Soft & Chewy Peanut Butter cookies with Reese's Pieces

It's been an absolute age since I last baked any biscuits: cakes and cupcakes seem to be my go-to baked good of choice these days when I need a hit of something sweet.
Yesterday however, I felt like making something a bit different and having never quite perfected the art of making proper American cookies (you know the ones with the centre still deliciously chewy) I thought now was a perfect time to give it a bash.

I found this recipe for peanut butter cookies and simply adapted it by adding two packets of Reese's pieces to the mixture right at the end, and less actual peanut butter to the mix itself (an entire cup seemed an awful lot of PB to me!)

I've included the original recipe along with my annotations in pink below, it's all in American "cups" measurement I'm afraid- this used to drive me potty, but ever since investing in a set of measuring cups I've never looked back- they're much less hassle than weighing scales!

These are so, so good and dangerously moreish. I'm surprised there are any left after the weekend but I'm sure we'll polish them all off by the end of today!


Recipe:

1/2 cup butter, softened (half a packet)

1 cup peanut butter3/4 cup white sugar1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar1 egg1 tablespoon milk1 teaspoon vanilla extract1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (Plain flour)3/4 teaspoon baking soda1/2 teaspoon baking powder1/4 teaspoon salt

Beat together butter and peanut butter until well combined.  Add sugars and beat until fluffy.  Add egg, milk, and vanilla extract and mix until smooth.  Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt  (and Reese's Pieces) and mix just until blended.  

Roll balls of dough in white sugar before placing on an ungreased baking sheet. (Important step, this: it makes the outside of the cookies crunchy)  Bake at 350 degrees F (180 Celsius) for 10 to 12 minutes. (They will not look done. Don't trust your eyes, they are! ) Do not over bake.  Let cookies cool on baking sheet for at least 3 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.  Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

St Patrick's Day recipe: Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes

Yesterday I finished my latest essay for my part-time Uni course with mere moments to spare from the deadline and having pulled more than one all-nighter in order to get it done, so I thought a treat was in order!

I've made this recipe before in cake form, and whilst it remains the nicest, lightest chocolate cake I've ever found, it is very rich, so I decided to make it into cupcakes instead in the optimistic hope that I'd be more likely to portion control (yeah right!)

I also thought this was quite an appropriate recipe to share what with St Patrick's day coming up, so if you're looking for something a bit different to make for next Sunday's celebrations, look no further!

It may seem a bit odd using Guinness in the recipe- personally I don't like beer, ale stout or bitter as drinks but you can't taste it in the cake, it just sort of tastes a bit more malty than it usually would! (Didn't want anyone to be put off by it as you'd definitely be missing out!)

If you want to track down the original recipe, it's in Nigella Lawson's book Feast and online here.

I've adapted the recipe as cupcakes need much less baking time than one big cake!

For the cake

• 250 ml guinness
• 250 gram(s) unsalted butter
• 75 gram(s) cocoa powder
• 400 gram(s) caster sugar
• 142 ml sour cream
• 2 medium egg(s)
• 1 tablespoon(s) vanilla extract
• 275 gram(s) plain flour
• 2.5 teaspoon(s) bicarbonate of soda

For the topping

• 300 gram(s) cream cheese
• 150 gram(s) icing sugar
• 125 ml double cream (or whipping cream)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/180°C
2. Pour the Guinness into a large wide saucepan, add the butter - in spoons or slices - and heat until the butter's melted, then whisk in the cocoa and sugar. Beat the sour cream with the eggs and vanilla and then pour into the pan and finally whisk in the flour and bicarb.
3. Pour the cake batter into your cupcake cases (this makes enough for about twenty) and bake for 25-30 minutes. Leave to cool completely in the tin on a cooling rack, as it is quite a damp cake.
4. Whip the cream cheese until smooth, sieve over the icing sugar and then beat them both together.
5. Add the cream and beat again until it makes a spreadable consistency. Ice the top of the cupcakes so that they resemble the top of a pint!
6. I then sprinkled some cocoa over the top to finish up, I just wish I'd have had a Guinness template to do the harp with!

Valentine's baking ideas: Pink iced cupcakes with brownie hearts

With Valentine's day fast approaching I thought I'd start taking a look around for some cute baking ideas!

I never need much of an excuse to don my pinny and get baking, and as I've been holed up at home this week recovering from dental surgery, I thought this was the perfect excuse to start trying out some recipes. ( even if I can't actually eat them myself- sob!)

I came across this recipe from Martha Stewart and as it incorporates not one but to of my absolute favourite baked treats- cupcakes AND brownies- I thought I'd give it a go!

I'm really pleased with how they turned out...

I've included the original recipe below, but I adjusted it slightly by using my failsafe Hummingbird Bakery brownie recipe and my favourite cream cheese frosting  which I tinted pink (links to the recipes for these highlighted)

You could make it even simpler by using a pre-made cupcake mix too!

