A lot of the time words flow freely for me.. in fact in some posts I have to do serious editing to make it a readable length. This post however is harder to write.

I am part of a really close knit food blogging community and in March, sadly we lost one of our gang. Isabella King who wrote the blog Coriander Queen passed away at the age of just 29 and it hit our group hard. We were at a bit of a loss to find a way to both honour her and celebrate some of her gorgeous recipes.  We ended up deciding that we would all make, then share one of her recipes on our blogs on the same day at the same time. I like to think she would have liked this way of showing her the respect she had from her fellow food bloggers and I hope for her family and friends it brings a little light into a dark time.

When chatting in our group about Izzie, I was struck by how similar our thoughts on her were. A lot of us in the group have never met, yet we are incredibly close and support each other through a lot. I never met Izzie in person but every single contact, message, blog comment and discussion I had with her was positive and cheery and she was always so incredibly kind and thoughtful. Some people have personalities which just shine and I think she was one of those people. Like most of us in the group her blog was very important to her and she was good at it.

I have spent a good while browsing her blog this past month, she created some amazing recipes and I finally chose the Stuffed Nutella Cookies as the recipe I would recreate. I remember her first sharing the recipe last Autumn, I drooled a little at the time and I am also a bit of a Nutella addict. I admit that following her recipe and baking her cookies was emotional but it was a nice way to remember her.

I encourage you to go check out the original recipe over on Coriander Queen by clicking here and maybe spend some time browsing her recipes.

Stuffed Nutella Cookies

You will need:

150g Self Raising Flour
115g Butter
115g Light Soft Brown Sugar
15ml Golden Syrup
12 teaspoons of Nutella

Firstly place your spoonfuls of Nutella on baking paper on a flat baking tray and pop in the freezer for 30 minutes. Now preheat your oven to 180c. Cream you butter and sugar together until smooth, now add half your flour and syrup and mix until well combined. Now add remaining flour. Remove Nutella blobs from freezer and use your dough to form balls around the Nutella. Place back on the baking paper ( its is fine to use the same piece again ), leaving space to spread  and bake for 14-16 minutes until golden. Remove from oven and leave to cool slightly.

These cookies are so easy to make and everyone that has tried them has loved them, I can see me making these regularly now and it feels like a really nice way to remember Izzie ( aka Coriander Queen ).

Now that I have whet your appetite why not go check out some of the recipes that my fellow bloggers have been recreating:

Easy 5 ingredient pesto tomato tart on Amuse Your Bouche
Globe artichoke with balsamic dip on Natural Kitchen Adventures
Cider, apple and sausage casserole on Farmersgirl Kitchen
Chocolate orange oat bars on Veggie Desserts
Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies on Tin and Thyme
Arancini (risotto balls) on Coffee & Vanilla
Rich coffee cupcakes on BakingQueen74
Gingerbread cupcakes with orange buttercream on The Veg Space
Marmalade and ginger loaf cake on The Crafty Larder
Ginger and oat cookies on Kavey Eats
Amatriciana pasta on Kitchen Sanctuary
Treacle tart on Patisserie Makes Perfect
Crispy fried halloumi on Supper In The Suburbs
Chocolate fridge cake on Jo’s Kitchen
Chocolate almond butter cookies on Rough Measures
Eggless chocolate chip cookies on Simply Sensational Food
Boozy decadent hot chocolate on Fab Food 4 All
Easy no bake blackberry cheesecakes on Casa Costello
Best coriander / cilantro recipes on Fuss Free Flavours
Easy gingerbread popcorn snack on Celery & Cupcakes
Elderflower and vodka cocktail slush on The Hedgecombers
Fruit flapjacks on The Petite Cook
Tomato, garlic and prawn spaghetti on Hungry Healthy Happy
Lemon drizzle loaf cake on Penne For Your Thoughts
Chicken ramen on It’s Not Easy Being Greedy
Stuffed Nutella cookies on Munchies And Munchkins
Easy Berry Compote on Eats Amazing
Caipirinha on Lovely Appetite
Garlic and Lime Coriander Prawns on Travels for Taste

Some of Izzie’s family and friends are fundraising for cancer research, you can find out more here.

Sometime last year I saw a video online of somebody making french toast roll ups.. filled with Nutella! Oh it looked incredible and I decided I would make them, mentally added it to the list of 1000 plus dishes I already had stored on my to make list and forgot all about it.

Then a few days ago I was feeling like I needed a decent brunch, we all know brunch is better than breakfast. I spotted a jar of Nutella just calling my name and I had some white bread that needed to be used up, the video I watched didn’t give quantities or exact instructions but it seemed simple enough.

Wow. Wow is all I can say, such a simple idea but oh it is ridiculously tasty. My friend Ceri managed to turn up for a coffee just as I was finished making the first batch so I even had an official tester and it would be fair to say he approved.

Nutella French Toast Roll Ups

2 slices of bread, crusts removed ( I find slightly stale white bread works best for French Toast but use whatever bread you prefer )

2 tbsp Nutella

1 free range egg

40ml full fat milk

3 tbsp caster sugar

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tbsp butter

Beat your egg and milk together in a shallow bowl. Mix your sugar and cinnamon together and dust across a plate. Use a rolling pin to flatten your bread slightly and spread Nutella on one side of your bread, roll up tightly like a swiss roll. Melt your butter in a large frying pan over a medium – high heat.  Dunk your roll ups in the egg/milk mixture and pop straight into the pan ( watch your fingers ). Cook on all sides until golden brown then remove from pan and roll in the cinnamon sugar. Serve whilst hot, perhaps with a side of crispy bacon!

Joining in with Weekend Brunch Club: