurant it was, but I had not forgotten the dessert. It was so scrumptious and more-ish that when I was deciding what to make for our dinner party dessert this weekend there was no other choice.  I am always making things full of chocolate which in my opinion can only be beaten by a delicious lemon dessert. So on the menu this week; Lemon Cream and Mixed Berry Compote served with Home-Made Shortbread Biscuits and this is the recipe:

Ingredients

• 600ml of Double Cream
• 350g of Sugar
• 5 Lemons
• 250g of Mixed Berries (this time I used Blackberries and Blueberries)

My Lemon Cream Drizzled with Mixed Berry Compote and Shortbread for Dipping!

Method

1. Firstly, zest and juice the 5 lemons and set aside
2. Then bring the double cream to the boil in a saucepan
3. Once the cream is boiling turn down the heat to a simmer
4. Add 250g of sugar whilst continually stirring for 2-3 minutes or until the sugar has dissolved
5. Continue to stir as you add the lemon zest and juice
6. Simmer for a further minute before removing the mixture from the heat
7. After 10 minutes of cooling pour the mixture evenly into 4 serving glasses and leave to cool down for 50 minutes
8. After the 50 minutes ensure the mixture is cool before putting into the fridge to chill for at least 2 hours
9. When the creams have chilled for 2 hours you can prepare the compote
10. Put the berries and 100g of sugar in a pan and stir well as you heat them
11. As the sugar dissolves and the berries breakdown bring the mixture to a simmer
12. Simmer for 5-6 minutes / stirring well
13. Remove from the heat
14. Take a spoon and drizzle a small part of the compote over the top of the creams and put back in the fridge to chill for a few minutes
15. Let the compote cool before placing into a jug for serving

Serving Suggestions

Drizzle the Mixed Berry Compote over the top of the chilled Lemon Cream and serve with Home-Made Shortbread Biscuits

I served my Lemon Cream and Mixed Berry Compote in 4 individual mini desserts but this dessert would also be great as one cream that could then be served out into individual bowls if you wanted to split the dessert between more people or even save some for later. Either way this dessert was divine and it was great for me to try baking something a little bit different and I am really proud of myself that this came out so well! Having the shortbread biscuits to dip in were a really great idea and broke up the strong flavours of the lemon and berries, which were surprisingly more sickly than I had anticipated, I suppose fruit is not always healthy!

If you have any other delicious Lemon based desserts I would love to hear your recipes!

Golden Syrup Biscuits

Yesterday was a wet and windy day in Berlin, and we spent the afternoon putting off our trip to the supermarket, however, we had no food in the house. So I stared into my cupboards to try and decide what i could concoct from the ingredients we did have before deciding that biscuits would be the perfect accompaniment to a lazy Saturday afternoon on the sofa. My eye was caught by the large tin of Golden Syrup sitting in the cupboard so I thought I would try something new: Golden Syrup Biscuits, here is my recipe;

Ingredients

• 125g of Butter
• 55g of Caster Sugar
• 180g of Flour
• 1 Large tbsp of Golden Syrup

 

My Golden Syrup Biscuits still Warm from the Oven

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190
2. Mix the butter and sugar in a bowl until the mixture is smooth
3. Begin to stir in the flour in stages through a sive and contiune to mix together thoroughly
4. At this stage the mixture turns from a paste to a crumbly mixture here you will add the golden syrup before using your hands to create a ball with the mixture
5. The mixture is too sticky to roll out so pull a chunk of the dough off roll into a ball in your hands and flatten before placing on a baking tray lined with baking paper
6. Repeat until all of the dough is gone
7. Put into the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes until golden
8. Leave to cool for 30 minutes

These biscuits were really delicious but did not last very long as they had a crumbly texture with a sticky after taste that just left your craving another biscuit. They were so quick and simple that another batch could be prepared fairly quickly if more were needed. I prefer making my own biscuits so much more than buying them from the shop now I realise how simple all of the different kinds are.

Toad in the Hole

As the England game was on last night (the less said the better) and we were having some friends over for dinner and to watch the game I wanted to make something ‘English‘ so after being highly indecisive and quite unimaginative I decided to make Toad in the Hole. However, one of our guests had never tried it and in fact did not even know what it was so it turned out to be a great choice and here is the recipe;

Ingredients

• 12 Sausages (Pork or Poultry, which I use as I do not eat pork)
• 225g of Plain Flour
• 3 Eggs
• 225ml of Milk
• 165ml of Water

My Toad in the Hole Ready for the Oven

Method

1. Firstly cook the sausages on a baking tray in the oven, at 180 they will take 12-15 minutes
2. Whilst they are cooking place a baking dish (around 25cm x 25cm) in the oven with a little bit of oil in it to heat up
3. Sift the flour into a bowl and create a well in the centre
4. Break the eggs into the well and beat into the flour
5. Gradually add the milk and water and continue to beat until the batter is smooth
6. When the sausages are cooked pour the batter mix into the dish with the heated oil and add the sausages
7. Put into the oven for 35-40 minutes and serve

Serving Suggestions

I simply served this dish with gravy and mixed boiled vegetables and it tasted great

My Yummy Cooked Toad in the Hole

This meal was so quick and easy but still tasted great! It really was in-keeping with our English themed evening which was finished off with a strawberry and biscuit bake that was home-made by our guests for dessert!