Brownie Heart Cupcakes 

• Vegetable oil, cooking spray
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 3 sticks unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 12 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 3 cups sugar
• 6 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 
  
• Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Coat an 8-inch square cake pan with cooking spray, line bottom with parchment, then spray parchment.
2. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Place butter and chocolate in a heatproof mixer bowl set over a pot of simmering water, stirring until chocolate melts.
3. Attach bowl to mixer, add sugar, and whisk on medium-high speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, then vanilla. Reduce speed to low, and add flour mixture.
4. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full. Spread remaining batter in square pan. Bake until set but still soft, about 18 minutes. Let cool in tins and pan on wire racks.
5. Frost cupcakes with buttercream. Cut out 24 hearts from brownie in pan using a 1 1/2-inch heart-shaped cutter. Top each cupcake with a heart.
   
   
   Has anyone come across any more cute Valentines baking ideas I should try out?

Write it on your heart: Every day is the best day of the year.

 Burgundy Lace dress: Next

Nighthawk boots: Office

Frankie 2013 diary: Notemaker

Jar of happiness: see Gemma's youtube vlog

I never usually make New Year's resolutions, as I know only too well that life sort of gets in the way and they inevitably fall by the wayside sometime around January 10th (If you're me!)

However instead of calling them resolutions, I'm going to go with aims for the year. little things that make life a bit happier, a bit better.

First of all, I decided I really want to start making more of an effort to comment on blogs that I read. Thanks to Ceri this has become more of a focused thing, as she very handily set up the "Follow for follow" bloggers community via Twitter on New Year's eve. it's nice to know there are like- minded people around who want to make more of an effort to make blogging more of a community, and support and encourage each other. You can see the full list of all the participants and their blogs here.

Second of all, I want to start to appreciate the little things in life rather than letting them pass me by in the rush to catch my next flight, race up the motorway, etc etc etc. I saw Gemma's video and thought the Jar of Happiness was a fantastic idea- basically take a jar (or other vestibule of your choice) and every time something happens that makes you smile, write it down and pop it in. 

Next New Year's eve, the idea is to open the jar and whilst reading through all the lovely things that have happened that year, appreciate your life and be more positive.

As you can see I've taken things a step further by creating a jar of whinge. The idea here being every time I'm upset by something I'll write that down and I'm hoping that when I go over them, I will see how mundane and trivial the things I worry about day to day are. That's the theory anyway!

I bought the Frankie diary on a bit of a whim on Christmas Eve as a pressie to myself (naughty). I really, really wanted one last year too but they had sold out long before Christmas so I was surprised to see this still in stock. They've sold out now but if you want one, keep going back to the Notemaker site as I think they are expecting more stock soon.

I'm going to write in this each night to remember what I've done and where I've been each day (sometimes I need reminding as I travel so much it's hard to remember where  am when I first wake up!)

Has anyone else got any New Year's aims? I'm always curious to hear them!

Christmas recipes: Eggnog latté cupcakes

I don't know about you, but every year by around the tenth of December I've had enough of mince pies. I'm not a great fan of them in general, and since we're going to spend Christmas with family, I thought it would be nice to try and find a recipe for an alternative treat to take along with me for the celebrations.
After spending a blissfully happy afternoon browsing recipes online, I came across the following one on the Good Food website.
Anything that claims to taste like my favourite winter drink from Starbucks has to be worth a shot!

 These are incredibly simple to bake, make the entire house smell absolutely delicious (No need for any Yankee Christmas candles!), and if you've been doing any festive baking at all I'm sure you will have the majority of the ingredients already lurking in your kitchen cupboard.

I made two batches (we will not speak of the first, suffice to say I immediately left the house to buy a new baking tray) and after making the frosting, put them in the fridge for an hour to set before adding the finishing touch- a sprinkling of Dairy Milk with Oreo!

They do indeed taste just like eggnog lattés (and probably have just as many calories but who's counting eh?) and if you're looking for a last minute treat to bake that's a bit different to the norm, definitely give them a go!
Here's the recipe:


For the cupcakes

100 g unsalted butter, softened
240 g caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 medium eggs
100 ml milk
220 g plain flour, sifted, plus extra
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tsp ground cinnamon
60 g white chocolate, grated

For the frosting

100 g white chocolate
125 g unsalted butter
250 g icing sugar, sifted
2 tbsp double cream
1 tsp ground cinnamon



1. Preheat oven to 180C/160C Fan/gas 4. Prepare a cupcake tray with 12 cupcake cases.

2. Cream the softened butter and caster sugar together in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the vanilla extract, then beat in the eggs one by one, adding a little flour at any sign of curdling. Pour in the milk and mix well.

3. Add the flour, baking powder, nutmeg and cinnamon. Mix until thoroughly combined.

4. Finally, add the chocolate to the batter and fold it through to distribute evenly. Fill prepared cupcake cases 2/3rds full with the batter.

5. Bake in the oven for 20-22 minutes until well risen and golden brown on top. Allow to cool on a wire rack.

6.Melt the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of hot water.

7. Cream together the butter, icing sugar and double cream.  Add the melted chocolate and mix well to combine.

8. Once completely cool, frost the top of the cupcakes using a small angled spatula or pipe if you prefer. Sprinkle the tops with whatever you have chosen for decoration!