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Rosemary & Chocolate Biscuits With Lemon Icing

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I made these Rosemary Chocolate biscuits just as Summer was drawing to a close, I noted the recipe down as I enjoyed them so much and then promptly forgot to share them. Oops. Better late than never. I really like adding Rosemary to sweet bakes, it adds such an incredible level of flavour and the kitchen smells so good while they are baking. They are perfectly tasty unadorned but the lemon icing adds a crisp, fresh balance to the chocolate biscuit.

Rosemary & Chocolate Biscuits With Lemon Icing

You will need:

For the biscuits:

225g Self Raising Flour

100g Golden Caster Sugar

50g Cocoa Powder

100g Softened Butter

60ml Full Fat Milk

1.5 tbsp of Finely Chopped Fresh Rosemary

For the icing:

100g Icing Sugar ( sieved)

25ml Warm Lemon Juice ( add a little more if required for desired consistency )

Lemon Zest to decorate

Preheat your oven to 200c. Prepare two flat baking trays.

Add your flour, sugar, cocoa and rosemary to a bowl and mix well before rubbing in your butter. Add your milk and mix well, use your hands to form a dough. Place on a floured surface and roll out to desired thickness ( about 1.4 inch is best ) and use a cookie cutter to shape your biscuits. Bake for approximately 8 minutes. Remove and leave to cool.

To make your icing, pour your icing sugar into a bowl and slowly add your lemon juice a little at a time until you have the right consistency. Ice your cooled biscuits and sprinkle over a small amount of lemon zest.

rosemary chocolate biscuits

Slow Cooker Sundried Tomato, Rosemary and Green Olive Bread

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This is the third in a series of guest posts by fellow food bloggers. This post is written by Lucy who is pretty famous for making some awesome slow cooker recipes. I love my slow cooker so I will certainly be trying this amazing looking bread. You can find Lucy over at Baking Queen 74 And also on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Over to Lucy:

Making bread can be quite labour intensive I find, especially if you’re busy, with lots of things to be doing and a never-ending to-do list. Oddly, this is when I like to use my slow cooker to make bread even more SLOWLY!

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Even though it takes longer, I find making bread in the slow cooker great because it doesn’t require as much attention and won’t burn quickly. Then you can get on with other things on your list, proud in the knowledge you have baked your own bread! Perfect if you have little people around demanding attention, emails to attend to or household jobs to be getting on with.

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This tasty bread is great for lunch, served with some salad and cheese, or would also be a lovely side for a slow cooked stew. It didn’t last long at all in my house, even though it makes a large loaf.

Note that I made this loaf in a large slow cooker (5.7 litre). If you only have a 3.5 litre slow cooker I would either halve the quantities or split the dough in half and bake two smaller loaves one after the other. The second batch could prove in the fridge while the first batch cooks, so you would only need to bake the second one on high.

Recipe:

• 480 g strong white bread flour
• 1 sachet dried yeast
• 1 tsp salt
• 280 ml tepid water
• 7-8 sundried tomatoes, chopped
• 10-12 green pitted olives, quartered
• 3 sprigs of rosemary, leaves stripped
• A little olive oil to drizzle on top
• Coarse sea salt to scatter on top
• 2 more sprigs of rosemary, leaves stripped, to scatter on top

Method:

1. Place the flour in a large bowl. Add the salt on one side and the yeast on the other.
2. Add the olives, sundried tomatoes and rosemary then slowly add the water and mix to form a sticky dough.

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3.Remove from the bowl and knead for ten minutes on a floured surface until elastic and smooth.
4. Place the dough on oiled baking paper in the slow cooker pot.
5. Make indentations in the dough with your fingers, then drizzle over the oil, sprinkle on the salt and extra sprigs of rosemary.

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6 Place the lid on the slow cooker, with a tea towel under the lid to stop water dripping onto the bread.
7 Turn on low for an hour to prove until doubled in size.

8 Switch to high for 1-2 hours until baked and sounds hollow when tapped. If necessary you can turn the bread over half way through so that top and bottom are equally brown and crusty.

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Creamy Chorizo, Rosemary and Potato Bake

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I love potatoes. They are so versatile and are pretty cheap too. I could probably post a new potato recipe every week as I’m always experimenting with them. This recipe for a creamy bake is similar to dauphinoise or gratin. The chorizo gives the sauce a bit of colour and an incredible flavour. You can taste the fresh rosemary with every mouthful and well it’s just a little bit indulgent with the double cream too. No New Year detox here I’m afraid.

You will need:

750g Potatoes sliced thinly ( I used new potatoes but any will do)
300ml double cream
50ml of milk
1 shallot, diced
2 inch chunk of Chorizo diced finely
A few sprigs of rosemary, washed and chopped finely.
2 garlic cloves crushed or a large squirt of garlic purée

Preheat your oven to gas mark 5.

Sauté your shallot,chorizo and garlic in a frying pan until browned. Turn off the heat then add your rosemary and set aside. Layer your potatoes in an ovenproof dish. Now add your cream and milk to the frying pan and stir to combine all ingredients. Pour the mixture over the potatoes, ensuring all are covered. Sprinkle with black pepper and bake for 25-30 minutes or until potatoes are soft and the top is golden brown.

Enjoy.

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