Chocolate Tiffin Bar

Due to the excitement of the final group stages of Euro 2012 and Germany playing last night, we unfortunately were not having dinner with our friends. Which to be honest I was mainly disappointed about as I wanted to make my first apple crumble and custard but that will now be saved for a later date. So instead I decided not to make anything for dessert this week, which was met by a sad face of my boyfriend who said ‘we (not him) can still make something yummy just for us) so here is it, Chocolate Tiffin Bar;

Ingredients

• 200g of Digestive Biscuits
• 200g of Milk Chocolate
• 100g of Walnuts
• 100g of Almonds
• 65g of Ready Made Meringue
• 150g of Unsalted Butter
• 100g of Mini Marshmallows
• 1tbsp of Golden Syrup

My Set Chocolate Tiffin Bar

Method

1. Firstly line a large plastic container (around 20cmx30cm) with cling film, leaving plenty of extra film around the edges to help turn out your tiffin when its set
2. Break the biscuits up into small pieces in a large bowl
3. Add the walnuts, almonds and marshmallows and mix together
4. Put the chocolate, butter and broken up meringue into a glass bowl and put on a low heat over a pan of simmering water until the butter and chocolate are almost melted
5. At this point add the golden syrup and stir until thoroughly melted
6. Combine the biscuit/nut mix and the chocolate and stir thoroughly ensuring that all ingredients are covered in chocolate
7. Pour the mixture into the line plastic container and push down to form a solid bar
8. Place in into the fridge until it has set
9. After it is completely set turn the tiffin out of the container onto a plate and slice into chunky slices ready to serve

I have a few recommendations for anyone making this; firstly buy peeled almonds, secondly, prepare everything before you start, it is fairly simple to make but I found myself in a rush at times during cooking and finally, make this recipe it is amazing!

The only place I have every tried tiffin is in coffee shops and I am usually disappointed to find cherries or raisins in them, so by making it at home I can put all of my favourite things in them to make a truly delicious dessert or snack that can be kept in the cupboard to enjoy all week long. The tiffin turned out delicious and would actually be great to make with kids as there is no baking involved, however be sure to only let them have a small piece as the sugar levels in this tasty treat are really high!

If you are watching the waistline (aren’t we all) this is not the best thing to enjoy however it is so rich and chocolatey that after one small piece I was satisfied so I like the idea of keeping it in my cupboard to enjoy as a naughty but rewarding treat!

Another Day Another Batch of Shortbread

Today I am going to the UK to see my friends and family as I have a few days spare between jobs. Unfortunately my boyfriend cannot come with me so this week I am leaving him home alone!

Somehow a deal was struck that as I am leaving him here in Berlin I should make him something ‘yummy’ to enjoy when I am going.  So I am making another batch of shortbread, this time half dipped in white chocolate, here is the recipe;

Ingredients

• 125g of Butter
• 55g of Caster Sugar
• 180g of Flour
• 100g of White Chocolate

My Uncooked Shortbread Discs

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190
2. Mix the butter and sugar in a bowl until the mixture is smooth
3. Begin to stir in the flour in stages through a sive and contiune to mix together thoroughly
4. At this stage the mixture turns from a paste to a crumbly mixture so use your hands to create a ball with the mixture
5. Dust a dry and clean surface with flour and roll the mixture out to 1cm thick
6. Cut out your shapes and place on baking paper on a baking tray (you may have mixture left over, keeping rolling our until you use all of the mixture for the shapes)
7. Put the shapes into the fridge for 20 minutes
8. Put into the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes until golden
9. Leave to cool for 45 minutes
10. Once the biscuits are cold, melt the white chocolate and one by one dip half of the biscuit into the chocolate and place on a tray covered in baking paper
11. Once all of the biscuits are done put into the fridge for 30 minutes until the chocolate has set

My Finished White Chocolate Shortbread

I am really disappointed that I won’t be here to eat these as they look delicious and my sweet tooth seems to enjoy white chocolate a lot more than milk chocolate at the moment. Hopefully they will keep my boyfriend happy whilst I am away!