Chocolate and Pistachio Biscuits

I absolutely love biscuits and these are particularly moreish and buttery! The pistachios add a fantastic crunch in such a crumbly, short biscuit. These are very easy to make, you can also freeze some of the dough and just cut rounds off when you have someone coming over! The chocolate and pistachio works really well together- you must give them a go!

Recipe: (makes about 35-40)

- 220g unsalted butter (very soft)

- 80g Icing sugar

- 280g Plain flour

- 30g Cocoa powder (I use Green & Blacks)

- Pinch of Salt

- 70g chopped blanched pistachios 

How to make:

- Cream the butter, salt and icing sugar together in a large bowl until creamy and combined. Then add the flour, cocoa powder and pistachios and mix until fully combined. 

- Try and mould the dough in to the shape of a long roll and wrap in cling film. Pop it in to the fridge or freezer for an hour (I put it in the freezer as it goes harder and is easier to cut).

- Heat the oven to 190c and grease 2 baking sheets. Take the dough out of the freezer and unwrap. Then cut the dough in to rounds of about 5mm and put on to the baking sheets.

- Bake for about 12 minutes, but keep an eye on them so the edges don't burn. Allow to cool a little on the baking sheets first before moving to a cooling wire. 

- Enjoy with coffee! 

Photo how to:

The dough

The biscuits ready to go in to the oven

Fresh out of the oven, cooling on the wire rack

xXx

Spanish Style Pizzas

I have been away in Dorset for a few days and whilst we were there we made these delicious Spanish style Pizzas. They are very easy to make as you just use a ready made bread mix and they don't need much time to rise either, which is always useful. These were spanish style as I used Manchego cheese and italian meats on them but you could use any toppings that you liked- thats the good thing about pizzas!

Recipe: (makes 4 pizzas)

- 500g bag of ciabatta bread mix

- Jar of good quality pasta sauce

- Cubes of Manchego cheese

- Stuffed Olives

- Selection of Spanish ham- Chorizo, Palma ham, Salami etc

- Seasoning 

- Fresh herbs for sprinkling on top (I used basil)

How to make:

- Make the ciabatta dough by following the instructions on the back of the bag. Knead for about 5 minutes until smooth. Then separate the dough in to 4 balls and roll out with a rolling pin to about 5mm thick. 

- Place the rolled out pizza bases on to 2 oiled baking sheets and lightly cover with cling film. Allow them to rise in a warm place from 15- to an hour (whichever you have more time for!)

- Once they have been allowed to rise then cover them with the pasta sauce for the base, and then add the Manchego cheese, olives, ham and the seasoning. 

- Bake in the oven at 200c for about 15 minutes- but keep an eye on them to make sure they don't burn.

- Then enjoy hot from the oven! Yummy!

Photo how to:

4 balls of pizza dough

Rolling out the dough

Pizza bases rising 

Tomato sauce on the bases

Ready to go in the oven

In the oven!

Pizza ready for eating! 

xXx

Crumbly Date Squares

As much as I love to try baking healthy things, sometimes you just have to bake something really naughty and buttery, and these crumbly date squares are just that! I found the recipe in a baking cookbook and decided that it would be just the thing to bake for afternoon tea with my family. 

They are really easy to make and taste delicious! They have a lovely crumbly texture on the top and bottom with sticky, gooey date inside them. They are terribly moreish! Give them a go, its hard not to devour them all at once.

Recipe: (makes about 20 squares)

- 300g chopped Dates 

- 250ml water

- 200g soft butter

- 200g light brown sugar 

- 260g plain Flour

- 150g rolled oats

- 1/2 tsp baking powder

To make: 

- Preheat the oven to 180c and grease and line the bottom and sides of a baking tin.

- Put the chopped dates and the water in a small saucepan, and on a medium-low heat, cook until all of the water has been absorbed. This should take about 10 minutes, then leave to cool.

- Meanwhile start making the crumble. Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Combine the Oats, flour and baking powder together and then add to the butter and sugar mixture. Mix until fully combined- the mixture will be quite crumbly and short. 

- Put half of the crumble mixture in to the bottom of the baking tin and squash down with your hand or the back of a spoon. Then spoon on the date mixture on top and smooth out to the edges. Lightly top with the remaining crumble mixture. 

- Bake in the oven for about 30-35 minutes until golden brown on top. Keep an eye out for it browning too quickly!

- Allow to cool fully in the tin and then lift out and cut in to squares or fingers- whichever you prefer!

Photo how to:

The dates and water mixture ready for heating

The finished date 'jam'

The crumbly mixture

The crumble mixture squashed in to the tin

The date mixture on top of the crumble

The finished crumbly date squares

Enjoy!

xXx

Healthy Date, Almond and Oat Cookies

I love making/ baking anything that is healthy, so I was really excited to come across a healthy chocolate chip cookie recipe that used Coconut oil as the fat source. I took parts of this recipe and adapted it to include oats and dates, and it worked really well! The result was a soft in the middle, yet slightly chewy around the edge cookie and they were so good they didn't last long enough to make it in to a tupperware box! 

So have a go at making these cookies, they are very delicious, easy to make and also Vegan which is a plus! 

Recipe: (makes 12-14)

- 180g (2 cups) Almond flour

- 90g (1 cup) Oats

- About 16 small Dates, chopped

- 1/4 tsp salt

- 1/4 tsp baking powder

- 55g (1/4 cup) Coconut oil, melted

- 2 tbsp Honey

- 1 tbsp Vanilla extract

To make: 

- Preheat the oven to 200c and grease and line a baking tray. Melt the coconut oil- I find this easiest done in a little bowl in the microwave.

- Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a large bowl, and then add the wet ingredients and mix. The mixture will be quite crumbly, but If you feel it is too crumbly then add more coconut oil or even a little milk might work to bind it together. 

- Then wrap the dough in some cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for 20-30 mins just to cool down.

- Take the dough and roll in to balls and place on to the baking tray. Then squash down the balls to make in to a cookie shape. 

- Bake for about 7-9 minutes, but keep an eye on them as they will brown around the edges quickly. Take them out when they are lightly browned on top and underneath. 

- Allow them to cool on a wire rack before eating them as they will be quite crumbly when still warm.

- Then enjoy!! 


Photo how to:

Chopping the dates in to small, rough chunks

The dough resting in cling film

The balls of dough squashed in to cookie shape

The cookies ready for baking 

The cookies cooling on the wire rack and looking delicious! 

Enjoy!!

xXx

Cheeeeesy Twists

There are two things that will always taste fantastic together, and they are cheese and pastry! I love making cheese biscuits using my Granny's recipe, but this time I decided to try something a bit different and use puff pastry instead of short crust. 

I love cheese straws, but I have never made them before as I usually buy them so I thought I would give it a go. It turns out that they couldn't be much easier to make! They tasted delicious and were gobbled up in a day so make sure to make a large batch if you have lots of mouths to feed!

Recipe: (makes 30 small straws)

- 1 x packet of ready made puff pastry (unrolled and unthawed if frozen)

- 3 x good handfulls of grated Cheddar cheese and Parmesan 

- 2 tsp Poppy seeds

How to make:

- Preheat the oven to 200c and grease 2 baking sheets.

- Unroll the pastry and scatter with a good hanfull of the grated cheddar and parmesan cheese. Then fold the pastry in half and roll out until it becomes the thickness of a £1 coin. 

- Using a large sharp knife, cut the pastry in to long, thin strips and then cut those in half to make about 30 small strips. 

- Twist each pastry stip 3 times and then lay on the baking sheet. Once all are twisted, put some more grated cheese on top of each one and then sprinkle over the poppy seeds.

- Bake in the oven for about 6-7 minutes until golden brown on the top and bottom. Keep an eye on them though as they will burn quickly. 

- Enjoy warm if you can, if not keep them in an air tight container and eat at the earliest opportunity! You won't be able to resist!

Photo how to:

Grated cheddar and parmesan

The folded pastry with the cheese inside, ready for rolling out

Cutting the pastry in to strips for twisting

The twisted cheese straws on the baking tray

These are the finished cheese straws hot out of the oven!

Mmmmmm

xXx

Hazelnut, Chocolate and Raspberry Pavlova

Pavlovas are so easy to whip up for a really impressive looking pud, and they taste divine which is always a plus! I confess I cheated a little with this pavlova, as I bought the meringue from my local farm shop as I didn't have time to make one myself, but you can certainly make your own! 

Pavlovas are great as you can use pretty much any sweet flavours you like- I decided to make mine a chocolate and raspberry one with a little Godiva chocolate liqueur added to the cream to give it a bit of a lift. But peach, mint, strawberry, banana etc would also taste great- they're good fun to play around with the flavours. 

Recipe: (serves 8, depending on the size of the slice!)

- 1 x ready bought Meringue (top and bottom), mine was hazelnut flavour

- 1 x 250ml pot of double cream

- 1 x tray of raspberries 

- 2 tbsp Godiva chocolate liqueur

- Good hand full of chocolate chips/ buttons

- Cocoa powder, for dusting on top 

To make:

- Lay the meringue base of your pavlova on the plate that you want to serve it on as you can't move it once its finished as its very delicate!

- Then start by whipping the double cream with an electric whisk until it becomes thick and spreadable. Add the 2 tbsp of chocolate liqueur and a few raspberries to the cream and whisk further to mix them in. Now spread half of the cream on to the base of the meringue with a spatula, making sure it is even all over. 

- Break up a few of the raspberries and lay over the cream, covering it evenly. Chop the chocolate chips/ buttons up and sprinkle over the cream/raspberry mixture. 

- Put the top of the meringue on the base, and cover with the rest of the cream using a spatula. Now decorate the top of the pavlova with more raspberries, and I also used some blackberries that I had lurking in the fridge. 

- Finally dust the top of the pavlova with some cocoa powder using a sieve.

- Serve the pavlova on the same day as the cream tends to make the meringue a little soft if left for too long! Enjoy!

Photo how to:

The ingredients 

The cream mixture with raspberries and chocolate liqueur 

The Godiva liqueur that I used

Spreading the cream on to the base of the pavlova

Putting the soft raspberries on to the base

Chopping the chocolate buttons to go in the middle

The base of the pavlova

The top of the pavlova with the cream spread evenly

The finished pavlova, looking delicious!

Enjoy!

xXx