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Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

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I have to warn you in advance of the incredible indulgence and satisfaction you will gain from these cookies if you were to make them. You will want to make them over and over again. I made three batches this weekend alone. In my defence I like to thoroughly test a recipe before I share it with you guys but these cookies did not last long in my house although I did of course share them with family members.. a little anyway.

I am a real fan of anything which combines salty and sweet, salted caramel is one of my greatest addictions and these Peanut Butter Cup cookies manage to tick all of the boxes. The cookie is sweet but not overpoweringly so and the peanut butter is salty and rich and unctuous..I do so love that word. You could adapt the sizes and make them bigger or smaller, I went for fairly large ones similar in size to a Millie’s cookie or the one you get in coffee shops. The most important thing to remember in this recipe is to chill the dough and also freeze your dollops of peanut butter ( I picked up this tip from the late Izzie King from the Coriander Queen blog, she was a pretty clever baker ) as it makes it so much easier to work with and stops them spreading too much and just becoming a swirly mess.

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

You will need:

225g softened butter

225g golden caster sugar

175g self raising flour

50g cocoa powder

30ml golden syrup

10 teaspoons of peanut butter

First you need to place your dollops of peanut butter on a sheet of baking paper and freeze for at least an hour, don’t remove from freezer until your dough is ready.

In a large mixing bowl, combine your butter, sugar and syrup before adding your flour and cocoa powder. Mix well to form a smooth cookie dough mixture. Cover and pop in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 180c. Remove your dough from fridge and peanut butter from freezer. Take a lump of dough and press a dollop of Peanut Butter into the middle, press the dough around it so the peanut butter is completely covered. You should be able to make between 8-10 depending on how large you want your cookies to be. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Remove and leave to cool for at least 10-15 minutes, don’t attempt to move as they will just fall apart.

Now just try and stop yourself eating them all in one go because I have to tell you that these are even better the next day when the layers have firmed a little and they are an absolute delight with a cup of tea. I am currently testing a batch of the uncooked but formed dough balls in the freezer to see how well they cook from frozen. I think these would just be the ultimate treat to serve impromptu guests. I’ll keep you posted on how they turn out.

 

 

 

Homemade Edible Christmas Gifts -Part 1

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I love making Christmas gifts for family and friends. I generally buy gifts too and these are a special treat on top but you could easily put a collection of homemade goodies together to make a festive hamper which would make a really thoughtful present.

I’ve rounded up a collection of homemade gift ideas for you and as there are so many I will be sharing in two different posts. Some of the ideas are super simple and ideal for getting little hands involved in the kitchen,you could also adapt quite a few of them to make something a little experimental if you are a creative type.

Without further ado here we go…

Raspberry Coconut Ice:

Homemade coconut ice

Cranberry & Pistachio Nougat:

Homemade nougat

Candied Orange Peel Dipped In Chocolate:

Candied orange peel dipped in chocolate

Slow Cooker Apple Butter:

Slow cooker apple butter

Reese’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups Fudge:

Peanut butter cup fudge

Gingerbread Biscotti:

Gingerbread biscotti

Easy Homemade Peanut Butter Cups:

Homemade peanut butter cups

And finally these rather awesome Christmas Tree Cookies:

Christmas tree cookies

Cookie Bowls

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I may or may not have told you about a business idea that myself and my OH are hoping to get off the ground next year. Well it’s ice cream related and you may just see us popping up at some of your favourite food festivals in the not so distant future. That’s the plan anyway.

The last few months has seen us trying out new recipes and creating new ideas for our ice cream and accompanying dishes. Think homemade waffle cones, chocolate brownies, salted caramel ice cream and the latest creation which are cookie bowls.

I thought I’d share the latest recipe with you all, because they are so good it would be simply rude not to. Cookie bowls can be used to hold ice cream or maybe some chopped fruit, whipped cream and sauce or a thick gooey chocolate mousse perhaps.. Possibilities are endless. Or you could just eat them as they are ..for breakfast. Yum.

Cookie Bowls

You will need:

615g plain flour
235g butter, softened
285g caster sugar
2 large free range eggs
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
1tbsp of milk ( optional)
1/2 tsp baking powder
175g of chocolate chunks or chips

Now this makes rather a large amount of cookie bowls- about 20. You could halve the ingredients or do what makes sense and freeze half the cookie dough for future cookie emergencies 😉 You could roll it into a cylinder ready for when it defrosts then you can just slice rounds off ready to make standard cookies.

Ok so firstly cream together your butter, sugar and vanilla. Then add your eggs, baking powder and half the flour and beat together. Add remaining flour and chocolate and mix into a dough. If your dough feels dry add your milk. Now chill your dough for a few hours wrapped in cling film.

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Preheat your oven to gas mark 6.
Once chilled remove from fridge and place between two large pieces of cling film to roll out. You want it about the thickness of a pound coin. Using a large round cutter cut out as many rounds as possible from your dough. Grease the back of your muffin trays. Yes the back not the front. I use Dr Oetker bake release spray. As it’s awesome. Place a round on the back of each muffin hole and lightly press down around the sides.

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Continue with all of your rounds. Place in hot oven for about 8-10 minutes or until golden.

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Remove from oven, loosen carefully on one side and lift to remove and place to cool on a rack. Serve whilst still warm for maximum pleasure but they are pretty good up to 36 hours later.

Here is how we ate ours:

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Enjoy 🙂

Simply Sweet Cookies

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Tonight knowing that it was biscuit week on The Great British Bake Off I made sure I had some cookies in the oven before I even thought about sitting down to watch. I had massive cake envy all through last weeks episode and I had NO cake to eat. Not making that mistake again.

I made a very simple cookie recipe which had just a few adaptations to my standard fail safe make in my sleep basic cookie recipe.

It turned out SO well that I wanted to share it with you tonight.
It’s simple. Takes less than 5 mins to prep and about 12 minutes to cook.
Not many photos I’m afraid as I didn’t think I wasn’t going to share it but it’s easy and tastes delicious.

Oat & Chocolate cookies

You will need:

100g softened butter
75g of soft brown sugar
175g of self raising flour
50 grams of porridge oats
45ml of golden syrup
75g of milk chocolate chunks
3tbsp of whole milk

Preheat oven to gas mark 3.

Cream your butter and sugar together before adding your remaining ingredients and stirring to combine. Dollop spoonfuls onto a greased baking tray. Bake until lightly golden ( about 12-14 minutes) Makes approximately 12 large (ish) cookies.

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They taste to me exactly as cookies should. A combination of soft, chewy and chocolate with the added texture of oats.

I’m joining in with The Great Bloggers Bake Off 2014

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And Tasty Tuesdays with Honest Mum

Tasty Tuesdays on HonestMum.com

Dark chocolate and Maple Syrup cookies

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Tonight after a fairly large evening meal I wasn’t hungry yet still really wanted something sweet. Of course I didn’t fancy the homemade ice cream, lollipops or Thorntons chocs which were already in my kitchen but I suddenly wanted cookies OR something with maple syrup on. I was also feeling fairly lazy after a long, tiring day so I decided to just spice up my usual cookie recipe with some adaptations and woohoo if it didn’t work out perfectly. Dark chocolate and maple syrup cookies – the dark chocolate stops its being too sweet whilst the maple syrup helps to create a perfectly moist cookie which holds together well. I am creating some pretty lovely recipes whilst being pregnant.

Of course I decided to share the recipe with you and quickly while its fresh in my mind and baby brain doesn’t kick in so here it goes:

Dark Chocolate and Maple Syrup Cookies

You will need:

100g softened butter ( now margarine would be ok but I feel strongly that you should use butter 😉 )
75g light brown soft sugar
30ml of full fat milk
75g of dark choc chips ( I used Asda basic dark chocolate 30p for 100g)
30ml of maple syrup
175g of self raising flour

Preheat oven to gas mark 4 (180)
Cream your butter and sugar together in a large bowl. Stir in the remaining ingredients and mix well.
Put 15 dollops of your mixture onto your greased baking trays,flatten slightly and bake for 10-12 minutes.

The raw cookie dough is pretty tasty..and with no eggs it’s safe for pregnant women and children too 😀

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Remove from tray and cool on a wire rack.

* The cookies will still feel very soft when you remove from the oven but they are done and will firm up on the wire rack 🙂

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These are so super simple to make.. the whole process from weighing the ingredients to taking a bite took less than 30 minutes and they were so delicious. I highly recommend you give them a whirl.